Lunch at The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong

On the 13^th January we arrived and visited The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong to meet the lovely Jessica, Sales Manager and Maggie, Assistant Director of Catering & Conferences services. The hotel has 285 guest rooms and suites, 4 restaurants and bars, an extensive health club with personal training services, swimming pool, gym and squash courts. 

We had lunch at the Jin Zuan Restaurant –located on the 53^rd floor, and restaurant can seat 52 guests, six private dining rooms of 64 seats and two VIP private dining rooms of 40 seats. The five-course lunch was certainly a big treat on arrival to China, the food was delicious, being Chinese myself, I would classify the cuisine as high-end Chinese cuisine.

The Ritz-Carlton has five different dining experiences; Scena which offers Italian cuisine with a total dining of 133 seats and a private dining room for 18 guests, also located on the 52^nd floor is Aura, which offers afternoon tea and coffee during the day, then in the evening the atmosphere changes into a jazz entertainment night which seats a total of 130 guests. On the 1^st floor there is Aroma, which presents casual seating serving coffee and other refreshing beverages with a casual western menu. Finally Flair located on the 58^th Floor, amazing isn’t enough to describe how truly breath taking the view was. This restaurant serves Asian style tapas and has a raw seafood bar – the outdoor terrace would be a great venue for summer evenings, seating both outdoor and indoor for 239 guests.

The bedrooms all contained amazing marble bathtubs, which was transported from no less than Italy itself. The bathtub alone was amazing let alone the rest of the décor in every room which was designed between a classic luxury look with Asian and European twists.

There are a grand total of 15 meeting spaces at the Ritz, the Grand Ballroom holds 1,188 theatre style –difficult to believe that a hotel can hold that many people in one space. Jessica showed us their capabilities of all the spaces, they ability to alter the rooms accordingly to the brief.

The hotel represents timeless class which is different to find in some countries, the exquisite design and personal and attentive staff service truly make a difference.

For further event enquiries or information for events in Shanghai or globally please do not hesitate to contact our Senior Events Manager Anita Engebretsen at anita@emc3.eu.

By Ellen Lai 

Mandarin Oriental, Pudong, Shanghai 

Part of the Mandarin Oriental portfolio stands the beautifully new Mandarin Oriental, Shanghai overlooking the Pudong River. On Saturday 18th January 2014, Anita and I ventured to the hotel to enjoy the Spa …revitalising after a few busy days.  The concept of the spa was after you feel “reborn”. Definitely a mutual feeling for us. After our Oriental massage’s,  we were escorted to the relaxation room where there were jet-black leather lounge chairs with huge white crescent pillows overlooking a tranquil and secluded garden which was purposely built one level down into the spa. We were offered various healthy refreshments, the chairs even had in-built iPods and the capability to charge your phone – could you want anymore?!

Vicky, the Sales Manager informed us The Spa at The Mandarin Oriental, Shanghai had 8888 butterfly models in the spa and fitness centre. The significant being 8 is the lucky number for the Chinese; originating from the number sounding like the word meaning “to generate wealth”.

During this time we were shown the largest residential suite in Shanghai (Jackie Chan was the first person to stay in this suite!,  there are a total of 362 new bedrooms including this luxurious suite. The Mandarin Oriental is located on a new street, so new it wasn’t familiar to the cab driver #trendsetters anyone?

Not stopping there, the event spaces are located on the lower ground boasting two ballrooms, five function rooms, three boardrooms and a unique outdoor space adjacent to the river. One of the event spaces can be used as a communal/break-out room, which also has a chef on call – they can conjure anything up for your special event. The Grand Ballroom a contemporary design with a beautiful crystal chandelier can fit up to 450 banquet style and 750 theatre style, it can also be divided up into smaller rooms for break-out rooms, or smaller functions and is unique for its high ceilings. The Oriental Ballroom mirrors the Grand Ballroom in style, but is on a smaller scale fitting up to 250 guests. The external space offers a lovely alternative to overlooking the Huangpu River and if a perfect place to have a reception and with a capacity up to 2,000 guests! A unique selling point about their event spaces the foyer area offers massage chairs where delegates can take a couple minute to unwind.

Presidential Suite

The general décor corresponded with China’s theme of Marble however, a Master national-level artist, Mr Lai De Quan especially painted 43 porcelain artworks for the Mandarin Oriental, Shanghai. There was also the stonewall mosaic which from a far was a scene of trees.

