Our round-up of what’s happening in the business world across Europe
Table hopping
Business breakfast
Moscow If you’re not on a caviar-andblini budget, you can now get a fantastic European breakfast in Moscow. The Belgian chain Le Pain Quotidien, which has almost 100 outlets in 10 countries, has finally opened its first one in Russia (2 Kievskogo Vokzala Pl, Yevropeisky). The downside is it’s inside the Yevropeisky shopping mall next to the Kievsky train station in central Moscow. The upside is it starts to get cold in Moscow this time of year, so being inside isn’t such a bad idea. The restaurant is open all day and is a good place to grab some rare organic fare at even rarer reasonable prices – while piggybacking on the mall’s wi-fi network.
Business lunch
Valencia Now that all those expense-account Americas Cup gawkers have gone – at least for the time being – it’s marginally easier to score a booking for lunch at Ca Sento (17 Calle Méndez Nuñez, tel. +34 963 301 775), widely considered to be Valencia’s top restaurant. The traditional seafood dishes and cool dining room are well worth venturing into the less scrubbed up Grau area for and, should you clinch a table as well as a key account, the restaurant has an excellent selection of cigars. Seriously, there are only eight tables – book early.
Business dinner
Brussels Situated close to the European Parliament and the offices of a gazillion bankers and lawyers, L’Ancienne Poissonnerie (65 rue du Trône, Ixelles, tel. +32 (0)2 502 7505) is possibly the most Italian fish restaurants in Brussels. Naturally, getting a table at lunchtime is a bringing-peace-to-the-Balkans type challenge, particularly in the main dining area.
Consequently the service, whilst charming, can be a little strained. Much better for a relaxed business meeting is the evening sitting. Reservations are still essential, but the restaurant is open from 7pm and it takes bookings up to 10.45pm. A word of warning, though: the authentically Italian menu will make you too contentedly sleepy to even think of going on somewhere else for a late nightcap.
Between meetings in… Hamburg
If you happen to be in Hamburg between 5-10 October and have a couple of hours free, you might want to check out some of the dozens of events being held under the banner Hamburg Design Festival. The event is now a major European showcase for everything from corporate architecture to graphic design to futuristic offi ce interiors. But it isn’t all work: there are dozens of funky fashion and jewellery designers so you can combine your legitimate business research with a little personal shopping. Just don’t get the receipts muddled up.
www..designfestival.de
Case notes
Anyone wanting their laptop to travel in style as well as comfort might consider the new Modern Traveller Computer Slip from British leather goods specialist Bill Amberg.
These sleek slipcases, available in black or tan, are made from the sort of leather you want to hug rather than toss into an overhead locker, and they’re lined in soft red cotton. From £290 (€430), www.billamberg.com
And now you don’t even have to remove your laptop from its cocoon unnecessarily. The pocketsized Firebox Digital Wi-fi Detector is designed to confirm whether roaming business travellers are in a wi-fihotspot before they go to the trouble of booting up their laptop or splashing out on that obligatory latte. The wi-fi detector also tells you where you can log on and it displays network ID and encryption status. €88, www.firebox.com
A fare night’s sleep
A superb tool for business travellers has just been launched. Comparison website Farecast.com has expanded its service to include a hotel search. Unlike other comparison sites, Farecast uses algorithms based on hotels’ own data to show which ones are offering special deals, which are charging their average rate and which are charging premium ones. Each of the 5,000 hotels on the site has a chart showing what they’ve charged recently and what they will probably charge over the next 90 days. It’s basically like tracking the stock market to decide when to buy shares. If your trip is flexible, you can organise it around the cheaper rates. Meanwhile, four former Expedia Europe executives have launched TVtrip.com, a website that allows you to suss out 1,500 hotels in 50 European destinations via independent on-line videos. Travellers will be able to upload their own video clips of hotel rooms.
A good night’s sleep in… Berlin
Don’t be put off by the hi-concept haircut crowd, the restaurant called Shiro i Shiro which serves “Mediterranean-Japanese” food, or the annoying website (has anyone ever not skipped an intro?). The 72-room ‘design’ apartment hotel Lux 11 is a surprisingly good choice for business travellers. The Junior and Executive suites provide a particularly light and spacious workspace and have well-appointed mini-kitchens, wi-fi (albeit pricey) and – rather quaintly – fax machines (which, like Trabants, now merit a double-take). The two best things about the Lux 11 are: the location on Rosa Luxemburg Straße, right in the heart of Mitte (Berlin’s hippest neighbourhood but, hey, it’s only Tuesday), and the price. The reasonable rates – a junior suite costs from around €220 – encourage you to bolt a weekend on to your trip, although you will have to factor in the time spent trying to find the bathroom light switch. Hint: it’s nowhere near the bathroom. 9–13 Rosa Luxemburg Straße, Mitte, tel. +49 (0)30 936 2800, www.lux-eleven.com
Rocco still rolling
Two long-awaited hotels in the Rocco Forte Collection have just opened in key business cities: Le Richemond in Geneva (Jardin Brunswick, tel: +41 (0)22 715 7000) and The Charles in Munich (Sophienstraße 28, tel. +49 (0)89 544 5550).
The Geneva hotel, which has been closed for an 18-month €28m refurbishment programme following its acquisition by Rocco Forte, now includes a seventh floor housing the 230m² Royal Armleder Suite, 26 smaller ones and 83 rooms. The executive rooms have two armchairs, a “very functional working space” and the usual high-tech work and play kit you would expect from this chain. Le Richemond also has three function rooms and a spa.
Meanwhile, the brand-new Munich property has 132 guest rooms, nine junior suites, 18 master suites and a 200m² presidential suite, all well kitted out for business – even if your business is running a small country. There are seven meeting rooms that can holding up to 400 delegates. www.roccofortecollection.com
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