How to choose the venue for a company event: the checklist professionals use
The venue decides more than any other line how the event goes: whether people get there, whether they sit comfortably, whether the plenary works and whether they have somewhere to sleep at night. And yet it is usually chosen first, with less information than anything else.
For organisers8 min read
This checklist lines up the questions an experienced organiser asks before requesting a quote, not after. It is not meant to find the prettiest venue: it is meant to rule out the wrong ones quickly and compare the rest on equal terms.
Objective and format first, the building second
A venue is only right or wrong for what it has to host. Before you open a search, write down in one line what has to happen and in which format: it changes everything that follows.
- Convention: many people, a plenary that holds everyone, a stage and audio/video control, breaks where coffee is served fast. Capacity and arrival logistics matter most.
- Kick-off or sales meeting: one plenary and a few breakout rooms, a quick lunch, often a single night. Distance from the station or airport matters most.
- Workshop or training: small rooms with daylight, tables to work on, walls to pin sheets to. The quality of the rooms matters more than how many there are.
- Retreat or offsite: two or three nights, rooms for everyone, informal spaces, outdoor activities and time to work remotely. The property as a whole matters, not the meeting room.
Add to that line the number of attendees with a reasonable margin on top, the possible dates and the nights to cover. With those four pieces of data the search narrows itself.
Real capacity: why "maximum guests" is not "seats"
The number venues share most readily is the maximum capacity of their largest room. It is almost always standing capacity, or a tightly packed theatre. The same room, set up for working, holds far fewer people.
| Layout | What it means | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Theatre | Chairs only, in rows: the layout that holds the most people | Plenary, presentations, speakers on stage |
| Classroom | Chairs with a table in front: as a rule, half the theatre count | Training, meetings with laptops |
| U-shape | Tables in a U: few seats, everyone sees everyone | Boards, workshops up to about twenty people |
| Cabaret | Round tables with seats facing the stage only | Group work alternating with plenary sessions |
| Banquet | Full round tables | Gala dinners, award ceremonies |
Always ask for capacity in the layout you will actually use, not the maximum. And if the programme alternates plenary and breakout sessions, count the breakout rooms: they need to be close to the plenary, each with its own screen, and not share a wall with the room where someone is speaking into a microphone.
The simplest test
Divide the room's floor area in square metres by the number of participants seated at tables. If the result is under two square metres per person, the room is too tight for a full day's work, whatever the spec sheet says.
City, countryside, mountains, sea: what actually changes
The setting of a property is not a matter of taste: it decides how people arrive, what they do in the evening and how heavy the logistics are. Every setting has a hidden cost that belongs in the quote.
| Setting | What it offers | What you must plan for |
|---|---|---|
| City | Easy arrivals by train, hotels nearby, restaurants for the evening | Scarce parking, rooms often without daylight, noise |
| Countryside and hills | Ample space, exclusivity, outdoor activities | Transfers from the station or airport, dinner necessarily on site |
| Mountains | A real break from the office, sports activities | Seasonality, roads and weather, long transfer times |
| Sea and lakes | Outdoor spaces, evenings outside, a strong image | Crowded and expensive high season, wind on outdoor setups |
| Spa and wellness | Retreats and recovery, a lighter programme | Spa opening hours to agree, little equipment for meeting rooms |
If the property is out of town, the venue quote is not complete without the transfer quote: ask for them together, because each one sets the other's timetable.
The six things to ask every venue
These six questions go to every venue in the same way, in writing. They are also the fields you will find on the profile of a hotel or meeting space: if an answer is missing, that is information in itself.
| Question | Why it matters | What to ask for in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| How many meeting rooms do you have, and what capacity? | The programme only stands up if the plenary and every breakout room exist, on the same day | A list of rooms with capacity per layout, daylight, floor and distance between them |
| What audio/video equipment is included? | A screen and a room microphone are enough for a workshop, not for a convention | What is included, what is rented, whether a technician is in the room and at what hours |
| Do you have an in-house restaurant? | Lunch off site costs an hour of programme and a transfer | Restaurant capacity, group menus, coffee breaks, handling of allergies and intolerances |
| How many rooms do you have, and of which type? | If people do not all sleep in the same place, the group splits in the evening | Number of rooms per type, singles or doubles for single use, room block and release date |
| Gym, pool, wellness? | On a retreat, free time is half the programme | What is open on the event dates, opening hours, any costs for the group |
| Can people work remotely? | People join their own team's meetings even during the offsite | Wi-Fi in the rooms and bedrooms, quiet spaces for calls, power sockets at the tables |
The venue alone answers only the first questions. The other lines of a company event usually need different suppliers, and it pays to contact them while you are still choosing the property, because their constraints change the choice.
The property
- Hotels and resorts
- Conference centres
- Event spaces and meeting rooms
Hotels and meeting venues
The food, when the restaurant is not enough
- Catering
- Coffee breaks and aperitifs
- Gala dinners
Food and beverage
The technical side
- Audio and video
- Stage and control
- Staging and furniture
Technical services and staging
Getting around
- Station and airport transfers
- Coach hire with driver
- Evening shuttles
Transport and logistics services
The site visit: what to check in person
The site visit happens when two or three venues are left, not ten. Go with the programme printed out and walk through it physically, from arrival to the last dinner.
- Arrival: where coaches and taxis stop, where materials are unloaded, how long the walk to reception is.
- Plenary: test the light with curtains open and closed, listen to the acoustics by speaking from the back, look for sockets and where the control desk would sit.
- Breakout rooms: time the walk from the plenary, check that the doors close and that one group cannot hear the other.
- Breaks and meals: where coffee is served and how long it takes for everyone to get one; how fast the restaurant serves a group.
- Bedrooms: ask to see one of each type on offer, not the best one. Test the Wi-Fi in the room, not just in the lobby.
- Outdoors: where people spend the evening, what happens if it rains, whether other groups are in on the same dates.
- Who is there: ask who will be your contact on the day and whether it will be the same person you are talking to now.
Take photos of every space in the same order as the programme: when you compare venues, memory mixes the rooms up and the photos do not.
Timing, and comparing quotes fairly
For an event with overnight stays, as a rule, the venue is locked in four to six months ahead; for a single day in the city, two or three are often enough, except in the weeks when trade fairs empty the hotels. The earlier you ask, the more venues have the dates free and the more room you have to negotiate.
A comparison is only honest if everyone receives the same brief: same headcount, same dates, same programme, same six questions. If you ask one venue for three nights and another for two, you are not comparing anything.
- Ask for the price broken down by item: rooms, equipment, meals, bedrooms, extras. A single total always hides something.
- Ask what happens if numbers drop: until when you can release bedrooms and rooms without penalties.
- Ask for the cancellation terms and the dates on which deposits fall due.
- Note the response times: a venue that takes ten days to send a quote will take as long over a last-minute change.
Rule of thumb
Ask for at least three or four venue quotes and never choose one on price alone: the difference between two properties shows up under 'not included', not on the total line.
Searching for the venue on Eveo
On Eveo the search starts from the "Hotels and meeting spaces" category and the region where you want to hold the event. From there the filters are the same points as this checklist: stars, number of bedrooms, maximum guests, meeting rooms, in-house restaurant and wellness facilities.
Profiles show the data we have said to ask for, and the quote request starts from the profile without signing up. Send the same brief to every venue you have shortlisted: it is the fastest way to get comparable quotes and rule out the wrong venues before the site visit.
Keep reading
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Hotels and meeting venues: how to win more corporate event requests (and answer them better)
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