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Inside the Spectacular Grand Opening of Munich Marriott Hotel City West

The Munich Marriott Hotel City West is the most important hotel opening of 2023 in the city.

This is because of the large room and event space capacity. The hotel, with 398 rooms and 2440 sqm of event space spread across 20 event spaces, can accommodate large events.

The Munich Marriott Hotel City West hosted the Grand Opening to celebrate this big milestone for the Marriott brand. It showed what it’s capable of. And it was GRAND! 

Photo: BrauerPhotos / G.Nitschke

It took place on 8 February 2024. Over 600 guests attended, among them were event agency owners and in-house event planners from the major corporations based in the region.

Hybrid events at Pentahotel Leipzig: Stay Local Go Global

At the beginning of October, I visited Pentahotel Leipzig. The hotel is part of the Penta Group, which has 27 hotels in Europe and Asia (Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Czech Republic, United Kingdom and Russia), with further expansions planned in the next 2–3 years.

The history of Penta Hotels goes back to 1971 when it was founded as a joint venture of five airlines, providing accommodation for crew members to stay when on duty. The hotels were located in major airline hubs, guaranteeing high occupancy rates. In 1993, the chain was sold to a Honk Kong-based company—New World Development—and in 2007, the Hotel Group was completely relaunched as a boutique lifestyle brand. 

The Leipzig property is the flagship hotel of the group in terms of size and volume, with 356 rooms and suites and 17 conference rooms for up to 600 people, making it the second-largest conference hotel in Leipzig.

Top restaurant recommendations in Frankfurt during IMEX

IMEX Frankfurt is fast approaching and so our agendas are getting filled with business appointments and social events. You might want to impress your client, or just catch up with a business partner or a friend after the long day and you look for a nice restaurant in Frankfurt. Or maybe you want to stay few days longer for bleisure and are looking for trendy places to wine in dine in the city? We, event professionals, are pros searching for the best restaurants, but we also love a good recommendation from a fellow planner, aren’t we? To make your life easier, and I know how busy you are, I put together a list or some of my favourite places and also asked my colleagues for their top tips which I share with you here below.

My recommendations

If you are a fan of German cuisine then I can highly recommend you the Druckwasserwerk. I visited few summers ago, not during IMEX through, so we were able to sit outside on the terrace and that was very pleasant. But they also have a beautiful space inside, perfect for large and small groups. They have 180 seats in the restaurant, 50 on the gallery and 300 outdoor. I know from talking to colleagues that this is a popular place for IMEX attendees so can advise you check for availability before going there. I took the Wiener Schnitzel and it was one of the best ones I’ve ever had (The second best was in Munich in Andechser am Dom).

For Asian cuisine, and specifically Vietnamese in this case, I can recommend you the Ong Tao. This restaurant is a walking distance from the Messe and it tucked in a residential area, so the clientele seems to be a mix of business and locals. The food was very delicious with very good options also for vegetarians. The inside area has capacity for 40 people and outside for 70 people. The non-alcoholic smoothies and cocktails are an absolute highlight!

Bleisure in Bordeaux

Imagine you’re planning a conference for 100 of your top performing partners. These folks are the best of the best so you need to pull out all the stops to make them feel VIP. You want to plan an agenda that mixes productive working sessions with relationship building activities, and of course a few leisure activities for your delegates to make memories. Afterall, work-life balance isn’t just for the office. Your delegates deserve an experience they will tell their friends and family about, and your brand can certainly benefit from being associated with the kind of emotion we feel when we are treated like a VIP.

Inspiring #eventprofs through venue showcases – Weston Park stately home brought to life

When organising events, the main requirements for me and many others are a central location, good transport links, flexibility and a good service. Hotels dominate the event venue market, as they are often able to offer all of these in one convenient location. However, as event professionals we are always looking for something extra to offer our attendees, something a little more out of the ordinary to enhance the event experience.

When invited to Weston Park with Lime Venue Portfolio, I was only aware of it as the home to a tent covered field during V Festival. However, the stately home nestled within the park is a far cry from festival camping. If you are looking for an exclusive hire venue to create a sense of luxury then Weston Park definitely has something to offer.