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| Devonshire Park |
The Eastbourne Conference Team are still on a high following the success of last weekend’s Conference Buyers Fam Trip. Five national organisations accepted our invitation to spend 24 hours in Eastbourne arriving Friday afternoon. England’s only 5-star seaside hotel, the Grand, provided rooms and we were thrilled that by the time we all met up at 5pm, everyone had checked in.
We started the weekend with a tour of the Devonshire Park Centre, including the 1700 seater Congress auditorium. The fam trip coincided with the Eastbourne Open Darts Tournament in the Winter Garden, which expected to attract around 800 competitors and supporters. The Winter Garden set up looked great and our guests were impressed by the Floral Hall and Gold Room’s Victorian splendour. They seemed surprised by just how much space we had and how flexible it could be
Once the tour was over, our 10 guests were whisked off to Pomodoro e Mozzarella courtesy of Eastbourne 720 Taxis for a fantastic Italian supper, for which, Pomodoro is renowned. We’d like to thank Luca, one of our conference members, for laying on such a treat. Once supper was over, it was straight back to the Congress for the evening performance of Sister Act, the latest West End Show to arrive on the Eastbourne stage. If anyone was not on a high before the show, they certainly were by the end, sensational, with top performances from everyone. In fact one of our guests admitted that musical theatre is not something he would normally go to but even he said that he’d had a great time. After the show, most people returned to the Grand Hotel, with a few soaking up the elegant atmosphere by having coffee in one of the lounges before retiring to bed. However, a couple decided the night was still young and so headed from the Congress, next door to the pub, and were thrilled to find several members of the Sister Act cast already in there, with most of the others following in quick succession (once the show is over they don’t hang about!).
Saturday dawned and it was another beautiful day in sunny Eastbourne (did we mention that we are the UK’s sunniest place?). We suggested that they might like to go for a run along the 5 miles of Eastbourne promenade before breakfast but we don’t think anyone took up that suggestion. Once everyone had finished the beautifully served breakfast, we headed off for a tour of Eastbourne’s open spaces to give them a bit of a feel of Eastbourne’s Victorian elegance and they loved it. We headed through Meads and up onto the South Downs and Beachy Head and everyone seemed quite taken aback by the spectacular scenery. We had a quick stop off at Birling Gap and at the bottom of Belle Tout Lighthouse and lots of photographs were taken of the world famous cliffs and Beachy Head Lighthouse
Once the tour was over, our 10 guests were whisked off to Pomodoro e Mozzarella courtesy of Eastbourne 720 Taxis for a fantastic Italian supper, for which, Pomodoro is renowned. We’d like to thank Luca, one of our conference members, for laying on such a treat. Once supper was over, it was straight back to the Congress for the evening performance of Sister Act, the latest West End Show to arrive on the Eastbourne stage. If anyone was not on a high before the show, they certainly were by the end, sensational, with top performances from everyone. In fact one of our guests admitted that musical theatre is not something he would normally go to but even he said that he’d had a great time. After the show, most people returned to the Grand Hotel, with a few soaking up the elegant atmosphere by having coffee in one of the lounges before retiring to bed. However, a couple decided the night was still young and so headed from the Congress, next door to the pub, and were thrilled to find several members of the Sister Act cast already in there, with most of the others following in quick succession (once the show is over they don’t hang about!).
Saturday dawned and it was another beautiful day in sunny Eastbourne (did we mention that we are the UK’s sunniest place?). We suggested that they might like to go for a run along the 5 miles of Eastbourne promenade before breakfast but we don’t think anyone took up that suggestion. Once everyone had finished the beautifully served breakfast, we headed off for a tour of Eastbourne’s open spaces to give them a bit of a feel of Eastbourne’s Victorian elegance and they loved it. We headed through Meads and up onto the South Downs and Beachy Head and everyone seemed quite taken aback by the spectacular scenery. We had a quick stop off at Birling Gap and at the bottom of Belle Tout Lighthouse and lots of photographs were taken of the world famous cliffs and Beachy Head Lighthouse
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As we headed back into the town we admired the amazing views across the Downs with Eastbourne in the bay and views right round to Hastings and Dungeness in one direction and the towers of Brighton in the distance in the other - beautiful. As we had about 15 minutes before our next appointment we continued along the seafront for a quick look at Sovereign Harbour Marina. This lead to various discussions that when they all move to Eastbourne, should they buy a property in the Marina overlooking the water or one of the elegant Meads properties? The debate rages on!
By this time we were all ready for the refreshments kindly provided by the Eastbourne Centre before we were given a tour of the hotel’s facilities. Everyone agreed that all the newly refurbished rooms were beautiful but the aspect that received the most comments was the new disabled bedrooms. One of the organisations was a disabled charity and said that these rooms were the best for disabled guests they’d ever seen, praise indeed, especially as through the course of their business, conference buyers get to see a lot of bedrooms
Our final stop was a tour of the 4 star Cavendish Hotel followed by lunch. Being purpose built in the 1870s (as was the Grand) it has a bright airy feel with wide corridors and high ceilings. Everyone loved the contemporary décor and agreed it would work well for conferences or as the headquarters hotel for larger conferences being held at the Devonshire Park Centre. A gorgeous lunch was served in the newly refurbished library and everyone agreed that one of the vases in there was the largest they had ever seen!
At this point the official part of the tour was over, so most headed back to the Grand Hotel for the last time, to collect their bags and head off home. However, a couple decided to extend their visit and head into town and one couple had gone one step further and booked to stay on another night (and who could blame them?).
Feedback over the weekend, and since, has been fantastic. They were all enthusiastic about every aspect of the weekend and seemed to love all Eastbourne has to offer. Two have said they can think of at least one of their events that would work well in the Devonshire Park Centre (in fact they both now have provisional dates in our diary), one wants to book something into the Grand Hotel and one into the Eastbourne Centre. Who can ask for more than that!
Our final stop was a tour of the 4 star Cavendish Hotel followed by lunch. Being purpose built in the 1870s (as was the Grand) it has a bright airy feel with wide corridors and high ceilings. Everyone loved the contemporary décor and agreed it would work well for conferences or as the headquarters hotel for larger conferences being held at the Devonshire Park Centre. A gorgeous lunch was served in the newly refurbished library and everyone agreed that one of the vases in there was the largest they had ever seen!
At this point the official part of the tour was over, so most headed back to the Grand Hotel for the last time, to collect their bags and head off home. However, a couple decided to extend their visit and head into town and one couple had gone one step further and booked to stay on another night (and who could blame them?).
Feedback over the weekend, and since, has been fantastic. They were all enthusiastic about every aspect of the weekend and seemed to love all Eastbourne has to offer. Two have said they can think of at least one of their events that would work well in the Devonshire Park Centre (in fact they both now have provisional dates in our diary), one wants to book something into the Grand Hotel and one into the Eastbourne Centre. Who can ask for more than that!
Eastbourne Conference Bureau
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