Following the September 2017 completion of the hotel’s £80 million renovation and 50th anniversary reinstatement of its original name!
HOSPA is delighted to announce that its prestigious HOSPACE2017 Conference and Exhibition, together with its Gala ‘Hospitality Professionals of the Year Awards’ Dinner, will be held on Thursday 2 November at a newly refurbished central London venue – the by then renamed and fully renovated Royal Lancaster London, one of the largest and most luxurious hotels and meeting venues in Europe.
HOSPACE is one of the most eagerly awaited events on the hospitality industry calendar. It has enjoyed nine successful years at the Sofitel, London Heathrow at Terminal 5.
Commenting on the move to central London, Jane Pendlebury, Chief Executive of HOSPA – the UK’s leading educational organization for hospitality professionals involved in Financial Management, Revenue Management, Marketing and IT – said: “The five-star Sofitel at London’s Heathrow has worked extremely well for us over the years and we are extremely grateful to them for all their first-rate support and excellent hospitality. However, following the year-on-year growth in popularity of HOSPACE and feedback from our regular delegates and sponsors, the HOSPA team believed it was time for a change to an easily accessible, top quality central London meetings venue.
“We are very excited, therefore, that HOSPACE2017 will be the first major hospitality industry event to be held at the new-look and renamed Royal Lancaster London, following the September 2017 completion of the hotel’s current major refurbishment programme. We are thrilled that HOSPACE 2017 delegates and HOSPA Gala Awards Dinner diners will be treated on 2 November to a superbly enhanced, world-class conference, banqueting and events venue.”
Sally Beck, General Manager of Royal Lancaster London, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming HOSPACE to our stunning, newly renovated hotel. Every detail of the design has been meticulously considered and the result is the creation of one of the very best hotels in the world. With our superb location opposite Hyde Park, truly beautiful decor, excellent food offering, and a dedicated happy team who will do everything in their power to ensure that guests have a fantastic experience within the hotel, we are now a market leader for conference, banqueting and events.”
The Lancaster London has entered the final stages of its highly-anticipated £80 million renovation led by Studio Proof. Set to complete by September 2017, the mid-century icon will reinstate the original name of ‘Royal Lancaster London’ in time for the hotel’s 50th anniversary.
Works include a dramatic new entrance façade and reception lobby, a new reception area for the hotel’s expansive Nine King’s banqueting suite and the redesign of all 411 guestrooms and suites in the 18-storey tower – one of central London’s best-known landmarks.
As one of the largest meeting venues in Europe, the hotel is renowned for its grand banqueting spaces. Prior to the current renovations, an additional £15 million was invested in the Nine Kings Suite, the Westbourne Suite and the state-of-the-art kitchens. With a total of 16 meeting spaces, catering for up to 3,000 guests at any one time, events range from boardroom meetings, to conferences, to exhibitions and gala dinners. Lancaster London can also host over 800 guests in-house, as the 411 guestrooms and suites all feature zip-and- link beds.
To give some additional flavour, the entire external entrance is being restructured with a curved 2.5-metre deep glass and bronze canopy, running the full length of the frontage. This will help to achieve a 60% increase in public areas on the ground level, enabling a complete remodel inside. Interior re-planning will create a series of individual spaces: a food & beverage lounge, reception lounge and ‘Living’ lounge.
The new guestroom design emphasizes the premium views over Hyde Park and offers luxurious details including tactile fabrics, beautiful bronze and glass elements, and bespoke light fittings. In a nod to the hotel’s roots in the 1960s, the design of the new suites blends mid-century nuances and the quirkiness of the English character from that era, with a contemporary edge – an approach that chimes with the hotel’s vision of ‘creating the future with the treasures of our past’.
