Rented Meeting Rooms vs. Hotel: Which Is Better?

Moving Back from Virtual Meetings to In-person Meetings

Since 2020, virtual meetings have become the norm, and many businesses and professionals have become quite adept at them. While some of the best practices that were implemented for virtual meetings may apply to in-person meetings, many of them aren’t relevant. Further, before the pandemic, many meeting participants gave low marks to in-person meetings. There are numerous reasons—terrible planning and preparation, no agendas and objectives, unclear roles and responsibilities, no pre-meeting communications, and inadequate facilities—to name just a few.

Many in-person meetings occur in corporate offices. But some businesses have virtual offices being 100% virtual. These organizations require meeting space, which essentially boils down to coffee shops, hotel conference rooms, and rented meeting rooms. Businesses and entrepreneurs with office space often require offsite meeting space when meeting with prospects or customers in different locations. The same can be said of businesses that are trying to expand into a new location where they currently do not have office space. Once again, available options break down into the three aforementioned areas.

Coffee shops are bad choices for most meetings. There is a long list of reasons. Coffee shops lack privacy and are noisy. They also do not have the presentation and collaboration tools needed to execute a successful meeting. Prospects, clients, and partners can leave meetings frustrated and underwhelmed. 

Rented Meeting Rooms vs. Hotel Conference Rooms

But what about hotel conference rooms. These are often in locations that are convenient for participants. Hotels are well decorated and in addresses that convey a positive impression. However, in most instances, rented conference rooms are better options than hotel conference rooms. Following are some of the primary reasons why you should consider renting a meeting room intead of going to a hotel.

1. Higher Cost 

Hotel conference rooms are expensive. Studies conducted by Davinci Meeting Rooms show they are typically 50% more than rented meeting rooms. 

2. Distractions and Disturbances

Hotels with conference rooms are typically really busy venues with a lot of distractions. Conference rooms in main thoroughfares create background noise that can distract meeting attendees and even disrupt meetings. For training events, this translates into lost productivity. For meetings with prospects, customers, and partners, these can create poor experiences and suck momentum from a meeting. In contrast, rented meeting space does not have all of the surrounding noise and distractions of hotel conference rooms.

3. Limited Facilities and Tools

Not all hotel conference rooms are designed and constructed for meetings—particularly the breadth of meetings that can occur (training sessions, prospect meetings, customer meetings, team-building sessions, board meetings, etc.). Hotel conference rooms are multipurpose rooms that are not purpose-built for business meetings. In addition, hotel conference rooms normally don’t come with the presentation and collaboration tools needed to facilitate productive meetings. 

Rented meeting space comes in varying shapes and sizes and comes with different beverage, food, and administrative services. They also come with great Wi-Fi connections, whiteboards, presentation tools, flipcharts, fax and photocopying services, and video teleconferencing for virtual participants. 

4. Breakout Spaces

Hotel conference space typically is not configured so that meetings can break into smaller groups during training and strategic planning sessions. Rented meeting space is located in larger facilities that include smaller rented meeting rooms, coworking space, and day offices—which can be rented per hour. This separate breakout space can keep meeting participants energized and give them time to think and strategize. 

5. Lobby Greeters

Hotel conference space does not come with a lobby greeter that knows the meeting space backwards and forward, what companies and business professionals have reserved space and when, and details on local parking, restaurants, and other retail shops. Rented meeting space like Davinci Meeting Rooms come with lobby greeters who can help meeting participants with any number of questions.  

Finding the Right Rented Meeting Room

Businesses and entrepreneurs need to look for a rented meeting room provider that makes it easy to find and vet rented meeting rooms. Davinci Meeting Rooms provides users with a web-based tool and mobile apps that enable them to identify and reserve rented meeting space in a location that is convenient for meeting attendees includes all the accouterments needed for a successful meeting. Rented meeting space serves many different use cases—customer and prospect meetings, training sessions for employees, partners, or customers, board meetings, strategic planning sessions, and more. Whether you need to rent a meeting room for an hour or a conference room for a day,  Davinci Meeting Rooms has the right space for you. 

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence. LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn Website: www.tirocommunications.com