Business Space
Conference venues in Vienna and Moscow
[ VIENNA ]
YOU’D EXPECT THE CITY that once counted Beethoven and Mozart among its residents to be able to put on a show, and that’s what you get at the Arcotel Wimberger. The centre of its conference suites is a double-height theatre with a big screen, built-in stage and professional lighting equipment. There are even dressing rooms, as well as 11 meeting rooms that can be altered in size, catering for up to 900 people, and 225 rooms on-site. Matthew Priest
Arcotel Wimberger, 34-36 Neubaugürtel, Vienna, +43 1 521 65-0, www.arcotelhotels.com
[ MOSCOW ]
IF SHOCK AND AWE is part of your business strategy, then there are few better places to have a meeting than the Radisson Royal Hotel in Moscow. Perched on a dramatic sweep of the Moskva River, it was built by Stalin after the Second World War, one of the ‘Seven Sisters’, a family of enormous gothic towers which dot the city.
Now a multi-billion-ruble renovation (“We lost track of how much we were spending. The owners didn’t seem to care,” says the general manager) has brought it up to Western standards of five-star service and emptied several Italian quarries of their marble. There are all the conference facilities you’d expect (six meeting rooms, ballroom, room for 1,000 delegates in total), plus a couple of special extras.
The Library is a lavish business centre, with computers and Wi-Fi, and shelves lined with leather-bound copies of great Russian novels. Outside, the Radisson has its own fleet of river boats, equipped with ice-breakers for the winter months – rent one for a conference and make your keynote speech while cruising past the Kremlin. Now that’s impressive. Lee Cheshire
Radisson Royal Hotel, Kutuzovsky Prospect, +7 (495) 221 5555, www.radisson-hotels.ru/royal-moscow
IN BRIEF…
The official partner hotel for the London Design Festival, the Andaz Liverpool Street is the perfect place for a meeting away from the crowds. The festival runs from 18-26 September. Andaz, 40 Liverpool Street, London EC1, +44 (0)20 7961 1234, www.andaz.com
