Sense and Sensibility
| Published date | 01 March 1983 |
| Pages | 15-18 |
| Date | 01 March 1983 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057305 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
CONFERENCE
VENUES
Sense and Sensibility
Alec Snobel tunes in to the atmospherics at
three conference hotels
As head of the European bureau of
Meeting Planners International and
marketing director of the European
Federation of Conference Towns,
Geoffrey Smith has checklists
galore for assessing conference
facilities and services. For selec-
ting a hotel, he asks such ques-
tions as: How handy is it for airport
transfers and road and rail arrivals?
Is the car parking accommodation
satisfactory? How many spaces
are there? What public transport
and taxi services are available?
How many function rooms and
sleeping rooms are there? How at-
tractive is the price? What can be
negotiated? Is it possible to benefit
from seasonal and group rates?
What other meetings are schedul-
ed at the venue at the same time?
(An overworked and exhausted
staff is not desirable). Which hotel
executive will be responsible for
the event? Will he be easy to work
with? Is the property handy for
places which delegates or accom-
panying persons may want to visit
— shops, entertainment, cultural
attractions, restaurants, etc? Does
it have a
pool,
gymnasium, sauna,
nearby jogging, tennis, golf? Are
the bar prices and hours accep-
table? Will the hotel provide a
special check-in desk for your
delegates, with quick service or
pre-booking? Will the meeting
registration desk be well sited?
What about in-house restaurants,
coffee shop, menus and prices?
Does it cater for handicapped peo-
ple? Are the halls and public rooms
fresh and clean? Is the front office
a cheerful place? Is the surroun-
ding area safe at night? If the con-
ference includes overseas
delegates, do some staff speak
their languages?
All practical and perceptive and no
less than one would expect from a
master conference organiser. But
there is another question which is
more subjective and which senior
management cannot delegate
because it is the key to final choice
of suitable venue: Does the feel of
the place match the status of the
delegates and does it fit in with the
image of the company?
I'm talking about atmosphere;
sense of place. It's rather akin to
the definition of charm in a person;
a sort of bloom — if you have it,
you need nothing else; if you lack
it,
nothing else will compensate.
Three hotels I visited recently —
Royal Crescent, Bath; King's
Head,
Cirencester; Oakley Court,
Windsor — evoked this thought in
me because each had such pro-
nounced atmosphere that the
technicalities of facilities and ac-
commodation seemed irrelevant
although,
fortunately, they were
rich in these, too.
At the Royal Crescent, I stayed in a
very humble if not dingy room
because no other was available,
but the magic of the hotel made
this of as little consequence as the
lack of swimming
pool,
sauna,
cof-
fee shop or hot-and-cold running
soda fountain. What counts is that
Bath,
built on Roman remains, is
the finest and most complete of all
Georgian cities; that Royal Cres-
cent — arguably England's most
elegant street — is its architectural
quintessence; and that the hotel is
its heart. If Beau Nash, who from
1706 fashioned a small resort of
3,000 people into a glorious
sophisticated spa of 30,000, were
to return today, he would certainly
lodge at the Royal Crescent Hotel
and feel entirely at home in its
eighteenth century graciousness.
So would any delegate of sense
and sensibility privileged to confer
here on matters corporate, profes-
sional or institutional.
The crescent itself, over 500 ft
long,
stretches in a magnificent
sweep overlooking, from haughty
heights, the punch bowl of Bath.
Built between 1767 and 1775 by
John Wood, it features 114 Ionic
columns each 20 ft high joined by
an unbroken classical cornice. The
hotel occupies Nos 15 and 16, the
very centre. George Ill's second
son,
the Duke of York, spent his
IMDS • MARCH/APRIL • 1983 15
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