Forget ginger biscuits and getting to know you games, 1000ft above the ground is the new place to make a deal or bond with your colleagues. Yes, Best Western hotels have launched a range of fun meeting options, including sky diving, in response to some rather unusual meeting requests.
Gone are the days of businessmen in suits looking for a boardroom with a projector screen as the largest group of independent hotels, Best Western, has launched a range of weird and wonderful meetings to get the creativity flowing – which also includes tank driving, hover crafting even ghost hunting!
Tim Wade, head of marketing at Best Western said: “We’ve had some very unusual meeting requests at the different hotels, ranging from the club who wanted twin beds for themselves and their dogs and the group who insisted on having blue food.”
“We always try to accommodate our guests requirements – no matter how off the wall they may be. Our hotels want to ensure that your meeting reflects your personality and believe that when it is conducted in an unusual environment you will get more out of your staff and the activity.”
Psychologist Dr David Holmes comments: “In a revolutionary approach to breaking with tradition, Best Western have not only varied the setting and meeting format they offer but incorporated adventure settings creating ‘Adventure Meetings’.
Clearly, meeting in a tank, hovercraft or when skydiving would give the members new skills beyond those of the boardroom and may result in a healthier happier workforce. However, the benefits of unusual meetings may go well beyond having new experiences and flying abilities!
“Whilst meetings still look to achieve conventional ends there is no reason why businesses can’t take their lead from these groups and create a working experience where delegates will thrive creatively outside of their normal working environment. Traditional meetings often involve participants gathering around the same table in the same room. This can also lead to very similar interactions with the same individuals often leading discussions in predictably similar directions stifling creative thinking and enthusiasm.”
Strange requests
Inspired by the weird and wonderful requests they have received in the past year Best Western have created a package of different, yet achievable, meeting packages to bring a little spice to the yearly AGM. These include:
Sky-diving – Staff from Best Western’s head office took part in a sky dive in order to highlight the diversity of meeting options available and to show that a meetings can be worthwhile whether in a hotel or thousands of feet above one.
Tank driving – A meeting at the Best Western Castle Green in Cumbria could be conducted behind the wheel of a tank while navigating a specially created obstacle course. Offering a great way to boost teamwork, it offers an interesting way to work through any professional differences.
Hovercraft meeting – The Best Western Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel in Doncaster offers the chance to hold your team bonding session onboard a hovercraft. The delegates are challenged with moving their hovercraft around a course while the meeting is taking place.
Ghostly goings on – If a spooky delegate is required to join a meeting, a number of Best Western hotels would be ideal. The mad maid might gatecrash the meeting in Best Western Dean Court hotel in York with a slam of the door or the tax inspector in the Best Western Vine Hotel in Skegness could be a useful addition to a budget meeting.
Dr Holmes continues; “Such meetings will be far more enjoyable and eagerly anticipated rather than dreaded, raising optimism and confidence in the meeting processes. This will also add more enthusiasm, energy and productivity to the gathering and subsequent implementation of ideas. Far more staff will want to participate and meetings will be highly distinctive, enabling delegates to instantly recall and reference items discussed and decisions taken with ease. Unusual meetings may produce unusual thinking and consequently revolutionary solutions to persistent issues.
Best Western is the largest group of independent hotels in the UK. The hotels retain their individual charm and character but also offer the benefits of belonging to such a large group – ease of booking, a centralised system for room rates, great choice of location and guaranteed high standards.
With over 1200 well-equipped meeting rooms, Best Western can offer more choice for meetings and events needs.
There is an experienced team at head office to handle the enquiry, plan every aspect of the event and book the facilities and a dedicated member of staff at each hotel to ensure the event runs smoothly and delivers to exacting standards.
This takes the pressure off all throughout the process of booking and arranging the meeting.
To book a meeting or event at any Best Western hotel contact reservations on 0845 33 00 120 of for more information on joining Best Western contact the membership team on 01904 695400.