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6 OF THE BEST
Sharon Greaves selects six venues offering high-quality meetings facilities all through the year
Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge
Contact Laura Oliver, 01223 332418
Web www.caiusconference.com
Number of meeting rooms 7
Largest space holds 120
From September. Gonville and Caius College will be able to offer modern meetings space and accommodation during the holidays, courtesy of an £11 m student residence. The facility, designed in an S shape to fit around the protected trees on site, incorporates 75 ensuite rooms and the hi-tech Cavonius Centre. Its four conference rooms hold 120 delegates altogether and there are three syndicate rooms, each holding ten.
The North London Forensic Service is one of the first clients and will bring 150 senior medics for a two-day conference this month. Conference manager Claire Wells says: "It is quite difficult within the old colleges to find sufficiently large facilities. A new-build like this gives us something academic but modern with more luxurious accommodation, but we still use the older rooms for atmospheric banquets and speakers' dinners."
Royal Holloway, University of London
Contact Matthew Woodhall, 01784 443045
Web www.rhul.ac.uk/fm
Number of meeting rooms 21
Largest space holds 400
The Surrey campus, dominated by the architecturally flamboyant Founder's Building, already offers 12 meeting rooms and two Victorian banquet halls, located close to Heathrow and Windsor. This month sees a £35m development programme kick in, which will add a lecture theatre complex, housing a 400-seat auditorium with eight seminar rooms.
The new facility will have floor-to-ceiling windows in the foyer areas and an undulating copper roof. Eight clients have already confirmed bookings, including the Association of University Engineers and the CAQDAS Networking Project. At the same time, a catering hub for 400 will open, featuring retail outlets, a coffee bar, and servery area. Some 420 extra en-suite bedrooms will follow in early 2007. Recently. Royal Holloway was also one of the first UK universities to launch an online delegate registration service.
Salisbury Green Hotel & Conference Centre, Edinburgh
Contact Sales team, 0131 651 2189
Web www.salisburygreen.com
Number of meeting rooms 4
Largest space holds 40
Part of the University of Edinburgh and the city's newest conference facility, the Baronial mansion was converted from a student hall of residence...