HIDDEN GUEST: Perla, Resort & Entertainment

The town of Nova Gorica, together with its twin town Gorizia (in Italy), is a relatively young town with a mild climate that is accessible to guests from all over the world, which offers a wide range of entertainment, gaming and interesting  sports and recreational events. HIT is the biggest and most successful Slovenian tourist gaming company, which is mainly focused on guests visiting its casinos, most often from the Italian market. Although throughout the years HIT has been focused on developing amusement tourism – the organisation of various musical and entertainment programmes in its two central gaming centres in Nova Gorica – by expanding its accommodation capacity at Hotel Perla, the development of congress activities in Nova Gorica (the town has a further five halls that are suitable for congress activities) is without doubt the best complementary activity to its gaming activity.

The Perla Hotel & Casino is just an hour’s drive from Ljubljana and Venice. Nova Gorica lies at a crossroads of transport and railway routes, close to airports and marinas, and just a stone’s throw from the coast and the Alps. In addition, it is at the intersection of the picturesque Soča and Vipava valleys, the Karst region and Brda, where influences of Slavic, Romany and Germanic cultures are intertwined. It is in close proximity to three world famous wine growing areas and its pristine nature is an ideal place from where to set off on numerous excursions and experiences. Thanks to the proximity of Trieste and Venice airports, it therefore makes an attractive complete package that is simply and quickly accessible. There is also ample parking, and from this aspect of accessibility the Perla Hotel & Casino is a great choice.

As a casino, Perla grew literally overnight in 1993. A decade later, one of the biggest casinos in Europe was renovated and ambitious architecture was created which has since then largely defined the image of Nova Gorica. The building is reminiscent of an ocean liner.

Of greater importance than its innovative architecture is that the building, with its large glass areas and attractive lighting throughout, comes to life at night. That is when the building takes on its second nightlife, as the interior has been modelled along the lines of Las Vegas. It is designed to take guests into a different world. Opinions about the aesthetics of such architecture are divided, however, in spite of the fact that the appearance already seems to be somewhat dust-covered, it still attracts large numbers of guests.

HIT’s employees ensure that guests and visitors to the hotel and casino feel good, safe, and that the level of trust is at a high level. Friendliness and the general professionalism is part of the experience. HIT’s team of caterers, chefs, waiting staff and sommeliers have always been considered above average. Some of its culinary masters are members of Slovenia’s national cookery representatives, among them Marko Furlan, who heads up the kitchen in Hotel Park. We have to admit that the cuisine is exquisite and the service is at a very high level. The wine list is also impressive, which was put together in co-operation with the best of Slovenia’s vintners from the Primorska region. We recommend a visit to one of the food and wine gastronomic events that take place in the Perla and Park hotels. Such experiences are also known to charm congress and catering guests.

There is some room for improvement in the area of breakfasts, which are solid but not outstanding, and even more dishes could be offered from the exceptionally rich local cuisine.

Congress tourism has a long tradition at Perla, although to begin it only had a small hall available to market. Since 2006 Perla has had a new conference centre which offers the Pinta conference hall in a theatre set up with 280 seats, which can be partitioned into three separate halls. Next to the hall is the Nina meeting room with a large foyer in the new part of Hotel Perla. In combination with the casino, it provides numerous possibilities for the organisation of programmes for the requirements of congresses all under one roof.

The variety of entertainment and regular new types of fun and gaming which can be built in to the organisation of an event.

At weekends the hotel is occupied with casino guests. Therefore, when organising events it is better to avoid weekends and instead choose a less busy time during the week.

HIT has four hotels of various categories in Nova Gorica and the surroundings with 442 tastefully-decorated rooms and seven hotel restaurants. This enables various combinations to match the needs of your event.

Since making decisions on holding corporate events is to a large extent based on location, which influences the entire remaining part of the event (size of rooms, cuisine, accommodation, parking for participants, sports activities, visits to natural and cultural attractions etc.), Nova Gorica is becoming an interesting destination for corporate events. Its extremely interesting hinterlands also offer numerous possibilities for incentive programmes. Sadly, it is a destination that is too frequently overlooked, as its image of casinos is predominant in the minds of many event organisers. Among the main advantages of the hotel are its excellent cuisine and the possibility for large numbers of participants to be accommodated in the HIT group’s various hotels (there are two further hotels in close proximity of a lower price category). Our opinions are divided about the attractiveness of the combination of casinos and congress tourism, however, taking Las Vegas as an example is proof that it works.

It is because of all these factors that Nova Gorica is a new, fresh and different place to hold business meetings. It is rapidly developing as a first-class congress town, which will soon be able to position itself alongside already established congress centres. It is an ideal place for meetings, motivational programmes and conferences – in short, events of all kinds.