Hannah Rodrigues Takes A Look At Venues In London

Senior Conference Consultant, Hannah, recently spent the day in London and managed to visit eight venues.  

Etc. venues 155 Bishopsgate:

The venue is a 2 minute walk from Liverpool Street station. The venue is very modern and bright and has vehicular access. The main space seats up to 600 theatre style, the client would have exclusive use of the venue. The catering is in a wide open space where there is plenty of seating for delegates.

Novotel Wembley:

The venue is easy to get to. It is 30 mins on the tube from Liverpool Street and a 2 minute walk from Wembley Park station. Their DDR is from £45 inc. They only have 2 meeting rooms (20 boardroom each or 70 theatre style if the rooms are opened out into 1 room). There is a separate catering space just outside the room. A larger meeting would therefore have exclusive use. The venue as a whole is very bright with lots of natural daylight, and contemporary décor. The bedrooms are very high standard for a Novotel and they felt really spacious.

The Lancaster: 

The venue was only 2 minutes from Lancaster Gate tube station on the central line. The hotel feels very traditional on arrival with high ceilings in places and chandeliers. There is also a lot of natural daylight. The Nine Kings Suite was very large, grand and elegant. There was only one room without natural daylight directly underneath the Nine Kings that was slightly larger. On the 1st floor there are quite a few boardrooms and one larger space overlooking Hyde Park. The bedrooms are currently going under a refurbishment. The new bedrooms are fantastic – really well furnished and comfortable and they have incorporated their beehives into the room design.

Etc. Venues Marble Arch:

The venue is a short distance from Marble Arch tube station. It is split over three floors. Each floor has a communal area in the centre for refreshments to be served and it has a lot of seating for smaller meetings or 1:1 meetings or just to catch up on emails etc. The venue is very different from 155 Bishopsgate. It has exposed bricks and ceilings. There is a restaurant on one floor where all lunches are served from a buffet.

The Dorchester:

The Dorchester is on Park Lane and is very iconic. The entrance is very grand and the welcome on arrival is extremely friendly with British and traditional feel. The hotel has a couple of different restaurants on site as well as their own grill. The event space is extremely luxurious. It doesn’t have many spaces or endless meeting rooms but each space is very individual. There is a private dining area “The Penthouse” on the 8th floor which has a rooftop terrace with water fountain, which would be perfect for hosting a dinner for up to 20 people. 

St James’s Court:

The hotel is very warm and comfortable. The main meeting rooms were in a separate building to the side of the hotel entrance. They were very traditional with wooden panelled walls and floral carpeting. There were two smaller boardrooms here also which had an additional space at the back of the room (Edwardian and the Buckingham). The hotel does have a state of the art videoconferencing room which can seat around 8 delegates.

Doubletree Chelsea:

The hotel is situated not far the river Thames in Chelsea and just around the corner from Imperial Wharf on the London Overground. The hotel is very pleasant with lots of natural daylight in the main foyer and all bedrooms. The bedrooms are spacious but feel quite empty because they are quite minimalist. Some of the bedrooms are designed by Laura Ashley so are slightly different than the others.

IET Savoy Place:

At the time of the visit, the venue wasn’t opened and was still a building site. Despite the venue being incomplete, it was easy to see how this venue will look once completed. There are two large lecture theatres (one for 400 and one for 150), and a lot of large, flexible spaces. The reception area will be recovered marble from the old building. The Riverside on the 4th floor overlooks the Thames with views of all iconic landmarks of the London skyline and has a viewing platform. Above the 4th floor, is the 5th floor Riverside terrace which can accommodate up to 200 people for a standing reception.