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| Hospitality Today | Winter 2020
Meet in
Monte Carlo
HT Editor David Weston
investigates what the European
capital of glamour offers
conference, event and incentive
travel organisers, after a vast
investment by SBM in ‘One
Monte Carlo’
For organisers of conferences, events
and product launches, the attraction of
the destination itself can add real value.
However fascinating your conference
schedule may be, delegates may not book
(and speakers may be harder to find) for an
event in a boring or unattractive location.
So Monaco starts with a massive plus
point: who would turn down an invitation
to Monte Carlo? In most people’s minds,
the second smallest country in the world
(after the Vatican) is the epitome of
glamour: not only promising 300 days a
year of Riviera sunshine but superyachts,
the Casino frequented by James Bond, the
world’s most beautiful and exciting Grand
Prix circuit – and over it all the stardust of
both Royalty and Hollywood.
“This place has to be about dreams,
enjoyment, and beauty” said François
Blanc, founder of Monte-Carlo Société des
Bains de Mer (SBM), which owns and runs
the Casino and Sporting Club as well as
the Hotel de Paris (opposite the Casino and
boasting four Michelin stars), the Hotel
Hermitage (its sister five-star palace, with
stupendous views over the harbour), the
Monte Carlo Bay hotel, and the Monte Carlo
Beach Hotel.
The SBM (now mainly owned by the
Principality, with some private investors
including luxury brands conglomerate
LVMH with 5%) has recently invested
heavily in “One Monte Carlo”, super-luxury
residences on Casino Square with a new
conference centre underneath which
opened on June 2019. HT inspected the
conference facilities and the SBM hotels
where delegates would stay.
With 1,445 m2 of space dedicated to all
kinds of events (meetings, cocktails, gala
dinners, product launches, etc.), nine
rooms from 48 to 301 m2, an 80-seat
auditorium and its immediate proximity to
Hotel Hermitage, Hotel de Paris and Café
de Paris, the One Monte-Carlo conference
centre has created a new business tourism
hub around the historic Place du Casino.