What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 30 November 2015

Following a very successful visit to IBTM Barcelona, it was off to Seville with Moulden Marketing, Gill Moulden and Cititours, our lovely hosts Paco and Angela.  Our hotel for the three day stay was the newly refurbished Melia Sevilla, located in the centre of Seville. An oasis of calm and tranquillity, providing a fabulous buffet breakfast.

Suitably refreshed - we embarked on our leisurely tour of Seville, in the early morning sunshine.  An impromptu stop at the very beautiful Hotel Alfonso XIII.  A quick coffee and pastry fill up and we picked up the pace and admired the beautiful orange trees and Moorish architecture.  No visit to Spain is complete without Tapas, and we duly obliged and visited three local restaurants.  All very different and charming.  A visit to Casa Salinas, a beautiful private residence with amazing architecture - a private sanctuary in the heart of Seville.

 Our next port of call was sherry wine tasting at Catador.  Fired up with four different strengths of sherry wine - we headed for the Flamenco Museum for our tour and workshop.  Our teacher cast a rueful eye and decided to be polite about our efforts to dance the flamenco.  We coyly took our front row seats to watch the real thing!  The incredible passion and dancing literally took the breath away, we were all hooked.  To round off the wonderful day, we were hosted by the Taberna del Alabardero restaurant and wolfed down five courses of Spanish cuisine, of the highest order.

Day Two in Seville started with a bike tour to Triana Market to purchase ingredients for the evening Paella cooking, followed by a refreshing boat tour on the Guadalquivir River.  A sumptuous lunch followed at the Abades Triana restaurant overlooking the river.

Dehehsa La Calera awaited and we started with a conventional coach to the ranch.  Half way along the track, we disembarked and climbed aboard our wagon and tractor.  A magnificent horseman upon his grey steed appeared and we followed him along the path to the ranch, to be greeted by a very enthusiastic and cute boxer dog.  Rounding the day off with fun and relaxing Paella cooking - we settled in front of the roaring fire reflecting on the all the interesting things we had experienced.

 

Day three concluded with our visit to the Royal Golf Club of Seville for a quick golf clinic and to admire the very beautiful fairways in the gorgeous Spanish sunshine.  Off to the airport for our return flights to Gatwick and a very bone chilling -0.5 degrees - welcome back Blighty!

Sincere thanks to Moulden Marketing and Cititours for a comprehensive and informative tour of Seville.  A must go MICE destination.

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 23 November 2015

Welcome to another week and even though we are counting down to Christmas and some much needed rest and relaxation, 2016 is looking rather close and our diaries are already filling up fast! 

But back to the here and now, and this week Janet returns from IBTM in Barcelona and then a fam to Seville with our friends at Moulden Marketing - next week we're handing over to her so she can tell us all about it!

We're all systems go on some of our project work including St Mary's in the Lace Market Nottingham which we're pleased to be working on helping getting the marketing off the ground. No, we are not moving from being agents to representing venues, its just that this is a fantastic opportunity to work with the team at the church and help it realise its full potential as a great venue for events.

St Mary's really has spectacular potential for events such as gala dinners for 200 or concerts/conferences for up to 500 guests. Whilst most 'dry hire' venues offer a blank canvas for you to style and enhance, the backdrop at St Mary's is stunning in itself.

The team at St Mary’s and Cloud 9 are committed to ensuring you have the best possible service and information available in order to have an event that exceeds your expectations, so whether you need audio visual support, caterers, hotels, table dressers or taxis, we can help with our excellent working partners and suppliers.

All of our recommended suppliers, each of whom is equally committed to delivering excellence in events at St Mary’s, are guaranteed to provide first class service for your next event.

As St Mary's is first and foremost an active church with commitments to its community and congregation, we do have a few points for you to bear in mind when using St Mary's as a venue, but we are committed to working with you to ensure the best possible events are welcomed to this spectacular venue.

 As part of our marketing activities we are planning to attend the CHS Show in Leeds in April and not just as hosted buyers this time, but also as exhibitors to showcase St Mary's so we look forward to seeing you there, if not before!

Whilst we are on the subject of the CHSGroup its timely to mention the Character Awards which we are running on conjunction with them. Irrespective of whether you exhibit at the Conference and Hospitality Show, these awards offer a fantastic opportunity for any venue outside of the M25 to shout about their facilities, and although we’ll be announcing the shortlist live at the show, we’ll also be using social media #Character16 and making a really big splash about all of the finalists in the industry at large!

