Sarah, Andy and I have recently returned from Berlin, where we organised the PriceWaterhouseCoopers IAS Academy at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  http://berlin.grand.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp This was a four day event which was attended by 250 delegates from across Europe.  The event was extremely successful and great fun to manage.  I have not had the opportunity myself to visit Berlin before but have worked with the Hyatt Group for many events previously – the hotel staff in Berlin were by far the best operational onsite team I have worked with.  The hotel itself is contemporary in style (which I love) and extremely well planned out. The conference facilities onsite cater for a maximum of 850 delegates in a theatre style layout with a variety of syndicate rooms (all on the same floor).  A very large communal registration/catering area is available also.  The hotel offers 342 bedrooms as well as a selection of “Club” level rooms/suites to suit VIP guests. 
 

Berlin is a fantastic city http://www.berlin-tourist-information.de/index.en.php to host a conference and sometimes can be overlooked by companies hosting an event due to the fact that it is not a “warm” destination. However you could not be more wrong - 35 degrees each day during PriceWaterhouseCoopers event! The hospitality we experienced during our time there was amazing and I think Germany sometimes gets a raw deal as a conference destination.  In the city outside of the conference day we hosted two successful offsite dinners, my favourite being at Opernpalais, http://www.opernpalais.de/ we began with a drinks reception on the lawns followed by a more formal meal inside.
 

There is also plenty to do within the city - we organised a fantastic mini tour for delegates to see the sights of Berlin because on many occasions delegates do not get the opprotunity to view what is actually outside the hotel!!! One of the most popular parts to the event was the Trabi Safari around Berlin, imagine 250 delegates driving Trabi’s (old cars), around a city they don’t know, in rush hour traffic - highly amusing!!!! http://www.trabi-safari.de/e78/e92/index_eng.html
 

All in all this was a great event and enjoyed thoroughly by everyone,
 

Very much looking forward to returning to Berlin,
 

Penny