As we are welcoming the New Year, let us take a look at the top new hotels in Europe that are great for swanky meetings and events.
The UK’s capital is home to recently opened Rosewood London. It can be found in an Edwardian Belle Epoque building that was built in 1914 in Holborn. As you go in through the wrought iron gates of the hotel, an impressive courtyard welcomes you.
To access the Grand Manor House Wing, you have to take a private elevator with a street entrance. Interestingly, this is the only hotel suite anywhere in the world to have a postcode of its own. There are six bedrooms in the suite, a library, a dressing chamber and many sitting rooms. The suite is spread over an area of 6,318 square feet. While the Garden House with its garden terrace overlooks London’s skyline, the Chancery House offers the grandeur of the past.
The 11,660 square feet of indoor space for meetings includes a Grand Ballroom that has a foyer and three traditional boardrooms that display the original architectural features. The Dining Room that can seat 20 people has a show kitchen. This is the only private dining space in a five-star hotel in London to have this feature.
The Event Studio in the hotel displays accessories that can be used in events and links with the best floral designers, decorators and entertainers in London.
Meeting planners looking for some convenient venue in Italy should go for Ma&Ma Grand Hotel Resort in Sardinia. The uniqueness of this hotel is its location within the La Maddalena archipelago, which is a national park since 1996. The five-star property was opened in summer 2013 and with its eco-conscious design and turquoise water as well as lush vegetation, you will feel as though you are in the tropics.
There are 92 rooms and each of them has a verandah from where you can enjoy wonderful sea view. While the hotel’s restaurant specializes in preparing local delicacies using seasonal produce, the spa offers special features such as thalassotherapy Magnapool, Finnish Bio-Sauna, Turkish bath, “Float Room”, aromatherapy showers and Technogym’s fitness center.
The meeting room, ideal for presentations and press conferences, accommodates as many as 120 guests and has Wi-Fi Internet facility.
Heading to the center of MICE industry, Berlin is home to Waldorf Astoria Berlin that was opened in January 2013 after a long delay. The top tourist attractions of the city – including Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, a historic church built in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I who became united Germany’s first emperor – can be easily accessed from the hotel. Kurfürstendamm, the premium shopping boulevard in the city is just a stone’s throw away from the hotel.
There are 232 rooms including suites distributed over 32 floors of the hotel. The presidential suite, the highest in the city, is on the 32nd floor and has a 360 degree view of the Berlin City West. The hotel is part of the new skyscraper, Zoofenster, designed by Christoph Mäckler, a German architect.
There are five restaurants. The most exclusive one is Les Solistes where Michelin-starred Chef Pierre Gagnaire designs the menu. Additionally, this hotel has Germany’s only Guerlain Beauty Spa.
The ball room has an area of 3,552 square feet and can be separated into three sections. There are five conference rooms ranging from 710 square feet to 1,291 square feet. On the hotel’s sixth floor, there is an event terrace overlooking the city.
Another German-speaking capital is Vienna which saw the opening of Palais Hansen Kempinski Vienna in March 2013. The hotel is located in the center of the city near the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The building was originally meant for housing a hotel during the World Exhibition in 1873. The hotel has two restaurants, a spa and a winter garden. The comfortable rooms are decorated with fine furnishings and fabrics.
Theophil, the Ballroom, is big enough for accommodating 260 guests for a presentation or a cocktail party. The Hansen, on the other hand, is ideal if the number of guests is less than 100. For private events to be held during day time, the Henri Lou bar is the best option.
In the Russian city of St. Petersburg you will find yet another remarkable hotel – the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg. This historically important hotel is housed in a triangular building conceived by Auguste Montferrand in 1817 for the elite. Among the several dining options offered by the hotel, the Tea Lounge provides traditional Russian delicacies.
The Montferrand Grand Ballroom features a chic stairway to enable VIPs to make a dramatic entry into the room. The six smaller rooms, named after European and Russian artists and architects, provide additional options. The business center operates round the clock and provides workstations, a meeting room and a host of services such as secretarial services, translation and travel arrangements.
Going to France meeting planners should explore the historic InterContinental Marseille, Hotel Dieu, which is more than a century old landmark near the Old Port. This first true five-star property in the city opened in 2013.
The historic structure provides stunning views of the port as well as the city. The building has been renovated so that it preserves a 12th century chapel with its mosaic. The facilities include a fitness center, two restaurants, a spacious spa and an outdoor terrace. The hotel has 194 rooms. There are 12 event rooms that can accommodate up to 450 people. For larger gatherings, the hotel offers more than 1,000 square meters of exhibition space.