We could do with some additional judges from the industry for the awards so if you are an agent, at manager level or higher, then we'd love to hear from you please - and you never know, a few hours of your time in the New Year to help us assess the entries could mean a great night as we will be able to invite you to the awards themselves in Manchester next May. Check out the website for more details or email Janet in the office.

On other news this week, Paula is off to Birmingham this Thursday to be a guest at the Civic Reception of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham to help celebrate the Birmingham Press Club's 150th Anniversary - so she will be watching her P's & Q's possibly learning how to courtesy but who knows!

We have lots more news to share but no time to share it as Cloud 9 Towers remains super busy - so please make sure you follow our news and updates on our social media feeds, and as ever, have a great week - see you soon!

 

 

 
 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 17 November 2015

Welcome to another week and here at Cloud 9, we're continuing our look at some of the new hotels springing up world wide, so get ready as we're off to China!

The hotel industry in China is still booming, with many top hotel projects in the pipeline, as well as those that are the new kids on the block.  Apparently there are 544 first class and luxury hotels with 164,400 rooms in development in China currently. New hotels are in the works in Beijing and Shanghai of course, as well as in other Chinese cities including Changsha, Chengdu, and on the Chinese tropical island of Hainan. 

The new Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, is Marriott’s third hotel in Hainan and the  458-room resort hotel overlooks Sanya’s picturesque mountain, ocean and beach, nestled among tropical gardens. Known as the “Hawaii of China,” Sanya is China’s most popular tropical resort destination, with its idyllic year-round climate and the many incredible hotels, temples, parks and shopping nearby. 

In Mainland China, one of the most recent hotels to open is the Four Points by Sheraton Guilin, which is located in Lingui in Guilin’s new business district. The 242-room hotel is ideal for business or leisure travel, and marks Sheraton’s entry into the Guangxi region of southern China, as well as expanding the number of Sheraton properties in China to 23 hotels.

The hotel industry in China is booming, with many top hotel projects in the pipeline. TOPHOTELPROJECTS, a leading provider of hotel data, reports that there are 544 first class and luxury hotels with 164,400 rooms in development in China currently. New hotels are in the works in Beijing and Shanghai of course, as well as in other Chinese cities including Changsha, Chengdu, and on the Chinese tropical island of Hainan. One such hotel is the Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, Marriott’s third hotel in Hainan. The 458-room resort hotel overlooks Sanya’s picturesque mountain, ocean and beach, nestled among tropical gardens. Known as the “Hawaii of China,” Sanya is China’s most popular tropical resort destination, with its idyllic year-round climate and the many incredible hotels, temples, parks and shopping nearby. In Mainland China, one of the most recent hotels to open is the Four Points by Sheraton Guilin, which is located in Lingui in Guilin’s new business district. The 242-room hotel is ideal for business or leisure travel, and marks Sheraton’s entry into the Guangxi region of southern China, as well as expanding the number of Sheraton properties in China to 23 hotels. - See more at: http://www.cnto.org/hotel-boom-china-new-hotel-openings-many-development/#sthash.urPoDIoy.dpuf

The hotel industry in China is booming, with many top hotel projects in the pipeline. TOPHOTELPROJECTS, a leading provider of hotel data, reports that there are 544 first class and luxury hotels with 164,400 rooms in development in China currently. New hotels are in the works in Beijing and Shanghai of course, as well as in other Chinese cities including Changsha, Chengdu, and on the Chinese tropical island of Hainan. One such hotel is the Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, Marriott’s third hotel in Hainan. The 458-room resort hotel overlooks Sanya’s picturesque mountain, ocean and beach, nestled among tropical gardens. Known as the “Hawaii of China,” Sanya is China’s most popular tropical resort destination, with its idyllic year-round climate and the many incredible hotels, temples, parks and shopping nearby. In Mainland China, one of the most recent hotels to open is the Four Points by Sheraton Guilin, which is located in Lingui in Guilin’s new business district. The 242-room hotel is ideal for business or leisure travel, and marks Sheraton’s entry into the Guangxi region of southern China, as well as expanding the number of Sheraton properties in China to 23 hotels. - See more at: http://www.cnto.org/hotel-boom-china-new-hotel-openings-many-development/#sthash.urPoDIoy.dpuf

