5 SPECTACULAR & BIZARRE AIRBNB RENTALS

1. King of the Castle

Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a castle? This castle was built in the 1400’s and has been refurbished with a toilet and bath (as they didn’t have such facilities back when it was built).

Location: Galway, Galway, Ireland
Price: $144/night

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2. Night on a Yacht

Spend a wonderful day on board the Old Dream cruising on the South of Mallorca and then sleep the night as it docks into a romantic bay.

Location: Sóller, Balearic Islands, Spain
Price: $577/night

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3. Glass Cabin

Someone in Brazil took recycling glass bottles to a whole new level when they made this one-of-a-kind, colourful home.

Location: Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Price: $72/night

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4. Geodesic Dome

This newly built wood dome is smack dab in the middle of Bethlehem, Connecticut. It doesn’t have heat or power, but it definitely beats pitching a tent when you want to be one with nature!

Location: Bethlehem, CT, United States
Price: $49/night

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5. Fairytale Treehouse

Step into Neverland. Set amongst lush greenery, each room is beautifully furnished with antiques, natural artifacts and the sounds of the trees around you. It’s a perfect city retreat.

Location: Atlanta, GA, United States
Price: $350/night

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Downtown hotel to feature condos, conference center

The developer of the proposed 16-story hotel on Center Street and Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley has nixed the idea of having office space in the building, but will instead include a conference center and condominiums, along with hotel rooms.

Jim Didion of Center Street Partners LLC is also bringing in the Pyramid Hotel Group as a financial backer for the project at 2129 Shattuck Ave., according to a recent press release. Pyramid, which currently runs the Berkeley Marina Hotel (officially known as Doubletree by Hilton Berkeley Marina) and formerly operated the Claremont Hotel, will work with Center Street Partners through the entitlement process and to develop the hotel. Didion will stay on as managing partner, according to the press release.


Pyramid is one of the largest independent hotel operators in the country with a “long and successful history in hotel development, financing, and operation and has a particular expertise in developing, renovating, and operating University related projects,” according to the press release. Pyramid has developed hotel projects at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the University of North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Duke, Dartmouth, Florida, MIT and Harvard.

While UC Berkeley has no direct connection with the hotel, the university community is expected to use the facilities.

The hotel would replace the 1970s-era one-story Bank of America building and parking lot on Center and Shattuck and, if approved, transform one of the most visible corners in downtown Berkeley.
Taking away some hotel rooms and adding condominiums at the top of the building will create a more tapered design, according to Matthew Taecker, the principal planner and community liaison for the project. In the new design, the tower will be moved forward closer toward the corner as well, he said. Although no renderings of the current design have been made public yet, Taecker said he thought Berkeley residents would be pleased.

“It really improved the design,” he said. “It’s going to be a more esthetically pleasing tower.”
The developer also decided to add a conference center in lieu of office space, said Taecker. Many of those who saw the first incarnation of the hotel had asked for conference rooms, which are in short supply in Berkeley. There will be a restaurant at the ground level as well, said Taecker.
Didion and Rick Kelleher, the CEO of the Pyramid Hotel Group, will be in town in early February to preview the design to city officials, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, Visit Berkeley and members of Downtown Berkeley Association, among others, said Taecker. They are looking for early feedback.

There will be a public hearing on the new design at the end of February, said Taecker.
“We understand this is only going to be the beginning of the conversation,” he said.
The original design was to include 300 hotel rooms on 12 stories, along with ground-floor commercial space, including a restaurant or bar, and three floors of office space. Eighty parking spaces are planned at an underground level. Developers said they plan to pay to use another 120 spaces in the city-owned garage — slated for demolition and reconstruction — on Center Street across Shattuck to the west.

Taecker declined to specify the number of hotel rooms in the new design, and said Didion and Kelleher would reveal that in February. The new design will still require a zoning variance, though, because the more tapered tower will be wider than 120 feet across, said Taecker. The old design was 220 feet wide in some parts.

