In Madrid the historic Hotel Suecia has been renovated and re-branded as a five star NH Collection hotel. With 123 spacious rooms across 10 floors, the building uses Scandinavian inspired décor. The outdoor terrace has 150sqm of floor space and an elevated private area of 40 metres.
The building is located close to numerous tourist attractions including the “Art Walk”, containing more than a dozen world-class museums and art galleries, including the Prado Museum, the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofia Museum of Contemporary Art.
The in-house restaurant Casa Suecia will serve traditional Mediterranean dishes with an international nod alongside signature cocktails and 3 multi-functional spaces suitable for any type of event of up to 148 people.
The Hyatt Regency Shanghai, Wujiaochang has just opened in Wujiaochang, (meaning “hub of five avenues,”) is a thriving business, innovation and university district in Shanghai, East China. Hyatt Regency Shanghai, Wujiaochang is located in the Hopson International Plaza, a new tower comprised of Class A-grade offices, a luxury shopping mall and dining and entertainment venues. The hotel is conveniently situated beside Wujiaochang Station on Metro Line 10, providing guests with easy access to and from central Shanghai. Shanghai Pudong International Airport is a 50-minute drive, and Shanghai Hongqiao Airport is less than 15 miles (24 kilometers) by car. The 306-room Hyatt Regency hotel offers 17 spacious suites, a showpiece restaurant with the Market Café, and 2,858 sq m (30,763 sq ft) of meeting and conference space including the expansive, naturally-lit Regency Ballroom, seven multi-function rooms.
The Maslow Hotel, located in Sandton, Johannesburg, has been voted Best Business Hotel in South Africa at the Business Traveller Africa Awards 2016 for the third consecutive year. The hotel offers accommodation, award-winning conference facilities for up to 350 people split across 22 different function spaces, the Lacuna Bar & Bistro with its glass-enclosed private dining room, the eco-friendly Africology Spa and the complimentary Wayfarer transit lounge. The Maslow is located in Sandton’s financial district, only a few minutes away from the Sandton Gautrain station, Sandton City mall and Nelson Mandela Square.
The award-winning Vidago Palace Hotel has recently joined the UK-based Mason Rose Collection. In the north of Portugal, approximately one hour away from Porto and 15 minutes from the town of Chaves, the hotel was founded in 1910 during the reign of King Carlos I and the iconic Belle Époque era.
In 2010 the hotel was completely redesigned and re-opened, and boasts 70 individually designed rooms and suites, as well as 6 acclaimed restaurants. The hotel offers meeting space in its Conference Centre, this historic building offers 7 meeting rooms, one multi-purpose room, one reception room, one bar lounge and an auditorium in an amphi-theatre, which can seat up to 264 people.
Superlative catering is a key focus of the hotel; the hotel’s multi award-winning consultant chef Rui Paula is recognised for his participation in Masterchef Portugal since 2014, his four outstanding restaurants in Portugal and two books compiling the best of his eye-catching recipes using tasty and fresh ingredients. In 2015 he won the ‘Best Portuguese Cookbook’ award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and this year he was honoured by the Portuguese Gastronomy Academy as the ‘Best in the Art of Cooking’.
Park Plaza Nuremberg in Bavaria Germany is the newest hotel to open from Park Plaza Hotel and Resorts. The city is situated between Munich and Frankfurt and is closely located to the train station as well as only a 15 minute drive from the closest international airport. The hotel will feature 177 bedrooms, including superior and executive rooms plus 3 suites and all rooms will have complimentary Wi-Fi, 48 inch plasma TVs and Elemis bathing products. For meeting space there are 7 rooms with a maximum capacity of 70 theatre so ideal for small/medium sized meetings.
Alexandra Palace is a completely versatile venue that hosts an eclectic range of events. With 9 indoor spaces available of all different capacities and styles, the venue can hold anything from a meeting of 10 up to a conference of 7,000, and every in between. Ally Pally has 10,000sqm of pillar free space, road level vehicle access straight into the halls, as well as 196 acres of parkland including terraces and outdoor space to hire for away days, overlooking panoramic views of the City. Alexandra Palace also has a range of onsite activities including an ice rink, boating lake, pitch & putt area and onsite pub.The Palace was awarded 18.5million from the Heritage Lottery Fund in March 2015 to transform the most significant historic parts of the venue to their former glory, making the venue one of London’s leading heritage destinations. The regeneration comprises of the Victorian theatre which will be available as a performance space and function room for corporate events, the BBC studios which will become an interactive learning & exhibition space, and the East Court which will be reinvented as a multi-functional arrival space connecting the theatre, ice rink and BBC studios. The project is aiming to be completed by Spring 2018.
Government-owned Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London is being lined up as a possible venue to rehouse the House of Lords, as parliament faces up to the need for a £3.9bn restoration plan that could take up to six years to complete.
There is concern that if the QEII Centre is used exclusively for the lords, then central London would lose its major purpose-built conference venue. The centre currently contributes £122m annually to the UK economy. But no decision has been made yet.
Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery has been launched at The Science Museum for corporate hire. The £6m gallery is due to open later this month, it is an interactive space featuring more than 50 exhibits in seven zones. The venue can be used in conjunction with other galleries for seated dinners, and on its own it can accommodate 400 guests for an evening reception. Guests can order experiments at the Chemistry bar, watch lightning strike and dance on the revolving solar system under a canopy of stars or take selfies in the infinity mirror.
The Chester Grosvenor came in to see us this week. Here are 5 key points about them.
•5 Red Star Hotel situated in the heart of Chester, Cheshire, built in 1865 and overlooks the famous Eastgate clock – the second most photographed clock in Great Britain
•68 individually designed bedrooms and suites, all furnished with beautiful fabrics and soft furnishing
•‘Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor’ – retaining its Michelin Star since 1990, only one of 4 venues in the UK to have achieved this accolade
•Up to 10 individual meeting rooms with versatile space up to 250 delegates theatre style.
•Just 2 hours from London Euston, 30 minutes from Liverpool and 45 minutes from Manchester
I recently visited Portsmouth to take a look at the venues they have to offer and was really impressed with the city. For event organisers there’s a good range of venues on offer of different standards, which can provide accommodation and meeting space, as well as the Historic Dockyard with the Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Warrior.
Portsmouth Marriott Hotel is easy to get to by car as it’s close to the motorway junction and has free parking. There are a variety of different sized meeting rooms and this hotel is currently refurbishing the bedrooms.
There is a Holiday Inn Express, as well as a Holiday Inn. Both are in the city centre. The Holiday Inn Express has two meeting rooms, the larger one is for 16 boardroom style. This hotel is in a great location on Gunwharf Quays with shops and restaurants around and 5 minutes’ walk to the Historic Dockyard.
No Man’s Fort is in the middle of the Solent (pictured), a really different venue, accessible by boat and would be good for a group which needs complete privacy or an incentive trip. There are only 22 bedrooms and it can be booked for exclusive use.
The Spinnaker Tower has wonderful views and there is a floor which can be used for meetings during the day. At night the three viewing floors can be privatised for a group – lovely for a dinner, or an abseiling event!
Portsmouth Guildhall offers large space, including a theatre/concert hall. There’s a permanent exhibition of the local area’s musical heritage with lots of memorabilia from performers at the Guildhall and Isle of Wight festival.