The hotel industry in China is booming, with many top hotel projects in the pipeline. TOPHOTELPROJECTS, a leading provider of hotel data, reports that there are 544 first class and luxury hotels with 164,400 rooms in development in China currently. New hotels are in the works in Beijing and Shanghai of course, as well as in other Chinese cities including Changsha, Chengdu, and on the Chinese tropical island of Hainan. One such hotel is the Sanya Marriott Hotel Dadonghai Bay, Marriott’s third hotel in Hainan. The 458-room resort hotel overlooks Sanya’s picturesque mountain, ocean and beach, nestled among tropical gardens. Known as the “Hawaii of China,” Sanya is China’s most popular tropical resort destination, with its idyllic year-round climate and the many incredible hotels, temples, parks and shopping nearby. In Mainland China, one of the most recent hotels to open is the Four Points by Sheraton Guilin, which is located in Lingui in Guilin’s new business district. The 242-room hotel is ideal for business or leisure travel, and marks Sheraton’s entry into the Guangxi region of southern China, as well as expanding the number of Sheraton properties in China to 23 hotels. - See more at: http://www.cnto.org/hotel-boom-china-new-hotel-openings-many-development/#sthash.NgPB1Wkt.dpuf

ASIA CHINA
· Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort: Designed to resemble a private mansion by the sea, Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort offers relaxed, personalised luxury, housing 207 sophisticated rooms and suites, the majority blessed with unadulterated, breathtaking views of the South China Sea. February 15 
· JW Marriott Hotel Macau, China: March
· Sheraton Shanghai Jiading: Make yourself at home at the Sheraton Shanghai Jiading Hotel. The convenient Juyuan New Town location is within the Jiading District, one of Shanghai’s fastest-growing areas. Embrace Shanghai’s vibrant social scene with a variety of entertainment options in our hotel complex. Public transportation and plenty of retail shopping are just steps away. March 31
 
· Sofitel Sanya Leeman Resort : April
· Toy Story Hotel: 2015
· St. Regis Macao Cotai Strip: August 1
· Ritz-Carlton Macau: The all-suite hotel from The Ritz-Carlton brings elevated luxury to Asia’s most exciting new destination. Set within Cotai’s Galaxy Macau™ integrated resort, their upscale hotel experience begins the moment you arrive. After being whisked away to the 51st floor lobby, settle into your spacious suite, where a large picture window offers a breathtaking view of the glittering city. 2015
· Ritz-Carlton Nanjing: 2015
· Ritz-Carlton Mission Hills, Hainan Island: 2015
· Anantara Guiyang, Guizhou: 2015  
· JW Marriott Hotel Macau, China: March

Time to wrap things up and just remember, if you are looking to find a hotel in China, don't forget the fantastic places we've shown this week. Have a good one! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 9 November 2015

Welcome to another week and it's time to recap a rather fabulous recent fam with SANA Hotels in lovely Lisbon and the amazing Algarve!

Lisbon is a fabulous city, where the past and present come together and although we enjoyed somewhat mixed weather, it's usually skies all year around and a  pleasant winter making it a sun kissed city. 

It is a cosmopolitan city that's bursting with life, offering a combination of medieval facades, interesting art-noveau buildings, typical black and white mosaic sidewalks and extraordinary museums. These factors enhance Lisbon’s beauty and charm making it one of the most exciting cities in Europe.

On arrival, we checked in at the 5 Star Myriad Sana Hotel.With its unique location in the city of Lisbon, right beside the Tejo river, Myriad by SANA Hotels, is a unique and truly incomparable hotel!

176 rooms and 10 suites, with stunning views over the Tejo and Parque das Nações, together with a contemporary design and unique facilities, redefine the concept of a luxury hotel. The interior public spaces are continued into infinity by the ever present views across the Tejo. A restaurant, a bar, a SPA and indoor pool, are just some of the facilities the Myriad has to offer. For meetings and events, the Myriad has 3 meeting rooms, linked to the hotel by an aerial covered bridge, a modern Events and Conference Centre with a further 7 meeting rooms, 5 boardrooms, foyer and terrace, all set in a total of 1690 square meters. 

It's a stylish retreat for both leisure and business travellers and has outstanding facilities including a delicious restaurant and lounge/bar, relaxing SPA, and a fully equipped fitness centre (which was avoided obviously!). All of the guestrooms have lovely décor with contrasting colours, designer furniture, and a full range of modern comforts with beautiful views of Parque das Nações. Not too shabby it has to be said!