We then had dinner at Fifty 8 degree grill – though a steakhouse the vegetarian options were equally delicious. The restaurant name comes from the perfect temperature to cook steak at medium rare. Fair to say- Dan was in food heaven! The contemporary French grill from Michelin-starred chef Richard Ekkebus was a lovely experience and the imported wines in glass wine cabinets at the entrance in a hallway style adding something different to the restaurant.

After dinner we went to see the apartments these are used for those who want to stay long-term, to be eligible for this you must rent the apartment for a minimum of one week – the standard amenities all include a kitchen, living room, lovely bathroom and bedroom and an amazing city or harbour view! If you want to feel at home this is definitely something I would recommend for longer stays in Shanghai.

Overall, the hotel was one of the best hotels I had ever visited, the atmosphere was lovely – the staff were very attentive and helpful – if you have any further events requirements or enquiries in Shanghai or beyond please do not hesitate to contact our Senior Events Manager, Anita Engebretsen at anita@emc3.eu

By Ellen Lai

Malta Conference: Online Payments Company

After Months of preparation on Saturday 18^th January emc3’s Stephanie, Imogen and Dan set of to Malta to manage a conference for a prestigious online payments company. The main conference took place in Radisson Blu Golden Sands, which is a large hotel situated on one of the very few sand beaches in Malta. The space was ideal for the event as spreading over 2,000 square metres and featuring 12 state-of-the-art meeting rooms the conference facilities were certainly second to none.  The natural daylight and amazing view from almost every meeting room also added to the conferences success and all the delegates staying in the hotel were able to enjoy access to the spa, sports and leisure activities. Additionally with there being up to 200 guests booked into the hotel it meant that we were able to put the VIP’s in the newly renovated Registry suites, making sure that their stay was a memorable one.  The selection of restaurants and bars for breakouts and after-hour meetings also meant that all the delegates were able to enjoy the few days of work away as some time for some fun, rest and relaxation.

On the first few days the emc3 team took the time to set up everything that was going to be required for the upcoming week’s event. This involved unpacking all the boxes of the equipment, setting up the signage around the hotel, ensuring the rooming list was entirely finalised and putting together all the delegate packages. On the Tuesday it was time to start collecting the guests, and by Wednesday afternoon everyone had arrived and was fully settled into the resort.

The conference was mainly focused around the use of the main ballroom that was transformed to represent the brand and the use of an interactive ‘gaming’ system meant that the delegates were able to personally engage with the conference format. There was also time out for more personal and one on one business meetings as well as sessions particularly set aside for Q+A’s. In each of these sessions the emc3 team ensured that everything was running smoothly and on schedule, as well as helping with the presentation format and microphones.

On two of the evenings all the guests set out on coaches to see a bit more of what Malta had to offer. With a medieval themed dinner one night, and an award dinner on the other it was again the role of the emc3 team to make sure everyone was happy and that the structure of the evening ran as planned. This involved organising the entrance of a flash mob to personally presenting each of the prizes for the awards ceremony. The biggest task was trying to get everyone back on the coaches and back to the resort, as most didn’t want to the successful evenings to end!

On the Friday after the closing session of the conference the emc3 team organised the taxi’s to ensure everyone got to the airport on time for their flights home. Once all the delegates had left it really became clear how all of the hard work had payed off, because although very tired from such a busy week the conference could not have been more of a success! The team then had the chance to enjoy a day of relaxation before flying back to London and embarking on the next exciting event in the diary! Emc3 have much experience and knowledge in conferences as well as various other types of events, marketing and concierge (http://www.emc3.eu). If you have a personal enquiry then please do not hesitate to contact our senior events manager, Stephanie Utting at Stephanie@emc3.eu

By Imogen Darch

Business Beyond Borders: Law, Firms and Markets in the US and China

From Friday 17^th January to Saturday 18^th January emc3 managed NYU’s Business Beyond Border’s conference in Shanghai, China. The main conference took place at The Westin Bund Centre, Shanghai hotel on the bund in the Diamond Ballroom. The Westin hotel contains 570 guest rooms with city views, the dining options consisted of a wide variety – ranging from “The Stage International Buffet” serving the local and international cuisines, “EEST – The Crystal Garden” dishes from their team of Chinese, Japanese and Thai chefs – the natural daylight and garden feel adds a friendly atmosphere to the restaurant. “Prego” – an authentic Italian Restaurant in the Hotel – bringing an Italian element to China. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to visit the Niche Bar in the hotel but it offers a number of signature cocktails and international selection of beers and spirits.  Other hotel facilities consisted of executive lounge, a fitness centre which consisted of gym equipment, heated indoor pool, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, yoga, cardio and weight room – all of this came with complimentary towels, headsets and bottled water! There were a further 17 breakout rooms - we used one as a staff room; the speakers were also able to prepare here if they required.

