Grand Hotel Wien, cited as ‘Austria’s Leading Hotel’ at the World Travel Awards, also received a Gault Millau 2010 designation, which placed the 5-Star property’s restaurants amongst the best in Austria. The Grand features 205 spacious guest rooms and suites fashioned in Viennese style and one of the largest ballrooms in Vienna, The Quadrille, which accommodates up to 500 attendees. An additional 12 event venues accommodate from 40 to 130 attendees. All event rooms have natural light and state-of-the-art technology. The award-winning restaurants include Le Ciel gourmet restaurant and Unkai a Japanese restaurant, both on the 7th floor with views overlooking Vienna, as well as the Grand Café, Unkai Sushi; Rosengarten, the lobby coffee and tea lounge; Schanigarten, a seasonal restaurant located on the hotel’s outdoor terrace; Kavalierbar, which overlooks the famous Viennese Ringstrasse; Drings (The Ring Hotel) bar; and the At Eight gourmet restaurant.

E-mail: banquetoffice-vienna@jjwhotels.com
Website: www.grandhotelwien.com

Opened May 2009 and designed by French architect and town planner Christian de Portzamparc who also designed the new Cité de la Musique, the Hôtel Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe is a contemporary hotel with an undulating glass façade in a prime location. The ‘smoke-free’ property offers 118-spacious guest rooms each with a balcony or terrace that overlooks the city or the gardens of the hotel’s inner courtyard. The Renaissance’s four meeting rooms connect to an outdoor terrace and the largest meeting room accommodates 60 delegates. High-speed wired and wireless Internet access is available throughout the hotel including the meeting rooms and business center. The hotel restaurant, Makassar, is a hip Indonesian-French fusion restaurant. The restaurant’s Lounge Makassar with its adjoining terrace is ideal for receptions. The hotel gym is outfitted with cardio equipment and free weights.

Website: www.renaissancearcdetriomphe.com

Another World Travel Award winner, the new InterContinental Warsaw gained the title of “Poland’s Leading Hotel”. The 5-Star InterContinental, which features 326 guestrooms and suites and 75 Residence Suites, is situated in one of the tallest buildings in Warsaw. Sixty-five Club InterContinental suites are situated between the 35th to 41st floors with the Club Lounge located on the 41st floor for great views over the city. Event facilities accommodate up to 700 attendees and comprise 12 meeting and banqueting rooms all with natural light and state-of-the-art technology. For dining, the Downtown restaurant serves traditional Polish cuisine and international fare, Frida serves Latin American cuisine and steak specialties and One Bar offers Warsaw’s largest whiskey and Vodka selection. The two-story Riverview Wellness Center is complete with swimming pool, gym, sauna, steam, solarium and spa treatments and spectacular views of the city.

E-mail: warsaw@ihg.com
Website: www.warsaw.intercontinental.com

The World Travel Awards voted St. Petersburg’s Grand Hotel Europe as ‘Leading Luxury Hotel in the World”. The historic property has been an institution in St. Petersburg for over 130 years. George Bernard Shaw dined there, Tchaikovsky honeymooned there and in 2002 Vladimir Putin entertained six presidents in the hotel’s Kryscha Ballroom. This ballroom, located on the top floor of the hotel, has a stained-glass ceiling, adjoining terrace and foyer, and many of its features date back to 19th century. There are a total of ten event spaces including a conference center with five rooms. Dining and beverage venues at the Grand include French, Italian and Asian restaurants as well as the Caviar Bar and Restaurant.

Website: www.grandhoteleurope.com

Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre (SECC) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Since opening in 1985, SECC has hosted 3,889 events and welcomed over 28 million visitors. The property’s most recent accolades include Meetings & Incentive Travel’s Best UK Conference Centre two years running in 2008 and 2009 and the SECC is the only multi-purpose UK venue of its size to be awarded with the highest environmental accreditation by the Green Business Tourism Scheme 2009. Moving forward the SECC’s expansion plans include building Scotland’s largest venue, the Scottish National Arena. Specifically built to cater to live performances and large scale conferences, the Arena will seat 12,500 and can be ‘shrunk’ to accommodate events of 5,000 to 8,000 delegates. The arena will have a 40-meter-high façade that can be lit at night and display projections to give signage to individual events.

Email: info@secc.co.uk
Website: www.secc.co.uk

The Hyatt Regency Oubaai Resort and Spa, which opened last December, is part of the 316-acre Oubaai Golf and Lifestyle Centre that is located along the Western Cape’s Garden Route in George, South Africa, The 100-room resort overlooks Herolds Bay. Its ballroom, which accommodates up to 300, is divisible into two rooms and has a foyer and an outdoor terrace. There are also an additional four event rooms and a boardroom. Dining venues include an all-day restaurant, a signature restaurant that is located in the village of the Golf and Lifestyle Centre, and the Visitor’s Clubhouse. For rejuvenation the property offers a fitness center and spa, heated lap pool and separate swimming pool, tennis court, squash court, and the newly opened Ernie Els signature 18-hole championship golf course. The resort is 8 kilometers from George Airport and 425 kilometers from Cape Town.

E-mail: oubaai.regency@hyatt.com
Website: http://oubaai.regency.hyatt.com

On 1st August 2010, Emirates airlines will add a service to Madrid, Spain to its route network. Flights will depart Dubai at 07:25 and arrive in Madrid at 13:20. Return flights depart Madrid at 16:15 and arrive in Dubai at 01:15 the following day. Equipment on this route will be an Airbus A300-200 configured with 237 seats, made up of 12 First Class seats, 42 Business Class seats and 183 Economy Class seats. Madrid is the 25th destination in Europe for Emirates. Emirates is also increasing the frequency of its Dubai/Rome service by adding daily double service. The first flight departs Dubai at 09:25 and arrives in Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 12:45. The second daily flight departs Dubai at 15:05, arriving 18.30. Equipment used on this route is a combination of a Boeing 777-300ER and an Airbus A330-200 aircraft both configured in three classes.

Website: www.emirates.com

The Gulf Region’s Qatar Airways is inaugurating new routes in Europe and India starting with a daily, non-stop service from Doha to Benhalura (formerly Bangalore) on 22 February. Then, on 30 March, the carrier will introduce a service to Copenhagen with four non-stop flights weekly from Doha. This will be followed by a service to Turkey, which begins on 5 April with four weekly non-stop flights from Doha to Ankara. 26 April, the airline will expand its service to Asia with daily flights from Doha to Tokyo via Osaka. Qatar’s Doha/Seoul route will no longer fly via Osaka, becoming a non-stop service on 28 March. Finally, 7 June will see the inauguration of their Doha/Barcelona service.

Website: www.qatarairways.com