After leaving the Hotel, we started with a with a cable car ride towards the Nation’s Park, located in the Oriental Lisbon, the place where the last World Exhibition of the 20th Century took place in 1998.  

On reaching St. George’s Castle, where, from its impressive walls terrace we admired a great view of the city and the river and then walked downhill (yes, walked!) back through the old Medievel area of Alfama.

The afternoon was somewhat less relaxed as we had a driving experience through the monumental district of Belém, a historical quarter! Despite the lovely boutiques and shops there was no time to hit the credit cards unfortunately....or maybe that's a good thing!

My driver, Nick from Blueline (a fellow fammer) managed to negotiate the streets of Lisbon pretty well (not a stylish look I know given the hairnet) and then it was another amazing dinner and a few more drinks before bed! 

From Lisbon we were off to the Algarve, which was one of the key reasons for the trip as its not familiar to us here at Cloud 9. It's a great region with an extensive coastline, unique landscapes, endless beaches, hidden islands and lagoons. Additionally it boasts enchanting historical villages and castles that are meticulously preserving its heritage and ancient secrets.
 

With great weather usually, it was a tiny bit overcast, we enjoyed a scenic coach trip in order to reach the Epic Sana for a lovely welcome lunch with the team.

With a privileged location overlooking the beach at Praia Falésia (Albufeira), the EPIC SANA Algarve Hotel has 162 rooms, 24 suites and 43 apartments. 

It has a modern design, complemented by contemporary facilities and state-of-the-art technology. An extensive Spa, 5 open-air pools (two for children) and one indoor pool, kid's club, baby centre, multisports court, three restaurants, two bars and snack-bars next to the pools, are just some of the facilities of the EPIC SANA Algarve. With more than 1800 sqm of meeting rooms, the EPIC SANA Algarve Hotel Conference Centre is a focal point for congresses and events.  And something I have not seen before in a hotel is the delightful loo paper! 

We had a great afternoon of free time where we managed to take a little dip in the sea and then a walk along the coastline before heading out to Vilamoura,  Europe’s largest resort complex. 

We had a fabulous dinner at one of the trendiest space in Vilamoura, with an awe-inspiring view of the Marina. “News” has a contemporary and chic décor, somehow creating a very intimate and welcoming atmosphere. After a fun evening there (with a little fake fam wedding!) and some really wonderful food,  it was off to the local Karaoke bar for some rather mediocre performances (Paula did try her best with usual limited repertoire!).

After breakfast, we enjoyed a a thrilling and unforgettable adventure on open top jeeps in the Algarvian hills, with a stop a unique distillery. Our four wheeled adventure took us to hidden locations in the middle of the hills, to discover awe-inspiring landscapes - and despite some scary moments, we managed to recover with a fabulous tasting lunch at a local restaurant which was kindly sponsored by the Algarve Tourism Region.

Back to the hotel, some of us took a nap, some took a dip and some enjoyed the spa, before we had another great dinner at the hotel and then we managed to monopolise the bar area and take over the DJ booth until the early hours!

Sunday saw us heading back to Lisbon and to the EPIC SANA Lisboa. Right in the heart of Lisbon - close to the emblematic Square of Marquês de Pombal and Avenida da Liberdade - SANA Lisboa Hotel is a modern hotel offering spacious rooms with contemporary decor and equipped with all conveniences, whether your stay is for business or pleasure.

The hotel's excellent location on the very central Fontes Pereira de Melo Avenue, within walking distance of both the business and the historic city centre, makes SANA Lisboa Hotel the best choice to this who visit Lisbon. With 11 meeting rooms which can welcome up to 340 people, the SANA Lisboa Hotel is also an excellent hotel for business meetings and social events. 

After lunch we had a bit of free time, which is always a great plus on these trips, and we headed to packed bar to watch the Rugby! 

Then it was a farewell dinner which was another spectacular spread and some mini awards for the best fam host - which of course went to Sarah Tennant from SANA who did a rather brilliant job! 

It was an early start the next morning with a 5am pick up back to the Airport and the DMC whose great support on the trip was much appreciated, were there to wave us off! Abreu DMC, part of the Algarve Travel Group, has offices in Lisbon, Algarve, Madeira, Oporto and the Azores Islands in Portugal. They also operate out of Madrid and Barcelona and in Brazil with offices in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

The company is sustained on regional teams of highly trained and dynamic multilingual professionals, managed by an experienced leading team, and whose mission is to provide creative and innovative solutions, and excellence on destination management services, adding value to the client and to the destinations where they actively operate.
 

