The Meetings Star Award has been awarded for the past twelve years by the editorial board of Kongres Magazine and Conventa to the best destinations, meeting hotels and individuals. The gala ceremony for the winners will take place on Tuesday, 22 February 2022 at 17.00 online.
Since its inception, the Meetings Star Award has become a recognised accolade by event organisers and the industry. It is considered one of the rare awards based on comprehensive criteria and standards. The evaluated hotels and destinations are assessed by hidden congress guests. They are industry professionals with rich experience in event organising and extensive knowledge in the hotel business. Furthermore, the assessors have verified references in ensuring the quality of their work in the meetings industry, thus ensuring clients get objective insight and the reliability of the methodology. Our hidden guest assessors strive for objectivity, are fair, meticulous, reliable, well-organised and pay attention to detail. The evaluation matrix comprises over 500 tangible criteria, divided into various categories. Further information regarding the evaluation can be found at http://www.secret-congress-guest.eu/.
Before the event in February, it is our honour to present the best hotels in the second category – RESORT MEETING HOTELS.
A record-breaking 47 hotels from 10 countries of New Europe earned the certificate of quality within the category. The majority of evaluated hotels come from seaside resorts in Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia and Alpine tourist centres in Austria. Since the start of our evaluation, 75 resorts hotels have been evaluated, 63% of them acquiring the certificate.
The majority of resorts are located alongside the Adriatic Coast and in Alpine tourist destinations. Almost 60% of evaluated resort hotels boast smaller conference capacities for up to 400 attendees. Nearly 40% of them feature large congress centres, some even offering space for over 1000 attendees. Almost half of the resort hotels, 53,19%, belong to the five-star category, while the rest are four-star hotels.
The average final mark for resort hotels is surprisingly high of 4,70 and is higher compared to the evaluation in 2020 (4,68). Thus, resort hotels quality-wise represent the best the region has to offer. Among them, numerous world-class hotels earned the gold certificate. To be precise, 38% per cent (among city hotels, 30% per cent of hotels were awarded the gold certificate).
This year’s evaluation emphasizes assessing congress capacities and the adaptation of hotel congress centres to the corona reality. We have found out that hotels have made a noticeable improvement compared to 2020. Resort hotels generally have a better ratio between hotel rooms and congress capacities. Consequently, the hotels can host larger congress groups. The capacity theatre/number of rooms index clearly indicates a hotel’s congress capacities.
10 BEST RESORT MEETING HOTELS IN 2021
WINNER: GRAND PARK HOTEL ROVINJ
Final Mark: 4.97
Grand Park Hotel Rovinj is the culmination of Rovinj’s repositioning. The Monte Mulini area has, with the completion of the hotel, become a complete architectural and urban entity. With the addition of a purebred Adriatic congress hotel and the new ACI marina, a breathtaking space for events has been created. The most ambitious hotel project in the Adriatic has been swiftly noticed by international meeting planners. The tourist success goes hand in hand with the main congress hall that boasts the most Instagrammable panoramic view in the region. The functional design makes it ideal for event organising. It is no surprise the hotel has hosted a series of the region’s most distinguished events. Grand Park Hotel Rovinj is proof that local experts ranging from esteemed architects and designers to hoteliers have succeeded in creating the most luxurious hotel in Croatia and one of the most lavish hotels in Europe. Thus, Rovinj’s transformation is complete and will now excite countless meeting planners.
Read the full Hidden Guest evaluation here.
