With a flight time of under two hours from London, high standards of hospitality and stunning scenery, Switzerland fits the bill for many overseas conferences and incentive trips. In our recent venue finding visit, we checked out the hotels and facilities in Zurich and Bern.
Zurich – cultural with capital
Zurich is famed as a world leading centre in banking and finance, and its facilities are designed to appeal to discerning customers who expect only the very best. As a destination to inspire teams to achieve success, it’s hard to beat.
Balagan style lunch at Neni restaurant, Zurich
The 170-room 25hours Hotel, right next to Zurich’s main train station, has a creatively artistic style and is a good option for a convenient overnight stop. Its highly regarded Neni Restaurant serves delicious Balagan style food (a Hebrew word for ‘positive chaos.’)
For a grander atmosphere, try the centrally located 5-star Park Hyatt Zurich, which boasts 8 event rooms including the ballroom, a boardroom and 6 conference rooms plus 138 bedrooms. Or there’s the exclusive Dolder Grand Hotel which has the most beautiful view over the city. This 5-star hotel has a lot of event space including a large ballroom and foyer, perfect for large seated dinners, plus a number of smaller breakout rooms. They have two fine dining restaurants and an open-air terrace bar, ideal for champagne breakfasts and pre-dinner drinks.
Stunning views from the Dolder Grand
Exterior of the Dolder Grand Hotel
Conference room at the Dolder Grand Hotel
Team building ideas in Zurich
- Take a fascinating city tour, themed around ‘Money, money, money’
- Hire the gorgeous Carlton Restaurant and Bar for exclusive use, enjoying its garden terrace and wine cellar
- Travel the city in fun eTuk-Tuks
- Hold your conference in the impressive FIFA World Football Museum, which has a lot of exhibition space to suit numerous types of events.
- Experience the city in a convoy of eBikeboards, an electro-scooter similar to a Segway but easier to control. This was amazing fun and highly recommended!
The team loved the eTuk-Tuks
Feel the Bern
Historic Bern is Switzerland’s capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring 6 kilometres of shopping arcades! A great destination if you want to treat your team to some downtime during your conference.
The elegant Bellevue Palace Superior is a 5-star hotel located right next to the Houses of Parliament. They have a particularly lovely room which would be ideal for a seated dinner and drinks reception. As a non-exclusive alternative, the Southern Terrace overlooks the river and the Alps and is one of the most beautiful settings we’ve seen.
Bern’s largest conference complex and event venue is Kursaal Bern equipped to handle up to 1,500 delegates, where we inspected 30 modern meeting rooms all equipped with the latest technology. Included in this modern building is a 4-star hotel, three restaurants, a bar, fitness facilities and the Grand Casino Bern.
A conference room at Kursaal Bern
Theatre style conference room Kursaal Bern
The Zentrum Paul Klee also offers large conference and event space, but its real draw is the chance to get teams involved in creative workshops with one of the in-house artists. We had great fun unleashing our inner Andy Warhols! Paul Klee was an influential modern artist and your delegates could combine their visit with a gallery viewing, or simply the chance to explore this stunning architect-designed studio complex.
Getting creative in the artists workshop
If this has whetted your appetite to investigate conference venues in Switzerland, get in touch with us today for more expert advice.
With thanks to SKA Hotels and the Swiss Convention Bureau for hosting our trip.
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