Axica, Berlin’s iconic event venue, received the Silver award in the “Best Unusual Events Venue” category from the UK MICE trade magazine, Conference and Incentive Travel. On receiving the award, axica managing director, Jochen A. Lohmar said “this is an even more remarkable feat considering the home advantage of the two other finalists (London’s Sea-Life Aquarium and Vinopolis restaurant) and proves that the axica is receiving well-deserved international recognition and regularly features amongst top competition as one of the places to be for hosting special events and meetings.”

Famed architect Frank O. Gehry created axica and said it is the best thing he has ever done. This ‘biomorphic’ architecture has huge organic forms and designs throughout the event space that combine with state-of-the-art event technology to dazzle and inspire attendees.

Website: www.axica.de
Contact: Mr Mark Felstead, Sales International, info@axica.de
Axica Congress and Convention Center on i-mi.com

Two new Hilton properties will open at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in the New Year. The Hilton Frankfurt Airport and the Hilton Garden Inn will be situated alongside each other in the new Airrail Center Frankfurt, and will have direct pedestrian access to the airport’s Terminal One.

The 247-room Hilton Frankfurt Airport will have an atrium lobby, two executive floors, business center, restaurant, lounge and wellness and fitness facilities including swimming pool, sauna, steam rooms and solarium. Meeting facilities will include a ballroom that accommodates 578 attendees, three boardrooms and five flexible space meeting rooms. The adjacent 314-room Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport will feature three meeting rooms, a business center, restaurant and lounge. The hotel will share the Hilton Frankfurt’s meeting rooms and wellness center.

Both properties are scheduled to open Mid-2010.

Websites: Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Frankfurt Airport

The Novotel Amsterdam City is in the second phase of a two-phase total renovation. During the first phase, the hotel’s facades, reception area, lobby and all 610-guest rooms were renovated and a new conference center built. The second phase of the renovation is taking place now and includes food and beverage venues and wellness facilities. Completion of this project is scheduled for Spring 2010.

With the addition of the conference center, the hotel now has the capacity to seat up to 1,000 delegates. The property has seventeen flexible event rooms. The conference center, which is located on the ground floor, has six meeting rooms and a separate entrance and lobby with hosts to welcome attendees and show them to their meeting rooms.

The Novotel Amsterdam City is the only 4-star hotel in the Randstad area where 450 delegates can meet, eat and sleep in a single location.

Website: www.novotel.com

The newly opened Fairmont Bab Al Bahr is all about 5-Star luxury. Bab Al Bahr means "Gateway to the Sea" and this beachfront property features 369 guest rooms and suites, equipped with in-room business facilities and Internet. Fairmont Gold, the ‘hotel-within-a-hotel’ executive rooms, provides concierge service, dedicated check-in, private lounge with complimentary refreshments, Internet, and access to the executive boardroom.

Conference facilities, which will open early in the New Year, will feature a 1,070 sqm/ 11,500 sqft ballroom and six meeting rooms ranging in size from 22 sqm/ 237 sqft to 186 sqm/ 2,000 sqft. The hotel features a variety of dining venues, unique eateries and lounges. The 2,500 sqm/ 26,000 sqft Willow Stream Spa is scheduled to open early 2010.

E-mail: babalbahr.sales@fairmont.com
Website: www.fairmont.com/babalbahr

Drum Café, the popular interactive drumming group, is now making office calls. Flash Interactive, Drum Café’s new program, has facilitators going directly to offices and brining a Drum Café 20-minute teambuilding program to companies around the world. As with all DC programs, everyone gets a drum and everyone participates. Drum Café teaches leaders and staff to increase productivity and efficiency through better teamwork.

Founded in 1996, DC has facilitated over 10,000 corporate events and teambuilding programs in 19 countries. Programs are available for 5 to 5,000 participants. It’s a great way to open or close a conference and to revitalize delegates between presentations.

Drum Café has offices worldwide.
Website: www.drumcafe.com

InterContinental Hotels and Resorts receives many accolades, but surely one of the finest is ‘World’s Leading Hotel Brand’ at the 2009 World Travel Awards, which took place in London’s venerable Grosvenor House last month. The hotel group garnered eleven more awards in addition to World’s Leading Hotel Brand. InterContinental Residence Suites Dubai Festival City received the World's Leading New Hotel award. Other Leading winners include the InterContinental Berchtesgaden Resort as Germany’s Leading Resort and Germany's Leading Spa Resort. The InterContinental Prague was voted the Czech Republic's Leading Hotel, the InterContinental Aphrodite Hills Resort Hotel was voted Cyprus's Leading Golf Resort, the InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam was voted the Netherland's Leading Business Hotel and the InterContinental Warsaw received Poland's Leading Hotel.

World Travel Award winners are determined by votes cast by 167,000 travel tourism and hospitality professionals around the world.

Website: www.intercontinental.com

Continental Airlines is launching a daily, non-stop service to Bavaria on 27 March 2010. Munich flights will depart Continental’s Newark Liberty Hub at 5:25 PM and arrive at Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss International Airport at 7:50 AM the following day. The return flight departs Munich at 9:20 AM and arrives at Newark at 12:35 PM the same day.

Equipment for this route will be a Boeing 767- 200ER aircraft configured with 25 BusinessFirst seats and 149 economy class seats.

The schedule for Continental’s New York/Munich service has been timed to provide convenient connections with Star Alliance partner flights.

Munich’s Franz Josef Strauss International Airport is the second largest airport in Germany, after Frankfurt International.

Website: www.continental.com