Hotels add art, whimsy to upgrade conference centers

Hotel conference centers are getting major makeovers to become spaces for both work and play.

Hotels across the country are spending millions of dollars to attract conferences by upgrading their meeting spaces. The rooms are no longer tucked away in dark underground corridors. Instead, they're appealing spaces often located on higher-level floors or even outdoors.

"There's definitely a shift in style," says Jayna Cooke, CEO of EVENTup, an online venue marketplace. She says meeting spaces are "wider, have taller ceilings, much more light and windows, and they're not stuck in basements and closed in."

Some examples:

The Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, has introduced a new meeting and event venue known as The Gallery. The 1,900-square-foot loft-style space has a 16-foot ceiling, frosted floor-to-ceiling windows and a painted cement floor. It can be used for meetings, seated dinners or cocktail receptions.

Pullman Hotels and Resorts, part of the Accor hotel brand, has created the Business Playground by Pullman concept. The conference table is actually a poker table that encourages people to place their hands or elbows on it for easier conversations. Canopy Break is a space that promotes informal discussions before meetings. The whole area has free wireless Internet, a large HD LED screen, and a mini-tablet to automate everything in the room.

The Radisson Blu Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia is in the middle of redesigning 17,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The hotel has an Experience Meetings program with new healthy menu options or Brain Food, free Internet and a Meetings App for planners to request room changes. The space will also include a Brain Box, a separate break room that the hotel says will have features to promote creativity, such as fidget toys to help meeting attendees deal with stress.

The new B Resort and Spa in Orlando has eight interior rooms for outside-the-box meetings, in addition to its 25,000 square feet of traditional conference facilities. One room is a theater that seats about 30 people, another is a library with an electric fireplace and cozy chairs, and yet another is a studio that can be used for yoga or other activities.

"We noticed that groups were incorporating interactive, fun and non-corporate activities into their meeting format and didn't want to spend their entire day in the boardroom," says Mary Hutchcraft, director of sales and marketing at B Resort and Spa. "We created these unique, customizable spaces to meet the demand of these groups."

Many of the hotels are also trying to design their conference centers to blend in with the destinations.

For instance, the Onmi Nashville Hotel is connected to the Country Music Hall of Fame on three levels and has a pedestrian pathway between the two structures.

Meeting spaces at the Alexander Hotel in Indianapolis showcase art curated by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The rooms are named after local neighborhoods. The wallpaper is a grid of Indianapolis streets. And the conference space has a communal area for attendees to try locally sourced food and drink.

Designers say they are responding to a demand from meeting planners for more cool and dynamic spaces.

For good reason. Business travel spending is expected to increase 6.2% to $310.2 billion this year, according to the Global Business Travel Association. Last year, it reached a record $292.2 billion.

Chris McDonough, senior design director at The Gettys Group, which is renovating the conference center at The Renaissance Chicago Downtown hotel, says planners want to blend social and functional space.

He and his team are creating transition spaces with views of the Chicago River that can be used for smaller meetings or as a pre-function area for a larger event. And to avoid having a typical drab arrival area, they are creating what they call an "artistic arrival" to evoke the feel of an art gallery rather than a hallway. They've commissioned fine art sculptures for the space.

"As meetings and conferences become more social, the spaces that contain them are changing as well," he says.

Vipingo Ridge launches Sh171 mn conference facility

KILIFI, Kenya, Feb 2 – Vipingo Ridge, a secured golf estate in Kilifi County has opened a new Sh171 million shillings state of the art conference facility as it bids to tap into Kenya’s increasing demand for high-end meeting and conferencing facilities.

Vipingo Ridge Ltd Chairman Alastair Cavanagh called upon stakeholders and the Government – especially the County government to offer its support by utilising the world class facility. The conference centre enjoys stunning views both inland and out to sea with ample lawn space for marquees, outside functions, and team building exercises.

