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The COOL Venues Awards were developed by Prestige Events magazine to recognise an unsung and largely influential element that emerges in the process of planning a corporate event – How exciting is the venue? Will the invitees RSVP? Will they turn up?
Every corporate event organiser strives to ensure their next event is THE hot ticket
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Over the years, Prestige Events magazine has tried to identify for its readers, venues which will make the difference. Since our launch in 2003, it has become evident that there is a developing trend for corporate event organisers to seek newer and off-the-trodden-path venues. Prestige Events magazine, characterised by its unique design that sets itself apart from the competition, has set its editorial compass on what is COOL. The barometer should not be biased towards all that is ‘new’ in our opinion. There is a place for the classic / heritage venue. They often possess a character, charisma, and class that many ‘newer’ builds cannot yet match. So what is COOL? A COOL venue should have: Charisma, Originality, Style, Innovation, Sex Appeal, Authenticity, and Uniqueness. COOL is a very personal opinion. Therefore, a panel of judges was selected to form a council. Each understood the intrinsic factors, elements and characteristics that deem a venue to be COOL.
The council represents a diverse collective; writers, industry figureheads, and event organisers / specialists.
They have applied the strict guideline that each nominee should not be selected as a result of it’s technical capabilities, since many of these facets (lighting, AV, etc) can be imported.
 The Judges Council was created to collectively arrive at what are the COOL Venues that we have born witness to during the past 12 months. The panel consists of luminaries such as Zanine Adams of Visit London, Will Broome – President elect of the International Special Events Society UK Chapter and MD of Londonlaunch, Julian Saipe of leading caterers Zafferano, Kate Ingles of event management specialists Beyond, Simon Thompson MD of industry website Conferences-UK, and Kanya King MBE – creator of the highly glam MOBO awards, as well as Prestige Events editorial team.
The list of nominees and winners is very interesting and varied, ignoring barriers of fame, size, and wealth. On that note, I think we should get to the categories…
Prestige Events 2007 COOL Venues Awards Results
COOLest hotel chain (winner in caps)
1/ RADISSON EDWARDIAN
2/ Guoman
3/ Firmdale
4/ RF Hotels
5/ Jumeirah
6/ Schrager
7/ Malmaison
8/ Baglioni
9/ Morgans
10/ Pride of Britain / Marriott (tied)
COOLest Independent Hotel
1/ THE HEMPEL
2/ Landmark
3/ The Grove
4/ The g hotel
5/ K West
6/ Hoxton Hotel
7/ The Mandeville
8/ The Clarence
9/ The Dorchester
10/ Mar Hall
COOLest Country House / Castle / Heritage venue
1/ SOMERSET HOUSE
2/ Brocket Hall
3/ Stoke Park
4/ Whittlebury Hall
5/ Warwick Castle
6/ Skibo Castle
7/ Chewton Glen
8/ Castle Ashby
9/ Babington House
10/ Cliveden House / Great Tangley Manor / Waddesdon Manor (tied)
COOLest Boutique Hotel
1/ BAGLIONI HYDE PARK
2/ The Hempel
3/ The Soho / Browns hotel (tied)
4/ Grey Street
5/ The Haymarket
6/ The Clarence
7/ Malmaison Empire Liverpool
8/ Le Monde
9/ The Mandeville
10/ The Lowry Hotel
COOLest On Water venue
1/ SILVERFLEET
2/ Royal Caribbean
3/ Sunseeker
4/ The Waterside Café / The Floating Boater (tied)
