Meeting Star Award 2016: Top 10 City Meeting Hotels 2016

GOOD, BETTER, THE BEST.  SOO GOOD THAT WE COULDN’T IGNORE IT!

Based on 133 hidden guests’ ratings, which have been published in the Kongres Magazine, we have selected the winners of the MEETING STAR AWARD 2016.

– 5 categories, 12 hidden guests
– 465 evaluation criteria
– 45 City Meeting Hotels evaluated
– 38 Resort Meeting Hotels evaluated
– 16 Spa Meeting Hotels evaluated
– 16 Boutique Hotels evaluated
– 18 Congress and Convention Centres evaluated

Today we evaluated 43 city meeting hotels and here is our top ten for 2016:

1. CORINTHIA HOTEL BUDAPEST
The Hotel Corinthia has a character that has no match anywhere in the city. An elegant hotel building, top-notch service and excellent congress facilities place it at the very top of the regional congress hotel offers. It has the biggest selection of congress halls in Budapest, all of them 5 star,and includes 31 meeting rooms, the baroque-style Grand Ballroom and the special Executive Lounge is suitable for private congress organiser meetings. Luxury comfort, modern elegance and technology tie the offer together.

2. HOTEL GRANDE BRETAGNE
Hotel Grand Bretagne is in a world of its own and definitely falls into the top league of regional hotels. It is a hotel institution, which will never disappoint. The highest standards in comfort, cuisine and overall pleasure wrapped inside a package that still defines the standards of what quality should feel like in Athens. A big plus is the option of combining conference halls and hotel capacities with its subsidiary hotel, King George, and thus opening up possibilities for larger groups.

3. HILTON IMPERIAL DUBROVNIK
Last year the hotel won the award for the leading hotel in each brand of the Hilton Worldwide chain – Connie Award – and it convinced us too with its luxury and superior level of customer service. A hotel with such a soul that speaks for itself is also an excellent choice for congresses, budget permitting of course. The hotel has witnessed many historic congress events and banquets, which continue not to disappoint right up to today. This is a serious hotel institution with a deep soul.

4. RADISSON BLU OLD MILL HOTEL
Radisson Old Mill took a risk and in doing so it has come out very well – they have captured just the right aesthetic balance, where the top quality hotel ingredients have never been wrapped up in ballast and the new space has been balanced with the story of the former mill. The result is an elegant concept of an authentic hotel, a cult restaurant and a dynamic lounge bar, all of which gives a new dimension to Belgrade tourism and at the same time has set new standards.

5. ESPLANADE ZAGREB
The elegant and recognisable hotel building is one of Zagreb’s secession icons. Since its opening the hotel has been a centre of social life and the most luxurious hotel in the regionThe hotel is an excellent choice for business and congress guests and is probably the regional flagship in terms of service quality, customer care, prestige and image. Staying at the hotel is a special experience, with a package that gives you a feeling of luxury.

6. GRAND HOTEL UNION EXECUTIVE
The taste of meeting organisers can be unpredictable and difficult to follow, but the choice of Grand Hotel Union is always definitely the right one, due to its excellent convention halls and, of course, the flexible and friendly staff. In the Ljubljana conference offer the Grand Hotel Union reigns supreme. An excellent hotel for convention gourmets and since 1905 a true flag-bearer of Ljubljana’s hotel conference offer.

7. HOTEL PARK
One of the oldest and most prestigious hotels in Split, Hotel Park has an elite location next to Split’s most famous beach, Bačvice. This year the five-star hotel expanded its capacity, so it now offers 73 rooms, including six luxury apartments. The interior is dominated by its art deco style with a timeless elegance and a sense of the hotel’s soul can be felt on the large, luxurious terrace with sea views and a prestigious conference centre.

7. METROPOL PALACE
Following a long renovation its historic heritage has been excellently rebuilt and today the hotel is again flirting with premium hotels in the major metropolitan cities of the region. Warm colours, superior lighting, retro furniture and services at an appropriate level set it among the best hotels in the Balkans. If you want to impress your conference guests then at the moment this hotel is Belgrade’s best choice. It is the hotel from which the memory of the good old times is brought back to you, something that a lot of people are longing for today.

8. HOTEL EUROPE SARAJEVO
It has long been known that hotels need a good story, and not many have a story like Hotel Europa. It started in late 1882 and continued after its renovation. There hasn’t been an important event to characterise the city that didn’t pass through this legendary institution. The hotel is sold to you with its comfort, but the location next to the famous Baščaršija is also something very special. An excellent independent hotel with a top congress offer.

8. HILTON ATHENS
A hotel that is loved by guests like Aristotle Onassis, Frank Sinatra, Ingmar Bergman, Anthony Quinn and the Rolling Stones has made it the place to be. The area around the hotel is known among locals simply as the Hilton area. It impresses with its professional congress service and a modernistic design with Mediterranean touches, creating a visually perfect and pleasing image. Hilton has successfuly been following all of the latest trends in terms of cuisine and overall service, which is why it is the perfect choice for organising events.

9. HOTEL EXCELSIOR & SPA DUBROVNIK
Dubrovnik’s high-flier continues to defy the passage of time and also its increasing competition in the city. The image of the hotel’s myth is built on the reputation of it being the city’s best hotel. This traditional hotel is still very high on the quality scale, although it now has several competitors breathing down its neck. ‘Excelsior is Excelsior’, though, and this is a sentence that you will often hear spoken in Dubrovnik, and with good reason. It would be difficult to place any other Dubrovnik hotel into this sentence with the same special meaning, but take nothing away from the value of other local competitors who are continuing to build on their own strengths.

10. HOTEL WESTIN
The Westin Hotel is a contemporary but not modern, spacious but not over equipped, robust yet flexible hotel for those who care a lot for practicality and reliability. The hotel still functions perfectly and is well received among congress clients due to its versatility and the professionalism of the staff. Service, staff, quality in all the important elements of the hotel works well. Plus hotel is getting a make over with renovation of the hotels public spaces and rooms.

The Meeting Star Award has been organised for the sixth successive year and the principle remains the same – the winners are selected by hidden congress guests, who make an independent evaluation of the quality of the hotel, congress, restaurant and other services.