TOP TEN BEST RESORT HOTELS IN 2021
1. Grand Park Hotel, Rovinj, Croatia – final mark: 4.97
Read more here
2. Hotel Regent Porto Montenegro, Tivat, Montenegro – final mark: 4.96
Read more here
3. Grand Hotel Kempinski, Strbske Pleso, Slovakia – final mark: 4.91
Read more here
3. Kempinski Palace, Portorož, Slovenia – final mark: 4.91
Read more here
4. Hotel Lone, Rovinj, Croatia – final mark: 4.90
Read more here
4. Hotel Monte Mulini, Rovinj, Croatia – final mark: 4.90
Read more here
5. Falkensteiner Schloss Hotel, Velden, Austria – final mark: 4.88
Read more here
6. Chedi Luštica Bay, Luštica, Montenegro – final mark: 4.85
Read more here
6. Hilton Rijeka Costabella, Rijeka, Croatia – final mark: 4.85
Read more here
6. Hotel Gut Brandlhof, Saalfelden, Austria – final mark: 4.85
Read more here
7. Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Iadera, Zadar, Croatia – final mark: 4.84
Read more here
8. Bachleda Resort, Zakopane, Poland – final mark: 4.83
Read more here
8. Hotel Bellevue, Lošinj, Croatia – final mark: 4.83
Read more here
9. Elegans Hotel, Brdo, Slovenia – final mark: 4.82
Read more here
9. Hotel Bohinj, Bohinj, Slovenia – final mark: 4.82
Read more here
9. Rikli Balance Hotel, Bled, Slovenia – final mark: 4.82
Read more here
10. D-Resort, Šibenik, Croatia – final mark: 4.82
Read more here
We sincerely congratulate the best hotels and wish them a successful congress year of 2022.
On the day of the online gala ceremony, taking place on Tuesday, 22 February 2022, we will award the winners with prestigious accolades. Furthermore, all Meeting Star certificate recipients will be announced for 2021. In the category of resort hotels, the following certificates, divided into three sub-categories on the premise of achieved points in the hidden guest evaluation, will be announced:
18 GOLD certificates – final score from 4.81 to 5.00
13 SILVER certificates – final score from 4.61 to 4.80
16 BRONZE certificates – final score from 4.41 to 4.60
You are cordially invited to attend the award ceremony. To confirm your attendance, fill out the following registration form: https://form.123formbuilder.com/6079495/meetings-star-award-ceremony-2021.
All certificate recipients can be found in Kongres Magazine’s venue and hotel finder FIND VENUES at https://kongres-magazine.eu/search-venues/. You can seek hotels according to the certificate or final mark.
BRIEF ANALYSIS OF EVALUATED RESORT MEETING HOTELS
In this year, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the evaluation results. Below, we present some of our most intriguing findings for the premier time:
| Number of hotel rooms | Number of hotels | Percentage | Average |
| Over 500 | 0 | 0,00% | 0 |
| 301 – 500 | 10 | 21,28% | 343,8 |
| 201 – 300 | 10 | 21,28% | 231,1 |
| 101 – 200 | 19 | 40,43% | 148,6 |
| Less than 100 | 8 | 17,02% | 79,4 |
| Hotel room prices | Number of hotels | Percentage | Average |
| Up to 100 EUR | 5 | 10,64% | 79,4 EUR |
| From 101 to 200 EUR | 30 | 63,83% | 145,6 EUR |
| From 201 to 300 EUR | 9 | 19,15% | 239,6 EUR |
| Over 300 EUR | 3 | 6,38% | 360,7 EUR |
| Number of meeting rooms | Number of hotels | Percentage | Average size |
| 1 to 5 | 18 | 38,30% | 3,3 |
| 6 to 10 | 18 | 38,30% | 7,7 |
| 11 to 20 | 10 | 21,28% | 12,4 |
| More than 20 | 1 | 2,13% | 23 |
| Total event space in sqm | Number of hotels | Percentage | Average size |
| Up to 200 sqm | 3 | 6,38% | 113,3 |
| 201 to 500 sqm | 7 | 14,89% | 380,3 |
| 501 to 1000 sqm | 19 | 40,43% | 718,7 |
| 1001 to 2000 sqm | 11 | 23,40% | 1350,6 |
| Over 2000 sqm | 7 | 14,89% | 3103,3 |
| Max. capacity theatre | Number of hotels | Percentage | Average size |
| 0 to 100 participants | 2 | 4,26% | 45 |
| 101 to 250 participants | 14 | 29,97% | 185,7 |
| 251 to 500 participants | 17 | 36,17% | 362,9 |
| 501 to 1000 participants | 10 | 21,28% | 715,6 |
| Over 1000 participants | 4 | 8,51% | 1325 |