The conference kicked off with opening speech by Jennifer Carpenter, associate professor, NYU Stern School of Business; Associate Director, Centre for Global Economy and Business  talking about ‘The Real Value of China’s Stock Market’ –The day continued with more exciting topics from various different speakers ranging from Professors to Executive Presidents and Directors from mainly Chinese firms and schools such as Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Peking University Law School, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Fudan University.

After the conference day on Saturday the guests proceeded to Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund – famed for the Long Bar (an impressive 34 metre bar counter and longest in the Far East back in the early days of the 1910s.) Waldorf has 260 guest rooms along with spacious suites and an array of amenities ranging from the spa, fitness, shopping and much more. They have a good range of dining areas within the hotel, the Grand Brassiere (presents dishes from around the world and a Champagne Brunch on Sundays), Pelham’s – a modern French cuisine which uses local ingredients and seasonal products – Chef Bruno combines the modern French cuisine with classics that he has perfected over the past 20 years’ – his signature dish includes the Foie Gras Terrine with Cassis Gastrique and Alaskan King Crab with Avocado-Crab Cannelloni. The other restaurants rang from a variety of Chinese to afternoon tea in the Salon de Ville – bringing an element of east meets west!

After the reception drinks a private dinner was arranged which took place at The Peninsula Shanghai. The private event space for the dinner party was perfect for what NYU required; there was space for the guests to have a reception area before and after dinner, the décor was unique as it presented an Asian fee but seems to have vibes which could be related to old China, for example the cabinets and drawers were wooden and Asian patterned. It provided a lovely touch of presenting classic luxury in Shanghai.

The next morning the half conference day ran smoothly and had a good amount of attendees for the event, there were talks from Michael H. Posner, Professor of Business and Society, NYU Stern School of Business, the conference day ended a little after 2pm as the Q&A slightly overran due to all the attendees being extremely interested in the topics in the agenda!Overall the conference days were a great success, both attendees and speakers provided good feedback and overall a great success for our client. 

Emc3 have a far international reach with the events that we manage, the people that work for us, the local knowledge we have as well as cultural grasp of the locations we have worked with accumulate in a successful and professional formula for managing events for our clients. If you have any events requirements in Shanghai or beyond please do not hesitate to contact our senior events manager, Anita Engebretsen at anita@emc3.eu

By Ellen Lai

Hotel Café Royal Site Visit

 

This week team members Anita, Mo, Imogen, Ellen and myself had the pleasure to spend an evening in Café Royal, a new luxury hotel opened just over a year ago located on Regent Street, in the heart of London’s West End. Founded by Daniel Nicols in 1865 it used to be a café and restaurant with some private dining rooms and has established to a beautiful hotel still showing its glamorous historic origins combined with contemporary designs.

 

We started our visit in the Ten Room, their main dining space, having a lovely 3 course dinner.    

 

 

 

 

 

After being shown how to prepare Absinth in The Bar, we’ve seen the jewel of the Café Royal Hotel, The Grill Room, which was the original restaurant established in 1865 where legends like Oscar Wilde have spent their nights and which is now their champagne and cocktail bar .

 

 

 

 

Apart from the restaurants and bars Café Royal also offers a variety of meeting spaces with capacities from 14 to 200 guests, all boasting natural daylight and including built in AV. Their largest event space is the Pompadour Suite, a beautifully restored room filled with mirrors and gilded frames and a rich decorative ceiling. There is a terrace overlooking Regent Street located on the far end of the room, which is ideal for receptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the meeting rooms we saw some of London’s largest bedrooms and suites, all beautifully furnished and provided with marble bathrooms and rainfall showers. The absolute highlight is the Empire Suite, partly because the Queen chose the color for the room as she owns the building.

 

 

 

 

 

Last on our tour was the Spa, which includes everything you need after a stressful week – a big pool, sauna, Jacuzzi, Hamman and meditation Room,  and a gym. You can also take part in one of their classes or allow yourself to be pampered in one of their amazing treatment rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

Café Royal is definitely worth visiting, if you would like to book a stay at this beautiful luxury hotel or organize an Event please don’t hesitate to contact Mo on Mo@emc3.eu.

 

 

 

 

 

by Helene