Features

Meet in Brighton

1 Jul 2010 by AndrewGough
The coastal city’s melting pot of culture, arts, restaurants and bars makes the perfect backdrop to that special meeting or event at the seaside. Felicity Cousins reports Just under an hour on the train from central London and half an hour from Gatwick airport, Brighton is an ideal option for companies who want to stage an event in a city by the sea. Brighton’s laidback nature and cultural diversity can be found on the waterfront and in its narrow lanes running away from the shore with their colourful shops and eateries. It also has some great venues for meetings. Darren Johnson, convention bureau sales manager at Visit Brighton, says: “There is something in the air about Brighton – it has a vibe. Its compactness is good for delegates and after a busy day they have the seafront or the South Downs on which to be free and unwind.” John Carmichael, Visit Brighton’s marketing manager, agrees. “This city has so much to offer. If you want something sedate you can explore its historical and cultural side, or if you want something more lively you can dine out, see a show or have cocktails until four in the morning.” Brighton has a population of about 250,000 and has more bars and restaurants per capita than any other city in the UK outside London. Carmichael adds: “The overall offering here is great – from a boardroom meeting for 12 to a conference for 12,000.” It’s also competitively priced compared with London, and Visit Brighton works closely with rail operators to gain discounts for groups. Away from the boardroom there’s plenty of choice – with the South Downs in sight, zorbing (hill rolling in a giant plastic sphere) and mountain biking are popular, while Brighton Marina offers watersports. See visitbrighton.com/conferences    Brighton Centre Home to many party political conferences over the years, most recently that of the outgoing Labour party, the exterior of the building is a 1970s disaster or an architectural gem depending on your outlook. Inside, it is the largest purpose-built conference and exhibition centre in the south of England, with a capacity of 5,000 delegates. The extensive meeting spaces are versatile with breakout rooms and foyers leading off the larger rooms. The 1,941 sqm Auditorium 1 holds 4,450 people theatre-style, while the other spaces have capacities ranging from 50 to 600 theatre-style. The BBC recently held its Showcase event here (pictured), a good example of how the space can be transformed. Some £1 million will be spent on refurbishing the Brighton Centre in the next five years, starting with new carpets, chairs and signage over the summer.   Brighton Dome Designed in 1805 and based on the Corn Exchange in Paris, the Dome was originally built as the Prince Regent’s riding stables and is close to the Royal Pavilion next door (see facing page). It has three main event spaces and can cater for 1,872. Inside there are glorious art deco features, which were restored in 1935, and it was updated again in 2002 to the tune of £22 million. The Concert Hall, where Abba won the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo, is the largest venue and can hold 1,800 in the auditorium, with 264 sqm of exhibition space. It’s circular so feels intimate. The Corn Exchange across the corridor is the most flexible space with 320 tiered seats and the largest sprung maple floor in Europe, stretching 736 sqm to the huge windows overlooking the Pavilion Garden. The modern Foyer bar is a great breakout area with high ceilings and next to this is a new conference room, open since February, that can hold 90 theatre-style and has lots of natural light. The 240-seat Pavilion Theatre with its two bars and own foyer makes a good breakout area for larger conferences.   The Royal Pavilion Possibly one of the most incongruous pieces of architecture in the UK, the incredible Royal Pavilion looks like an Oriental palace with its domes and lavish, exotic gardens. In fact this was a palace for the Prince Regent George IV, built at the turn of the 19th century. You will be blown away by the detail and design inside – from intricate paintings on the domed ceilings to snakes wrapping around curtains and chandeliers, and palm trees in the middle of corridors. The Pavilion is open to the public year-round but only a few rooms are available for events, including the Great Kitchen with its huge stone floor, palm tree details and copper pots and pans. You can seat 40 here for dinner or have a champagne reception for 90 among the suspended models of pigs and geese. Down the corridor is the Banqueting Room, with an incredible dragon-themed chandelier and wallpaper. The original banqueting table is roped off, acting as a stunning centrepiece to the room, but you can place nine tables around it. The more intimate Red Drawing Room is popular for weddings and can seat 30, while the King William IV Room has beautiful Chinese wallpaper and can be hired during the day for 60 seated. Because of the historic value of the interiors and floors, dancing is not allowed. The gardens are open to the public and a short path leads to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, which can host champagne receptions or live jazz performances for 300 in its main room.   Sussex County Cricket Club Founded in 1839, this is the oldest county cricket club in England and has built up a loyal fan base around its successful team – so loyal that recently one member left a substantial legacy to help develop its facilities. As a result, 1839, the club’s new hospitality and events operation, opened the Boundary rooms in May this year. There are five rooms with great pitch views and terraces, each holding 60 people for dinner or 100 for presentations. They can be opened into one larger space catering for 300 for dinner or 500 for a presentation. It’s a lovely, light space. There are TVs in all the rooms with built-in PA systems and free wifi. Events can be held year-round on non-match days while off-season the club is not too precious about its pitch. It has an entertainment licence and often hosts concerts, wedding fairs and other events – in August it will be hosting an open-air screening of Grease (the pitch seats 7,500). Another plus, as with the racecourse, is the ample free parking. Next year the club will open the Long room, which will be available for dinners for up to 160 (200 for presentations) and the Vaults for drinks receptions for up to 150. The 1839 team also hosts events at Arundel and Horsham cricket grounds.   Brighton RaceCourse Brighton Racecourse and Conference Centre is five minutes’ drive from the seafront on top of one of Brighton’s many hills with stunning views over the city, the South Downs and the sea. Owned by Northern Races, it is a lovely, peaceful place to hold an event. The racecourse is open for meetings and events for 343 days in the year – 22 days are race days, although you can book a morning meeting and then finish off with an exciting racing afternoon. The venue can cater for up to 1,200 people and has ample outdoor space for marquees holding up to 2,000. Inside the main building there are 18 flexible suites, including two exhibition halls with a combined floor space of 1,500 sqm. You can hold meetings overlooking the racecourse, and there is a large terrace balcony with sea views. Weddings are often held on the Premier lawn next to the Winners Enclosure (pictured). The restaurant is open on race days and for events. A big bonus for this venue is the free parking for 2,000 cars (Brighton is notoriously short on parking spaces). But it also works with some of Brighton’s hotels to arrange shuttle buses from the city.   Stanmer House This Grade I Listed country house is set in 5,000 acres of Stanmer Park, a ten-minute drive from the city centre. Built in 1722 by French architect Nicholas Dubois, the house was renovated by property developer Mike Holland, who bought it in 2001 and reopened it in 2006. It still has many of its original features and photos show how it used to look. There are several rooms off the entrance, including a small Library bar and a ceremony room used for weddings and parties. Upstairs there is a breakout area with large Chesterfield sofas. From here you can see four huge screens on the wall above the stairs showing event information or product launch videos. The meeting rooms on the first floor all have stunning views over the parkland, wifi access and 60-inch plasma screens. For weddings there is a pretty private garden with a small fountain and a marquee, with carpets and heaters for the winter. Although the house doesn’t have accommodation, it has planning permission with the possibility of offering a 70-room hotel in the grounds. There is free parking for 65 vehicles.   The Grand Next to the Brighton Centre is the Grand, part of De Vere Hotels, Resorts and Venues. Steeped in history, this 201-room property, 85 of which are sea-facing, is the Ritz of Brighton and has been a hotel since 1864. Known as the scene of the 1984 IRA bomb attack, the hotel has long confined that period to history and offers top-notch meeting spaces. The sense of history is tangible as soon as you step into the busy lobby and Victoria lounge, where people tuck into cream teas. Look up through the stairwell to see the elegant railings painted in pale regency green sweeping upwards to the top. There are 11 meeting rooms in total – six with natural daylight – and all have free wifi. The hotel can host up to 800 delegates theatre-style in the Empress suite (1,100 informally), and this opens on to the Pavilion room, making this the largest conference space in Brighton with sea views. The George III with wood panelling, paintings and chandeliers seats 60-70 theatre-style. Meanwhile, the Annabel Olivia 43ft (13m) Bavaria yacht based at Brighton Marina can be hired for groups of eight.   Hilton Brighton Metropole Next to the Grand, again in prime position and closer to the iconic West Pier, is the elegant Hilton Brighton Metropole. Built in 1890, the 334-room hotel is the largest residential conference centre in the south-east with nine exhibition halls totalling more than 8,000 sqm, and 28 meeting rooms. When I visited, the events team was setting up for a funfair-themed event, complete with Brighton rock and dodgems. The three main suites are the Oxford (2,000 people), Regency (450) and Clarence suites (300). A smaller room option is the Library (pictured), which can hold 40 guests and displays a photograph of Winston Churchill and the menu he ate from when he visited. The mix of leisure and business works really well – the meeting spaces are discreetly placed towards the back of the hotel and on different levels, away from leisure guests using the Windsor restaurant or terrace bar. The hotel has recently had an £8 million refurbishment which included the ground-floor conference rooms and a new Hilton Meetings Centre with sea-facing rooms. All the sea-view guest rooms have also been refreshed. Visit businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested for a full review.   Thistle Brighton Another well-equipped hotel with extensive meeting space is the recently renovated Thistle. Again, like the Brighton Centre, if you saw this building from the outside, you may not want to venture in, but up a small flight of stairs is a modern hotel with a spectacular, recently refurbished atrium lobby with light flooding in from the sea-facing windows. There are nine meeting and function rooms – the largest, the Renaissance suite, seats 350 theatre-style and has a large breakout area. From the mezzanine level overlooking the atrium lounge you get a great view of how the space below can be transformed to suit any function. The library terrace provides a breakout space for the six meeting rooms on the first floor (named after great British writers Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron). The Promenade restaurant within the main atrium has two AA rosettes and offers uninterrupted views of the sea. The hotel has 210 bedrooms – for something really special, the Penthouse has been designed beautifully with a large corner terrace and hot tub.
  • King’s Road; tel +44 (0)871 376 9041; thistle.com/brighton
 