“The conference centre has been fitted with state of the art IT systems with computer controlled lighting and temperature systems. There is a large central control room with plenty of space for translators to operate during multinational conferences,” added Cavanagh.

The facility has seven unique venues for conference, meeting and banqueting with four indoor venues which are fully air-conditioned, Wi-Fi enabled, and well equipped with world class conferencing equipment. The indoor venues have been designed with panoramic views of the woodland interior and complemented with breakout areas set among the outdoor landscaped garden.

The increasingly growing profile of Kenya as a premier business and tourism destination in the region has occasioned an increased demand for quality accommodation, fine dining and conference facilities. Vipingo Ridge is keen on tapping into this sustained growth in the sector.

Besides serving the business, conferencing and tourism sectors, the investment has also created job opportunities for locals and thus contributes significantly to the country’s overall economic growth.
Vipingo Ridge Ltd was incepted in 2005. Its investment value to date is approximately Sh3.3 billion by the establishment and additional Sh2.2 billion by property owners building their private houses within the development.

Dispel Thoughts of Meeting Mishaps with Hotel Event Planning

Planning a gathering, company event conference will be a attempting task - notably if you expect the event to be an oversized one. however before you despair over thoughts of potential meeting mishaps, bear in mind that there's facilitate at hand.

There area unit variety of comprehensive resources to that you'll be able to flip once coming up with a gathering or event - from intensive checklists to skilled event planners. And whether or not {you're a|you area unit a} practiced company supporter or are getting ready to commence your 1st ever event-planning effort, it is usually essential to create full use of those resources.

One of your most vital event coming up with resources can possible be the venue at that you decide on to carry your event. that is as a result of event venues area unit sometimes equipped with a spread of internal event services and facilities, like audio-visual technology and dedicated event employees. However, you will likely still ought to source varied alternative services, like transportation and accommodation (if the event needs travel) and probably even occupation services. In the end, all the outsourcing will quantity to lots a lot of work than you had bargained for - that means the organization of your event would possibly face compromise.

However, sure kinds of venues, like hotels, offers a comprehensive set of event services through one facility, that means that your event coming up with package will comprehend all of your meeting needs. as an example, several buildings operate divisions that specialize in organizing hotel conferences and events, additionally to providing meeting facilities, occupation and event employees, likewise as guest accommodation - therefore you will be coated in terms of each meeting services and event facilities.

Moreover, hotels offers exclusive services that area unit personalized to make sure success for you and your event - therefore you'll be able to expect your event to run in line with your company's distinctive wants and needs. and eventually, you will find myriad hotels that area unit ideally located for business travel, whether or not which means being settled in shut proximity to the airfield or having quick access to the city's city district.

So, whether or not you are coming up with an oversized company conference or alittle company meeting, you'll need variety of essential factors to contemplate. selecting to carry your conferences and events at a building can provide you with access to a large vary of meeting and events facilities, likewise as tailored support to supply a made event - that means that no issue are unmarked.

Find The Right Venue To Arrange The Official Conference Suitable For A Huge Gathering

India is an incredible place to visit and live in. You will get a scads of experiences in this country. A great diversified culture is the major attraction of the country. People around the world come over there to experience the diversion or different regions, religions and moods. These varieties are capturing the attention of people from outside the country and in the country to arrange business conferences and meetings. You can go for a tour before and after the conference. A number of hotels and resorts and even government organizations are providing convention facilities India with a huge place for arranging an event, conference or official get-together.
Search by the city or name
Numbers of websites are proving the service to book a place for business meetings and conferences. You can get a wide list of the conventions halls with international standards in those websites. A chain of resorts and hotels are now turning as International Convention Centres, with meeting rooms, a great number of business conference facilities, a wide space suitable for ahuge crowd. Almost all cities contain such convention places. You can visit those sites and enter the name of the city you prefer to arrange the conference; otherwise you can search by the name of the hotel or the convention hall.
Overview the place

