Where St. Louis Eats

Getting the best venue can either make or break the success of the event. Everyone who attends is relying on your choice. Its a difficult task even at the best of times, but if venue occupancies are running high it can be even harder! There are several tricks to look for and it is very easy to get this wrong.

It’s not enough to find the perfect venue, it also has to be available. The longer you wait to make reservations, the more limited your options become. Make early plans and backup plans as well. Keep track of any reservations you make and the penalties involved if you have to cancel.

You probably already have a good idea of where the general location will be. Things to take into consideration at this point are the travel requirements to the event ? will your guests need transport to the venue and back again? Additional transport can significantly increase the budget demands and you may end up having to cut back in other areas such as entertainment, drinks or food. Central city venues can however be much more expensive but country venues can offer a very different. These variations should of course be taken into account when thinking of your event location.

Consider that the style of the location you pick needs to blend with the atmosphere you want the event to present. There is a lot of variation in venue locations from franchised hotels to unique privately owned specialty type venues. Style comes at a price so keep this in mind when budgeting. And remember that cheap accommodations may require you to spend more in decorations.

Affordability really is one of the key differentiators for selecting a venue. Prices vary enormously, depending on availability and time of year. Generally, it is quite difficult to negotiate rates when you are only having one event; however there are quite a few tricks you can carry up your sleeve! More details about this are on the recent article we wrote on negotiating rates. Don’t forget to take into account set up times, eating space if you’re having a larger event.

Will you be organizing accommodation for your guests? If the venue has bedrooms, you need to be sure that you don’t carry too liability. A reduced attendance could cost you dearly! If there are no bedrooms available then you need to decide if their accommodation is going to be your responsibility as this can become quite a logistical challenge. It is often useful to outsource this process to accommodation management companies who may offer this service free.

It is clear that this type of room that the venue has is a practical factor that needs considered. If you are holding a conference, how many break out rooms will you need? Will they allow you to use the bar or lobby? Its usual to set up a visit to the site so that you can judge if the venue is suitable.

Trying to find the most appropriate venue via the internet is possible, but there are other options. One of the better ones is to use a free venue finding service. These services are often paid by the hotels for their matchmaking services, and on top of that, they will negotiate with the hotel for the lowest rate!