What To Look For In A Conference Hotel: A Quick Guide For Newbie Conference Organisers
An experienced conference organiser will mostly likely be able to tell
you in their sleep what kinds of conference hotels there are available
and how to pick the most suitable one for a conference but what if
you’re new to the conference-organising business? Perhaps you
have been tasked with the job because the person who usually does the
organising can’t do it for some or other reason or maybe
you’ve just landed a job at a large corporation that requires you
to organise conferences as part of your duties. Whatever the reason,
you’ve just found out you have to organise a conference hotel in a hurry: where do you start?
Firstly, you need to look at the conference parameters as this will
influence the type of venue you’ll need. Let’s say you are
organising a conference spanning four days that will be attended by a
large number of out-of-town delegates. From this you can ascertain that
you should use a conference hotel rather than a day-conference facility because it offers both conference facilities and accommodation at the same venue.
The first thing to do is to find a conference hotel
that’s easily accessible to the delegates. It should be close to
an airport and be easily accessible by motorway or major arterial road.
Some conference hotels offer a shuttle service to and from the airport
so you might want to take this into consideration as well. What’s
more, the conference hotel you choose must be located in a safe part of
the city.
When it comes to the actual conference hotel facilities, it’s a
given that certain basic services and amenities should be
available before it comes to any frills and deluxe extras. These
include secure – and free – parking, a variety of rooms
(eg. single, double, with ensuite bathrooms), restaurant facilities
catering to special dietary needs, and business facilities (eg. work
desks, wi-fi internet, fax, photocopying).
All the services the conference hotel offers, particularly check-in and
room service, should be available round the clock. There should also be
relaxation areas and a physical fitness centre, and a spa offering
relaxing massages to weary conference delegates is a plus. Lastly, all
rooms must be air-conditioned and preferable soundproofed so that the
delegates stay refreshed and relaxed.
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