These International Convention Centres offer a huge place to set up your business meeting or conference, along with high-quality accommodation and every modern amenity. Some of the popular convention centers in India are New Delhi Vigyan Bhawan, Centre Point, the BM Birla Science,Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center of Mumbai and Jaipur Technology Centre, the Cochin Convention Centre in Kochi and the Jaypee Hotels &International Convention Centre in Agra, etc. Most of them are located in the prime location of the city and near to the airport. Some of them have personal car services to serve the valuable guest.
Ask for the booking quote
On the internet, there are many websites offering details of the convention places of the country. You can choose a venue and ask for the quotes so that you can proceed to book a place. They will provide you the quotes and other available details of the preferred venue. They also provide packages with convention space and accommodation and other services, and you are allowed to choose one of the packages.Evaluate the quotes if you want, to avail cheap and quality service. You can experience a growing number of convention facilities India, which can serve you all international services along with a large convention space.
Heritage vs. new construction
There are many old heritage convention centers in the country. However, a great number of hotels and resorts are now coming up with modern convention centers withinternational facilities and design. Those can attract your attention, and you will book one of them as your office's next conference venue. The heritage convention centers do not have facilities to accommodate the guest coming for a conference or an event. However, the modern centers provide everything you desired for.

Conference Venue - leading conference rooms and corporate event centers in India, offering hotels with conference facilities, meeting venues,,Convention Facilities India , International Convention Centres, business meetings in India.

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Know More About Selecting Corporate Event Function Venues

Corporate culture is witnessing a rising concern for phasing-in ways and personnel relations so as to grant a lift to workers. Keeping this in mind, varied company events, functions and parties ar being organized each month or year-end. additionally, an excellent party wants an ideal venue to go away an excellent impression on workers.

These corporate events India became associate exceptional supply of motivation and a singular thanks to say thanks and appreciate untiring workers. Therefore, choosing good company Event Functions Venues is extremely vital.

In order to find out a lot of regarding nice company perform venues, allow us to take into account some unbelievably and nice ideas wherever you'll be able to bring out the mood of the party.

Location

One vital issue to contemplate whereas organizing a company event is that the location. The venue ought to have straightforward accessibility to any or all invitees. Events going down in massive hotels or resorts demand that the orders for guests ar placed well prior to. it's essential for each visitor to achieve the venue on time.

The company, if attainable, ought to prepare for transport connected with the placement in order that even ladies workers will return and revel in. you'll be able to additionally organize entertainments and sideshows as they're exiting options at giant or massive venues. Many times, hotels or resorts prove to be an ideal choice as a result of they supply accommodation facility, that is useful if foreign delegates attend your party.

Moreover, honorable and trustworthy venues facilitate in building the image of a corporation. Be it a recognition party, award ceremony or the annual party, choosing the correct venue is crucial.

The famed and large venues stay engaged throughout the year. Therefore, one should book prior to to avoid any kind of inconvenience. Besides, check that to book some extra rooms for the invitees and guests to require some rest. because the hotels and line of work of the venues ar up to mark, it's pointless to stress regarding these.

Selecting the Theme

You can classify parties in accordance to the invitees and guests. prepare for associate absolute and unrestricted bash for the party personnel alone. prepare board conferences and formal conferences for important delegates at extremely refined venues. Moreover, nothing are often a lot of acceptable for your foreign delegate than a golf meeting.

Following ar few tips that you simply will use to form your company event a success:

Setting the Budget

While designing company events, you've got to figure out a budget rigorously. with the exception of this, you've got to confirm that you simply carry some more money for any unheralded expenses. Most of the days, your budget goes abundant beyond what you calculable.

Send the invite Early

Always keep in mind to send invites to guests few weeks before the particular event. check that to raise your guests to RSVP in order that you recognize the amount of individuals attending the event.

Keep extra Invite Copies

It is vital that you simply keep additional copies of contracts, agreements or lists just in case they're misplaced or lost.

Therefore, for ensuing time after you have to be compelled to choose company Event Functions Venues do take into account all the above-named factors.