A conference venue sells a room, a day and a set of services, and the way it bundles them decides how comparable two quotes are. Dedicated conference centres and hotels quote per delegate; independent and unusual spaces quote room hire and let you buy the rest. Neither is cheaper by nature, and the useful first move is to ask each kind for the other kind's quote.
Ask three suppliers for a price
Conference venue hire: the delegate rate, and what sits outside it
A day delegate rate typically covers the main room, arrival refreshments, two breaks, lunch, wifi and basic screen and projection. What sits outside it is almost always the same list: breakout rooms, a stage or riser, additional microphones, a technician, live streaming, a cloakroom, extended hours and anything served after the working day. Ask for that list priced before comparing two rates, because it is where a room that looked cheaper stops being.
The technical spec is the real difference
Ceiling height, sightlines, blackout, power distribution, rigging points, get in access and the loading route matter more to a conference than the decor does, and none of them appears in a capacity chart. A room that seats three hundred in theatre style with a pillar in the middle seats considerably fewer usefully. Ask for a floor plan with the pillars on it and the seating layout the venue is quoting, and ask what the in house audio visual provider charges for the kit you actually need.
Unusual spaces, and what they cost in time
A museum, a warehouse, a theatre or a converted power station makes a memorable event and adds work: the build is longer, the technical hire is larger, catering has to be brought in and the get out often has to happen the same night. Those are real costs and they are quotable, so ask for them explicitly. An unusual venue is frequently good value on room hire and rarely on the total, which is fine as long as it is known before the budget is signed off.
Conference venues UK: what conference venues near me quote against a purpose built centre
Outside the biggest cities most conference business is done by hotels and by buildings whose main trade is something else, and both quote differently from a dedicated centre. A hotel folds the room, the refreshments and the lunch into a rate per delegate; a civic building, a university or a club sells the room and lets you buy the rest. The second is usually cheaper and always more work, and the comparison only holds once catering is added to it.
Venue hire city of London, and what the Square Mile charges a conference for
The City sells the weekday and empties at the weekend, so its livery halls, member buildings and corporate floors quote room hire against office value on a Tuesday and negotiate on a Friday. For a conference whose delegates arrive by train the postcode buys very little, and the same specification in Southwark or Farringdon is frequently a different figure entirely.
Questions people ask about conference venues
What is included in a conference venue quote?
At a hotel or conference centre, usually the room, refreshments, lunch, wifi and basic projection as a per delegate rate. Breakout rooms, technicians, staging and anything after the working day normally sit outside it.
How do I compare two conference venues fairly?
Ask both for the same shape of quote, room hire plus catering plus technical, and get a floor plan with the pillars marked and the seating layout being quoted. Capacity numbers on their own are not comparable.
Are unusual venues more expensive?
Usually on the total rather than on room hire, because the build, the technical hire and brought in catering are larger. Ask for the get in and get out times, which is where the extra cost lives.
How do exeter conference venues and other regional cities compare with London?
Materially lower on room hire and on the delegate rate, and about the same on the technical services, because the audio visual crews charge what they charge. For an event whose delegates are travelling anyway, a regional city with a station is frequently the cheaper answer once the hotel rooms are counted.
What do canary wharf conference venues and central London conference venues charge for?
The floor they occupy. Both districts price against office and hotel value rather than against the meeting, so the same specification a few stops out is frequently a different figure. The question is whether the postcode is buying anything for your delegates, which for a rail-borne audience it often is not.
What do venue hire Birmingham and venue hire Manchester quote that a London centre does not?
Room hire rather than a delegate rate, more often than not, because their stock is civic, industrial and club buildings rather than purpose built centres. That reads cheaper and is more work, since the catering and the technical services are bought separately in both.