Earls Court & Olympia: 3 Hotels for Business Travellers

Getting the right hotel can have a great impact of ones experience of an exhibition I find. Staying in a hotel which offers affordable round the clock high speed Internet, a decent restaurant, bar and good service overall, leaves you able to focus on the business at hand. Stay in a bad hotel and lack of sleep from people running up and down the corridor all night and being unable to find anywhere nearby good to eat - and the time in London at an exhibition can begin to feel draining.

The good thing about attending exhibitions in London at the Earls Court and Olympia Exhibition venues is that there are many excellent hotels and a good choice. Below though we mention 3 of our favourites from personal experience.

1. The Bentley, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel - Although not in Earls Court itself, it is an easy and short taxi ride each morning and this hotel is splendid. Not the cheapest option by far, but if you want luxury, great service a world class restaurant in the hotel and real luxury, then the Bentley Waldorf comes highly recommended.

2. The Marriott Kensington - also in nearby Kensington, this hotel keeps up with the Marriott brand and if you travel often you might be like me, in that it is great to know what to expect in a hotel. I usually always choose the Marriott and the Kensington hotel meets all the standards one would expect. A great location also for good restaurants in the evenings.

3. Hilton London Olympia - For convenience to the Olympia venue, the Hilton Olympia s a very good option. Although not as decadent as the Bentley Waldorf, if you want a more affordable option to avoid paying £300 a night, this is a very good place to stay. It ticks a lot of the boxes and you can walk to the exhibition venue without the danger of getting stuck in any commuter traffic in a taxi cab.

The month ahead: March 2011 Exhibition Highlights

It has already been a great start to 2011 with some great events already having taken place - including London Fashion Week, the Scotland Wedding Show and Spring Fair Birmingham. The good news is that are plenty of very good exhibitions also coming up in March 2011. 3 our favourite March exhibitions below:

1. Focus on Imaging - Imaging is so important in some many areas of the business world that it is hard to ignore the need for being involved in this field in some way. You might need graphics for your exhibition stand or for a website, or for stationary or perhaps for the side of your vehicles for branding. Imaging is used extensively in the business world. (6th - 9th March in the NEC Birmingham).

2. The Scottish Motorcycle Show - an event which brings in biking fans, suppliers and related companies from around the world, this is a great event for seeing the very latest from the industry. (12th and 13th March at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh).

3. Antiques for Everyone - this is really quite a fun show to attend and tends to have quite a relaxed atmosphere. This is still a serious and very handy show for the antiques industry, but its also one of those shows which attracts people of all ages and tends to offer something of interest for everyone present. (17th to 20th March at the NEC Birmingham).

Upcoming Exhibitions: FUTURA FAIR 2011

Futura Fair is well established as the leading fashion trade fair in Ireland, with this show now already an impressive 35th years old and still going. It has a reputation as being the best platform for designers and manufacturers to showcase and parade their products to buyers from all over Ireland. It is one thing sending catalogues and marketing literature to buyers, but as all manufacturers know, there is nothing as powerful as communicating with a buyer face-to-face.

One of the main features of the Futura Fair are the fashion catwalks which provide the opportunity to parade the latest items in front of all of the buyers at one time, something which will be hard to achieve at any other time. The shows include running commentary so if you get your designs and accessories correct there is no way that they will slip the attention of the buyers.

As well as the catwalks, the other opportunity for designers to showcase their designs is in the design studio, where the designers will have the opportunity to meet with the many agents and buyers who will be walking around and browsing the exhibitions. There really is no better occasion in Ireland to network with so many people who can have such a direct and significant influence on your success.

The Futura Fair is not only designed to propel new men’s and women’s clothing designs into the spotlight, it also includes kids clothing as well as footwear and fashion accessories. If you are travelling from afar, Dublin Airport is your main entry point by air and from the airport it is quite easy to get a taxi to the main city centre hotels. Ballsbridge is the best for a hotel if you are in the city for a few days for an exhibition, given the areas closeness to the city centre and perfect for attending RDS Centre exhibitions. The show takes place on the 27th & 28th February and 1st March 2011 in Dublin.

Country Spotlight: 3 Exhibition venues in Amsterdam

Amsterdam plays host to a wide range of Exhibitions and trade shows on an annual basis. These shows are held in a range of different venues around the city, meaning that there is the potential to hold shows of a varying size and nature. Below is a guide to three of the exhibition and trade venues around the city:

Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Conference Centre - This is probably the best known venue for trade shows and exhibitions in Amsterdam. It is a vast complex boasting a number of different conference and exhibition halls. This makes it highly flexible in terms of the type of event that it can host and the number of people that it can accommodate. A recent expansion has increased the size of this venue even further. Each year, it is estimated that around 2 million people will visit the RAI.

Hotel Okura - This hotel offers luxury five star accommodation as its core business, but also has a high quality conference facility which can be transformed to host a variety of events. It is in the centre of Amsterdam close to the core business activity within the city. It is arguably amongst the higher quality venues in the city.

Amsterdam Arena - This venue is famous for hosting sporting events and in particular for being home to Ajax football club. There are, however, a number of conference and trade venues around the stadium and the main arena itself can be converted to accommodate large scale events. (Official Amsterdam Arena site).

------Brought to you from Clip Ltd - UK Exhibition Stands Specialists.