We like there Eco-Green Planet ethos, as Abreu truly believes and incentives a social responsibility towards local communities, associations or organisations that require, beyond any governmental aid, additional support or financial stability. They have an
extensive history of developing actions in order to give back to communities through the efforts of both employee’s and clients.

So a thoroughly educational and enjoyable trip. Fabulous hotels, fabulous hosts with Sarah, the DMC's and all of the outstanding hotel staff and GM's at each location.

Beans on Toast on a Monday night with cold damp weather were a bit of a let down after such a fantastic trip but there you are. Back to Blightly and reality - but to our clients we say - SANA are really worth a look at for your next event in Portugal. Let's talk!

Have a great week and please don't forget the Character Awards are now open... 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 2 Novemer 2015

Welcome to another week and we hope everyone survived Halloween in tact and with more treats than tricks!

So, what is in the offing this week we hear you ask? Well, we are delighted to announce the launch of the new look CHS Awards, which following the success of the inaugural Awards launched earlier this year in conjunction with the CHS Group, are back under a new guise for 2016 as “The Character Awards”.

The new look awards have been created to recognise aspects of venues and hotels and rather than allow big budgets or marketing expertise to rule the results, The Character Awards offer a solid platform of promotion for any property in the United Kingdom to showcase their facilities.

Richard John of RJA will once again chair a panel of over 100 different senior event agency personnel who will be responsible for selecting the winners in the awards in one of the 19 categories recognising everything from a “Funky Bedroom” to an “Unusual Boardroom”.

The deadline for entries is Friday 5 February 2016, with the finalists being announced at the CHS Show at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on Tuesday 26 April with the Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner being held on Thursday 25 May 2016 at the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.

Full details of the Awards, the Event and the Judges are available on the website (insert link) and you can follow news and updates about The Character Awards using #character2016

In other news, we had the lovely Kevan Holland in to see us last week from Trident Hospitality and we had a rather lengthy chat about Independent hotels and their increasing popularity amongst business travellers in the UK, according to the latest research from hotel reservation service HRS.

 

Figures showed a steady monthly rise with a 38% increase in the number of bookings for independent hotels from 2013 to 2014. This increased to 59% from 2014 to 2015. Kevan said he was very pleased with the research findings, especially as Trident has always been passionate about supporting independent venues and hotels. 

And he quotes “For the past 5 years we have worked relentlessly to get the recognition that these venues are a viable alternative to branded properties. Independents do not have the weight of a group behind them with large marketing budgets and a sales force. They do not have the resources to offer overrides that makes them attractive to the larger agents, but they can offer a team of passionate, professional and long serving staff and guests are not treated as a case of ‘here today gone tomorrow’. This is an ethos that we share at Cloud 9.

"There is continuity from enquiry through to delivery and invoicing, developing a relationship and long term loyalty.” During an interview for ‘The Caterer’ Jon West, managing director of HRS in the UK and Ireland, said independent hotels often have more attractive prices and better rating reviews.

 

“While chain hotels will remain important, independent hotels can be a great choice and are now a truly viable option, deserving of their place in the corporate hotel programme,” Jon said. “Outside the US, 30% of the hotels available are chain and 70% are independent but this is not currently reflected by the majority of corporate travel programmes. Interestingly, our latest data for 2014 tells us that while 66% of newly sourced hotels in the UK were independent, a staggering 84% of those actually booked by business travellers in the same year were still chain hotels. 

So, while it is fantastic news that individual hotels are finally starting to get the recognition they deserve from hotel bookers in 2015, there is still a job to be done in order for them to be truly considered part of a mixed hotel programme combining both chain and independent properties,” Jon said.

Kevan is pleased to see that as a collective of Independent Venues, Trident is now being taken seriously by some of the more established agents.  “We now have an agreement with Inntel that will see a greater exposure of our independent venue partners – a genuine partnership based on trust and not on how much the agency can squeeze out of the venues with no real promise of business,” he said.

“However is it saddening to see that independent venues are not well represented on Corporate Travel Programmes. It sometimes seems it is a case of money saving over value often pushed by procurement teams far removed from the hotel and venue users!”

Interesting stuff and a perspective that we very much share here at Cloud 9 - size does not always mean service and that is a value that we want to continue to deliver to our clients both existing and new in the future.

Have a great week...!