5/ Bateaux London
6/ Hispaniola / Havengore (tied)
7/ P&O Cruises
8/ London Duck Tours
9/ HMS Belfast
10/ London RIB voyages / Flying Fish Tours (tied)
COOLest Sporting venue
1/ ARSENAL’S EMIRATES STADIUM
2/ Wembley
3/ Lords
4/ Ascot
5/ Aintree
6/ Chelsea
7/ Manchester United
8/ Wimbledon
9/ The Oval/ Gleneagles (tied)
10/ Twickenham Experience / Walthamstow Dogs (tied)
COOLest Museum / Gallery
1/ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
2/ Tate Modern
3/ Science Museum , London
4/ Wallace Collection
5/ Imperial War Museum
6/ The Serpentine
7/ The Custard Factory
8/ Dali Universe
9/ Somerset House, The Courtauld Institute
10/ Glasgow Science Museum
COOLest Conference / Exhibition Centre
1/ MACDONALD AVIEMORE
2/ Brocket Hall
3/ Royal Horticultural Hall
4/ The Mermaid
5/ SECC
6/ Belfast Waterfront Centre
7/ The Barbican
8/ The Energy Clinic
9/ The National Space Centre
10/ The Lowry Centre
COOLest Bar / Club
1/ MINISTRY OF SOUND
2/ Ice Bar
3/ 29 Glasgow
4/ The Cuckoo Club
5/ Mo*vida
6/ Loungelover
7/ Paper
8/ Fabric
9/ Sketch
10/ 24
COOLest Venue for Corporate Fun / Teambuilding
1/ ALTON TOWERS
2/ The Magic Circle HQ
3/ Urban Golf
4/ Walthamstow Dogs
5/ Nick Nairn Cooking School
6/ Heritage Motor Centre / Silverstone (tied)
7/ Ministry of Paintball
8/ Daytona Motorsport
9/ A day in the country / SNOzone (tied)
10/ Centerparcs / Go Ape (tied)
COOLest Restaurant
1/ GORDON RAMSAY AT CLARIDGES
2/ Mirabelle
3/ Hakkasan
4/ Sketch
5/ 29 Glasgow
6/ Gilgamesh
7/ Upper Glas
8/ San Carlo
9/ Browns Courtrooms / The Fat Duck (tied)
10/ Tamarai / 15 (Jamie Oliver) (tied)
COOLest venue for Award Ceremonies
1/ GROVESNOR HOUSE
2/ Natural History Museum
3/ The Roundhouse
4/ 02 Arena
5/ The Dorchester
6/ The Troxy
7/ The Louise T Blouin Foundation
8/ Williams F1 Centre / AECC
9/ SECC
10/ Old Billingsgate / East Wintergarden
COOLest for galas
1/ NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
2/ Grovesnor House Hotel
3/ Williams F1 Centre
4/ The Bloomsbury Ballroom
5/ BAFTA
6/ Park Plaza Riverbank
7/ The Hop Exchange
8/ V&A Museum
9/ Café Royal
10/ Glasgow City Halls & Fruitmarket / Old Billingsgate / Middle Temple Hall / The Gymnasium / Wrotham Park / Freemasons Hall / Chancery Lane (tied)
COOLest for receptions
1/ CANNON BRIDGE ROOF GARDENS
2/ Mercedes Brooklands
3/ Shrigley Hall
4/ The London Penthouse
5/ Serpentine Gallery
6/ Annex 3
7/ Sketch
8/ Jewel Piccadilly
9/ Wallace Collection
10/ The Savoy
COOLest for small meetings
1/ LORDS
2/ Wellington Arch
3/ Stoke Park
4/ The Hub, Birmingham
5/ IOD Hub, Manchester
6/ Inner Temple
7/ One Birdcage Walk
8/ Chewton Glen / The Ward Room
9/ Kent House, Knightsbridge
10/ Mallory Court
COOLest for outdoor events / hospitality
1/ SOMERSET HOUSE
2/ Cannon Bridge Roof Gardens
3/ Kew Gardens
4/ Battersea Evolution
5/ London Zoo
6/ Kensington Roof Gardens
7/ Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel & Spa
8/ Aintree
9/ Henley Regatta
10/ Gleneagles
COOLest venue architecture
1/ 30 ST MARY AXE
2/ The Roundhouse
3/02 Arena
4/ Royal Albert Hall
5/ Natural History Museum
6/ Imperial War Museum North
7/ SECC / Lloyds (tied)
8/ Laban
9/ Urbis
10/ Christchurch Spitafields
All-round COOL venue of 2007
1/ 30 ST MARY AXE
2/ The Roundhouse
3/ Natural History Museum
4/ Celtic Manor
5/ Somerset House
6/ The g hotel
7/ The Grove
8/ Louise T Blouin Foundation
9/ Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium
10/ The Hospital
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