SO GOOD THAT WE COULDN’T IGNORE THEM!

The Meetings Star Award and the Conventa tradeshow together celebrate their 10th Anniversary. In the last decade, the Meetings Star Award has gained a special status among the event awards, while the award ceremony during the Conventa tradeshow has become a tradition that will this year be raised to an even higher level through a production of an autonomous event.

Based on 151 hidden guests’ ratings, which have been published in the Kongres Magazine, we have selected the winners of the MEETING STAR AWARD 2017.

  • 5 categories, 12 hidden guests
  • 465 evaluation criteria
  • 55 City Meeting Hotels evaluated
  • 44 Resort Meeting Hotels evaluated
  • 17 Spa Meeting Hotels evaluated
  • 16 Boutique Hotels evaluated
  • 19 Congress and Convention Centres evaluated

So, which hotels were most highly rated by the hidden congress guests sent out to the field by Kongres magazine throughout 2017?

The Meeting Star Award has been organised for the ten successive years 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.

The Hidden Congress Guest is an experienced expert in the field of congress organisation with knowledge in hotel and restaurant management, who visits a randomly selected hotel or participates in one of the hotel’s or congress centre’s events, where he evaluates the performance of the hotel’s services using an evaluation sheet. 

TOP 10 LUXURY CITY MEETING HOTELS 2017

RITZ CARLTON BUDAPEST
Budapest, Hungary 4.95
Ritz-Carlton is a synonym for quality and for supreme hotel services. This reputation has been completely justified also by the Hungarian first category hotel. Hotel Ritz is located in the heart od Budapest. We were not extremely impressed only by its location, but also by the staff’s professionality, hotel’s arrangement, and top-notch culinary. The complete experience of the hotel is thoughtfully designed, with a well-being of every guest in the foreground. Congress centre also follows this philosophy so that the four congress halls are customized to the most demanding clients. In this hotel both the form and the content are convincing, while the hotel itself sets high standards of quality.

corinthia-hotels

CORINTHIA HOTEL BUDAPEST
Budapest, Hungary 4.94
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.

HOTEL GRANDE BRETAGNE
Athen, Greece 4.85
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.

Dubrovnik, Hilton Imperial

HILTON IMPERIAL DUBROVNIK
Dubrovnik, Croatia 4.84
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.

old_mill_belgrade

RADISSON BLU OLD MILL HOTEL
Belgrade, Serbia 4.83
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.

ESPLANADE ZAGREB
Zagreb, Croatia 4.81
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.

grand_hotel_union

GRAND HOTEL UNION EXECUTIVE
Ljubljana, Slovenia 4.80
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.

HOTEL PARK
Split, Croatia 4.79
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.

hilton_podgorica

HILTON PODGORICA
Montenegro 4.79
With Hilton, Podgorica has acquired one of the best congress hotels in the region. In terms of both size and offer the congress centre is the biggest in Podgorica and is the heart of the new congress offer of the city. Hilton is of course synonymous with comfort, modernity and practicality, which is always delivered to a high level. This is supported by staff who represent the hotel’s strongest aspects. A few steps still divide the hotel from perfection, but overall the investor and the team deserve serious plaudits.

INTERCONTINENTAL LJUBLJANA
Ljubljana, Slovenia 4.78
The new Ljubljana’s asset is momentarily the only Ljubljana’s hotel boasting five-stars. Slovenia’s capital is richer for a supreme hotel and also for an excellent congress centre complemented by an innovative culinary. To be specific, Michelin Star chef Alfredo Russo prepared the menu. The most impressive is the B-restaurant in the 20th floor with spectacular views. Such space or rather such special venue Ljubljana badly needed. The hardly expected hotel is a great enrichment of Ljubljana’s hotel offer and a proof that Intercontinental understands the market’s needs well.

w-istanbul

W ISTANBUL
Istanbul, Turkey 4.77
The W Istanbul is a hotel that convinces guests who care for design and mainly trust the known brands. It makes you forget the idea of a cold and dull hotel lobby and rooms, and you will be surprised at every little detail you encounter with at every step. You will either be impressed or disappointed by the hotel. Our final impression was firmly crystallized – an excellent design hotel, which clearly differs from the more stereotypical chain hotel offer.

TOP 10 PREMIUM CITY MEETING HOTELS 2017

CROWNE PLAZA BELGRADE
Belgrade, Serbia
4.50

HOTEL CORNARO SPLIT
Split , Croatia
4.49

RADISSON BLU PLAZA
Ljubljana, Slovenia
4.48

radisson_blu_carlton_bratislava

RADISSON BLU CARLTON
Bratislava, Slovakia
4.47

hotel, falkensteiner, belgrade, serbia

FALKENSTEINER HOTEL BELGRADE
Belgrade, Serbia
4.47

BEST WESTERN PREMIER HOTEL LOVEC
Bled , Slovenia
4.45

hyatt_regency_belgrade

HYATT REGENCY
Belgrade, Serbia
4.44

HOTEL YASMIN
Kosice ,Slovakia
4.44

Hotel Lev

HOTEL LEV
Ljubljana, Slovenia
4.43

HOTEL SHERATON
Zagreb, Croatia
4.41

BEST WESTERN PREMIER HOTEL SLON
Ljubljana, Slovenia
4.39

HOTEL GALLERIA
Subotica, Serbia
4.38

The HIDDEN CONGRESS GUEST section is not paid for. The selection of hotels, which are
evaluated by the hidden congress guest, is left to the editorial board. The hidden guest
visits the hotels without prior notice.

The hotels are rated by the HIDDEN CONGRESS GUEST, who are professional people with years of experience in the meetings industry and the extra knowledge of hospitality management. The evaluation matrix consists of more than 450 measurable evaluation criteria that are divided into different categories, such as first contact with the customer, general impression upon arrival, behaviour of employees, as well as many others. Each category is assessed by the proportion of conditionality and an average rating, which in itself allows for the improvement of the quality of the individual criteria.

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