OTHER HOTELS

Lansdowne Place The Park Inn Lansdowne Place (full review online at businesstraveller.com/tried-and-tested) is a period building set back a little from the shore in peaceful Hove, a short walk from the city centre. It has just undergone a significant refurbishment and the doors and carpets are next on the list. It has lovely period meeting rooms and can cater for 250 delegates. There’s a spa and a restaurant serving lunch and dinner, while the bar is a funky venue with the longest sofa I have ever seen. Its sister hotel is the Radisson Blu, located in the city centre. Visit lansdowneplace.co.uk Hotel Seattle This is a hidden gem and the only hotel in the Marina. Three of the four event spaces are adjoining with a capacity for 50 people and decking overlooking the water. The 71 modern rooms all have iPod docks and the public areas are stunning. The harbour-facing terraced restaurant is an amazing place to watch the world go by with the cool sea breeze and a great fresh menu. Visit hotelseattlebrighton.com Myhotel Brighton Slap-bang in the middle of the action, this 80-room boutique property is a modern and bright option. The two event spaces are certainly chic and cool – a good place to get your head down and dream up some wild ideas. The suites have all been designed by Brighton-based artists and are stylishly done. There’s a restaurant and bar on the ground floor perfect for cocktails or a civilised meal. Visit myhotels.com
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