Quezon City in the Philippines welcomed the Novotel Manila Araneta Centre last month.

The 24-storey hotel, located 15km away from Ninoy Aquino International Airport and sited within the Araneta Centre lifestyle complex, features 401 rooms and suites, the largest number in a single property in Quezon City.

The hotel boasts six meeting rooms, a boardroom and a state-of-the-art pillarless grand ballroom, which can accommodate up to 1,200 guests. A 2,500m² landscaped outdoor garden area is also available for cocktail events, soirees and fashion shows.

Amenities include the In Balance Wellness Centre, which houses a gym, spa and swimming pool; the Gymboree Kids Area, which caters to young guests; and the executive sky-lounge, which offers a 360-degree view of the city.

For dining options, there is the Food Exchange Manila, a 208-seat restaurant serving an array of international cuisine at live cooking stations, and the Gourmet Bar, which serves signature drinks and freshly-brewed coffee, with a focus on using organic produce grown and harvested from a farm in San Mateo, Rizal.

Hyatt Regency Kinabalu has launched a stylish multifunctional event venue centred around a show kitchen, called The Residence. It can accommodate up to 160 guests, is furnished with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, and complements the renovated Tanjung Ria Kitchen, The Lounge and The Poolside Bar.

The multipurpose layout of The Residence enables event organisers to use the facility for various purposes, ranging from small parties to VIP dinners. The venue can also be combined with Tanjung Ria Kitchen for larger gatherings of up to 300 people.

Bennett Peter, director of sales and marketing, said the new offering was necessary because “the hotel customer of today needs, demands and expects flexibility and versatility in experiences and service”.

Arifin Darmawan, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, said: “The new facility exudes an aura of elegance and relaxation with its contemporary yet classic décor, complemented by natural daylight window panels. With show kitchens and multiple rooms, the focus is on one-on-one guest engagement and personalising the entire hotel experience.”

The five-star Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo has unveiled its new event facilities on the 47^th floor, following a month-long renovation that cost 300 million yen (US$2.5 million).

The five banquet rooms on the level were updated with new interiors, while Akane room was expanded from 45m² to 65m² and Aozora room was fitted with improved lighting systems. Works were also done to the foyer, karaoke room entrance and restrooms on the 47^th floor, as well as the banquet rooms on the lower levels which now offers wireless and local area network facilities.

Beside function rooms on the the top floor, the hotel has multipurpose venues on the fourth and fifth floors.

Hotel spokesperson, Sunaho Nakatani, told TTGmice that the renovations were made to improve the hotel’s product for events and maintain the high quality of venues and experiences the hotel is known for.

“Our banquet and event facilities are very popular and our largest venue, the Concord Ballroom, enjoys a high occupancy of 90 per cent throughout the year,” added Junko Saito, deputy director of marketing and PR.

The hotel hosts some 80 academic and international conventions a year and is regarded as either the first or second top hotel venue for events in Japan, with its closest rival being a property in Kansai, according to Saito.

Saito said: “Our hotel is among the best in Shinjuku and Tokyo, and despite our room rates rising every year, we’ve been able to enjoy a healthy average occupancy rate of 89 to 90 per cent. Our rooms aren’t cheap, so we work hard to make sure experiences and service standards are excellent. Our marketing efforts now are aimed at strengthening the hotel’s branding.” – Karen Yue

Keen on improving the way banquet services are offered to event planners, Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre is rolling out today an extensive collection of customisable dinner menus that offer clients 168 dishes to choose from.

Twenty-one eight-course Chinese menus across seven series have been created, with the cheapest priced at S$788⁺⁺ (US$554⁺⁺) per table. Each series will offer two Halal menu options, while one will cater for vegetarians.

Event planners are able to swap dishes from menus in the same series at no extra cost, while changes made between menus from different series will come with “a little bit more money”, said Suntec Singapore’s CEO, Arun Madhok.

Describing the new banquet programme as a revolutionary one in the MICE business, Madhok said: “Venues in the market today typically offer only two or three set menus with fixed items. We see the opportunity to do things differently and better by giving price-sensitive clients who appreciate good food the chance to provide their delegates with a great dining experience at Suntec Singapore, but without breaking the bank.”

“Industry colleagues have told me that my new banquet programme is suicidal for business; how could the kitchen manage so many dining options for multiple large-scale events, they asked.

“But this is not an issue for us, as our kitchen operations have been computerised and optimised with new processes,” he said.

He elaborated: “Take for instance our new induction ovens which can cook many dishes at once but are safe and use less heat, which also brings down electricity usage as our air cooling system will no longer need to work as hard. We have also reduced the number of suppliers, keeping only the top quality ones and employing a Just In Time delivery system to keep produce fresh and use less storage space.”

To spread demand away from the popular Friday and Saturday evenings, Suntec Singapore is offering a discount of S$50⁺⁺ per table for banquets hosted on Sundays to Thursdays.

All menus come with free-flow soft drinks and Chinese tea, fresh flower centrepieces, one VIP table service per 50 tables booked, and other perks. Terms apply. – Karen Yue