Alea Casino’s Red Leaf restaurant

Scotland’s largest city has worked hard on building its reputation over recent decades, so it’s now no surprise to find its head held high, says Ben Lerwill

Meeting planners may be interested to hear that Glasgow’s convention bureau was named the best in the UK at this year’s Meetings & Incentive Travel Awards. While they’ve evidently done a good job of marketing its venues, it certainly has the assets to work with. The city’s ‘Scotland with Style’ tag finds justification in the form of period architecture, boutique shopping and a vibrant arts scene, while flagship venue the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre (SECC) is widely considered one of the best in the UK. A wealth of smaller, character options make the city an inviting choice for smaller gatherings too. And while the centre itself offers rich potential, Glasgow also acts as a gateway to the epic expanse of the Highlands.

Wow Factor
Name: Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Address: Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG
Tel: 0141 276 9565
Email: gordon.atterson@glasgow.gov.uk
Web: www.glasgowmuseums.com

Dinner with Van Gogh and Botticelli? Not as far-fetched as it seems. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum is one of the city’s most popular visitor attractions, and its recently refurbished interior – three years’ work at a tune of £30m – makes for a truly memorable corporate event setting. The gallery sits in a grand Victorian building near the West End, and its imposing central hall is suitable for everything from product launches and presentations to receptions and gala dinners. It can accommodate up to 500 in a banquet-style set-up. As well as one of the most prestigious civic art collections in the UK, Kelvingrove also boasts priceless armour and a display dedicated to local design icon Charles Rennie Mackintosh.   

Quirky Venue
Name: Glengoyne Distillery
Address: Dumgoyne, Nr Killearn, Glasgow, G63 9LB
Tel: 01360 550 254
Email: reception@glengoyne.com
Web: www.glengoyne.com

Half an hour from the city itself sits the home of Glengoyne’s award-winning whisky, but there’s more to draw you here than the promise of a decent malt. The distillery sits in picturesque countryside and can organise private show-rounds, also offering options for dinners and meetings. Its reception room and balcony overlook a waterfall and can cater for up to 42 seated guests. Lunches and dinners focus on providing quality Scottish produce, while those with a thirst can arrange tasting tours and blending sessions. For more conventional meetings, a boardroom is on site for up to 16. Also of interest is the introduction of a new Whisky Bus, which now makes daily runs between the city centre and the distillery (www.thewhiskybus.co.uk).

New Kid on the Block
Name: Alea Casino
Address: 4a Springfield Quay, Paisley Road,
Glasgow, G5 8NP
Tel: 0141 555 6135
Email: eventsglasgow@aleacasinos.com
Web: www.aleacasinos.com

Open since February, Alea is Scotland’s biggest casino. The £15million venue sits on the banks of the Clyde and gives impressive views over the Glasgow skyline, laying on further diversion in the form of restaurants, bars and a state-of-the-art gaming floor. There are four separate areas for hire: Face To Face, a smartly appointed room with theatre-style meeting space for up to 150; the Red Leaf Restaurant, suitable for private banquets and specialising in fresh seafood; the Long Bar, a trendy cocktail spot able to accommodate up to 200 for receptions; and finally the Isobar, offering river views and big-screen entertainment for up to 100. The casino itself has 21 gaming tables, including blackjack, three-card poker and roulette.

Money No Object
Name: De Vere Cameron House
Address: Loch Lomond, Luss, G83 8QZ
Tel: 01389 755 565
Email: events@cameronhouse.co.uk
Web: www.cameronhouse.co.uk

If beautiful natural scenery holds appeal, read on. The shores of Loch Lomond are hard enough to top as it is, so when you add a historical five-star country hotel into the mix, the pull for high-end groups is a pretty failsafe one. De Vere’s Cameron House dates back hundreds of years, and the one-time baronial mansion still sits in more than 100 acres of woodland. There are nine separate meeting rooms on offer – the largest of which can accommodate up to 300 theatre-style – and just as notable are the property’s leisure facilities, both inside and out. A health salon and fine dining restaurant cater for those who want to take it easy, while al fresco pursuits for guests with time on their hands include clay-pigeon shooting, falconry and archery.

On a Shoestring
Name: Ibis Glasgow
Address: 220 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 4DQ
Tel: 0141 225 6000
Email: H3139@accor.com
Web: www.ibishotels.com

The Glasgow Ibis combines a city-centre location with economy rates – its room prices start at under £50. Situated just a couple of kilometres away from the SECC (see below), the 141-room property is also easily accessible from the M8 and rail stations. And while the pubs and restaurants of Sauciehall Street are five minutes’ walk from reception, the hotel also has a café-bar of its own, open 24 hours a day and providing options for informal meetings, as well as an in-house restaurant offering à la carte dining until 10.30pm.

Wired Up
Name: Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre
Address: Exhibition Way, Glasgow, G3 8YW
Tel: 0141 275 6211
Email: scc@secc.co.uk
Web: www.secc.co.uk

Known locally as ‘The Armadillo’ due to the bold curved design of its Clyde Auditorium, the highly reputed SECC is the largest integrated conference and exhibition centre in the UK. The complex offers a feast of different function spaces – up to 10,000 guests can be welcomed on a standard basis, with some specialist events able to accommodate as many as 25,000 delegates. And as if this wasn’t quite enough, it’s also in the process of building an additional 12,500-seat arena, scheduled to be opened in 2011. There is a 283-room four-star Crowne Plaza hotel connected to the centre by a covered walkway, and a total of some 6,000 guest beds within a two-mile radius of the venue. The SECC was named Best UK Conference Centre at the Meetings & Incentive Travel Awards in February this year. More accolades are certain to follow.

Small but Perfectly Formed
Name: Saint Judes
Address: 190 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HG
Tel: 0141 352 8800
Email: info@saintjudes.com
Web: www.saintjudes.com

The newly taken-over Saint Jude’s packs quite a punch for its size. It might boast a grand total of just six bedrooms, but in terms of style and sass it’s some venue – colourful design touches and a relaxed philosophy give it a decidedly trendy edge. Its Ivy Lounge provides a blank canvas for meetings and events for up to 80 delegates, while The Club Room can seat 40 attendees under a roof skylight. The hotel’s much-lauded Asian restaurant, Mama San, is also available to be hired exclusively for corporate events, while a cocktail bar takes care of late-night networking. Saint Jude’s is located in an early Victorian townhouse on Bath Street in central Glasgow, giving good access to the surrounding city centre.

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