Hotels, Venues & Event news
Last week we went to visit Goodwood, which comprises a hotel, stately home, motor racing track, airfield, racecourse, the Kennels and Hound Lodge. There are lots of different options for events at the different venues, with accommodation at the Goodwood Hotel which has 91 bedrooms.
The hotel is fairly traditional, but independently owned, so is different from the usual chain properties. The restaurant, Farmer Butcher Chef, has just opened and items from the estate have been used to decorate the room and tables. In addition to the hotel, Hound Lodge (pictured) is a newly converted house with 10 ensuite bedrooms, all different, and it comes with butler and staff. It would be great for a directors meeting, corporate hospitality or incentive and can be used in conjunction with The Kennels for dining or a meeting.
On the estate there is plenty to do with its own spa and golf course, but also motor racing and flying which can be incorporated into an event. They can also organise less active entertainment or sailing on the south coast. Goodwood House can be used for groups and there are several rooms of different sizes for dinners or parties, all with wonderful paintings and antiques.
Throughout my stay the attention to detail in food and service was excellent. Special dietary requirements are catered for on an individual basis and the food that they are served looks the same as the other meals, so they do not look unusual.
This rise is reflected across all markets, with US enquiries going up to 22 per cent over the period, EMEA enquiries also rising 22 per cent and domestic enquiries jumping up by 83 per cent.
A number of suppliers, including ExCel London, Maybourne Hotel Group and Intercontinental London – The O2, have also experienced an increase in enquiries and some overseas planners have been requesting to settle the cost of their events upfront due to the fall in the value of the pound following the referendum results.
The Luxurious Penthouse Event Space in Canary Wharf Expands
CCT Venues-Bank Street, which resides on Level 32 at the prestigious Bank Street tower in Canary Wharf is expanding on to Level 29. Sharing the same stunning unparalleled views of the City of London, the new Elite Suite is a high-end cluster of three interconnecting conference rooms and a dedicated client Lounge. The Elite Suite will be ideal for events of up to 90 cabaret style.
CCT Venues Presents a New Hub for Large Event Spaces
With Canary Wharf becoming increasingly popular as a location for large Pharma events, the well-connected South Quay location (just minutes from Canary Wharf tube) can hold up to 400 delegates in the largest room, plus a full range of public spaces and breakouts all across one floor.
CCT Venues Highly Commended at The Wharf Innovation Awards
CCT Venues are proud to have been awarded Highly Commended Medium-To-Large Business at The Wharf Innovation in Business Awards 2016 in recognition of the company’s success and progression within the district.
Flagship Training Venue in Barbican Refurbished
Spread across five floors of dedicated meeting rooms, CCT Venues-Barbican (located immediately above Barbican tube) has just completed a refurbishment programme. The venue’s largest space can now accommodate up to 150 delegates, while the exclusive Sun restaurant has been re-designed and expanded with a fresh new look.
A New Concept in Meeting Space Opens in Farringdon
The newly-opened Farringdon venue, located minutes from Farringdon tube station, offers a selection of meeting rooms that are equipped with fresh and modern interiors, plenty of daylight, quirky furnture, high quality AV as well as delicious Pronto-box lunches at only £49.50 DDR per person. Rooms can also be hired by the half day.
Church House Westminster is located in Dean’s Yard within the tranquil grounds of Westminster Abbey. The central location is within easy walking distance of both Westminster and St. James’s Park underground stations and Victoria, Waterloo and Charing Cross mainline train stations.
The Grade 2 listed venue has 19 unique rooms which are full of character, capacities range from just 6 up to 664 guests. The venue has played host to a wide range of events from being home to both Houses of Parliament during the Second World War to fashion shows for London Fashion Week in 2016.
During the summer Church House Westminster has spent over £350,000 upgrading the AV in in the main Assembly Hall. This included installing the very latest 4K projection system and the highest quality D&B sound system, creating an amazing blend of technology within an historic setting.
The venue recently achieved awards including – gold accreditation from BDRC, the AIM gold standard and a silver accreditation from Green Tourism.
Church House Westminster are very proud of their award winning in-house events, catering and AV teams who continuously deliver an unbeatable service for the clients.
The international team boasts a number of different languages including Japanese, Greek, Spanish, Danish, Bosnian, French and Filipino.
Located 20 minutes from Central London, Allianz Park is set within 26 acres of parkland with free onsite parking for 800 cars. Bookers can choose to inspire their guests by adding a motivational speaker or maintain the sporting buzz with a tour of the venue’s priory collection, one of the largest collections of sporting memorabilia in the world. Artefacts include Bobby Moore’s shirt from the 1966 World Cup and many Olympic items. The recently refreshed Olympic room is the largest room at AllianzPark. Boasting 1,000sqm of space, it can host 450 boardroom or 1,500 theatre style. While the Allianz Suite which combines the Fez Club, Tulip Club and hundred Club, can host up to 270 boardroom, or 990 theatre style and offer views of the pitch and woodlands. There are also 15 boxes, good for meetings of up to 15 delegates.
Malmaison has announced the launch of its Work and Play meeting and events space at Malmaison Manchester following its success at Malmaison Birmingham earlier this year.
Work and play is designed to offer flexibility to modern businesses, it has reinvented the classic hotel meeting space with unique artwork and glass walls which form a bright and open atmosphere.
The new space features 5 meeting rooms with capacities ranging from 8 to 110 for conferences and training days, there are also 4 pods which offer a more intimate option for smaller meetings all of which are available to rent by the day or by the hour. The rooms provide comfortable seating, facilities for video conferencing and webinars, UHD TV’s and conference calls. There is also the option to have private dining, and team building activities such as wine tasting and cocktail making.
Highly regarded restaurateurs, the Galvin Brothers (Jeff & Chris) opened a new restaurant in September at the Centurion Club in St Albans. The restaurant will have an informal feel and offer seasonal menus, with a capacity of 88, a terrace area and three private dining rooms to seat up to 14 diners.
This is a privately owned group, which has grown over the years:
In 1987 The International Centre, Telford hosted its first exhibition.
1990 – a Holiday Inn was added to the group. In 1992 a third hall and gallery suite were added to TIC.
2002 – 12.5m investment dedicated conferencing facilities expanding the centre to allow bigger events took place.2004 saw the need for more bedrooms and TIC built, the International Hotel.
2011 – the Ludlow suite was added to the centre.
2013 – Gray’s Hotel was rebranded as Ramada.
2014 – saw the introduction of a brand new cosmopolitan events campus.
Fairview Hotels have recently purchased, The Novotel Manchester West, Novotel Wolverhampton, Novotel Coventry & Novotel Ipswich hotels from Accor and will be managed by Fairview Hotels as of the 2nd December.
Fairview Hotels will also be looking to start light refurbishment in the new year to keep up with The Novotel standard similar to their sister properties Novotel Nottingham Derby and Stevenage.
Novotel Nottingham Derby has completed all 8 meeting rooms and restaurant in its refurbishment programme and now on the last stage of the, bar, reception and lobby area. Mercure London Bloomsbury launches Marco’s Italian restaurant.