Earlier this year, Cvent named the 2019 World’s Top Meeting Hotels. Annually, Cvent ranks hotels from all over the world and groups them into 4 regions. The Europe region’s Top 10 hotels included three outstanding hotels in Spain with two in the Top 5; The Melia Castilla Hotel & Convention Center and the Hilton Barcelona. Cvent bases their findings on booking activity, including total number of RFPs and conversion rates.
Cvent sourced $15 billion worth of business through their Supplier Network in 2018. Cvent evaluated over 11,000 cities represented on their venue sourcing site. Each of the hotels on the list excelled by having the most booking activity in 2018.
Two of the top five hotels in Europe were in Spain, bringing in the most meetings and events in Europe according to Cvent’s booking and RFP activity. The Melia Castillia Hotel ranked Number 2, moving up 10 spots from 2018. The Hilton Barcelona came in at Number 4, moving up 13 spots form 2018. Impressive! These two hotels actively are sought out and booked by planners and recognized as great meeting destinations. They deserve to be honored as well as the Tourist Office of Spain for their dedication to the meetings industry and to planners worldwide.
Each destination is ranked according to several criteria. These include:
- Unique RFPs
- Awarded RFPs
- Total Room Nights in RFPs
- Awarded Room Nights
- The Market’s percentage of qualified meeting venues and the number of profile views.
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This ranking is indicative that both the destinations and the hotels put forth great effort into enticing groups to book their cities and hotels.
Chris McAndrews, vice president of marketing for Cvent Hospitality Cloud said, “The hotels featured on this year’s lists are elevating their group-business strategy through innovative digital marketing and quick and complete online responses to RFPs — which is exactly what event professionals want,” He went on to say, “Our Top Meeting Hotels lists are consistently used by event organizers to find great hotels and by hoteliers looking to set themselves apart to increase their property’s group business revenue.”
The Melia Castilla is the most recommended hotel for conventions in Spain. Located in the financial district, it is next to the Paseo de la Casellana, close to the Bernabeu Stadium and numerous restaurants. It is minutes from the airport, the train station, the Convention Centre and the IFEMA trade fair grounds. With it’s prime location and incredible meeting space, the Melia is one of Europe’s most modern meeting hotels.
The hotel, renovated in 2018, boasts 911 guest rooms, 3 restaurants and 68,052 square feet of meeting space. There are 33 conference rooms including a 511-seat auditorium. Total meeting space can accommodate up to 580 attendees. Planners are sure to enjoy their many options in the ideally located Madrid meeting hotel.
Traveling to Barcelona, the Hilton was renovated in 2012 and has meeting space in 35 rooms totaling 19, 375 square feet with 290 guest rooms. It is conveniently located within the city, 8 minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from the train station, near the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, close to two major shopping malls, El Corte Ingles and L’lla. Being centrally located in the Avinguda Diaganol, an expensive residential and business district, makes it an ideal meeting location. 
Whether you use Cvent as a sourcing tool or not, be sure to check out these two magnificent hotels when booking meetings in Madrid and/or Barcelona. They rank in the Top 5 for a reason.
For further information on Spain, contact the Tourist Offices of Spain.
