With restrictions starting to ease, we are looking forward to welcoming our clients and delegates back to our properties. In preparation for your return, we have been making some exciting changes behind the scenes. Here is what you can expect at De Vere once we reopen our doors.
Safety first
At De Vere we always put the safety of our guests and staff first – and even more so today. Our specially designed Your Wellbeing at Heart programme ensures a healthy and safe visit for guests and meeting delegates, and a safe working environment for our team members. With the support of ChemEco, De Vere has carefully crafted a range of new measures, from enhancing the already meticulous deep cleaning of meeting and event spaces, bars, restaurants, and bedrooms, to thoughtful physical distancing measures inside and outside the hotels. This includes regularly sanitising public areas using jet action ‘misting’ technology which uses hard acting yet environmentally friendly solutions from ChemEco.
Our properties provide pre-arrival calls with conference organisers to ensure all delegates are symptom free, and while at the property there are sanitising stations, well-considered refreshment arrangements, staggered breakouts, well-organised zones for each group, and plenty of outdoor working space for delegates to take advantage of. Event organisers can also use our infra-red thermometers to temperature check delegates throughout.
Our hotels offer large meeting rooms allowing delegates to have plenty of space to observe physical distancing guidelines and many of our meeting rooms offer new ‘individual workspace’ furniture reducing contact of shared surfaces. Due to the large size of our properties, we’re also able to implement ‘zoning’ to reduce cross contact between groups.
We know that we can’t predict the future, so guests can rest assured that we offer flexible bookings terms so you can book with confidence.
Smart meetings packages
We are committed to ensuring that De Vere is ahead of the game by continuing to invest in new technology to ensure clients remain connected and have greater flexibility. We have launched a series of Smart Connections meetings packages from video calling to multi-room virtual meetings, to provide a slick and seamless service no matter what our guests need.
De Vere’s Smart Connections meetings packages are powered by video-first unified communications platform, Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The packages allow event bookers to efficiently arrange engaging and accessible events that can take place safely, enabling delegates to meet in person and interact virtually for those who can’t physically attend.
Multispace Meetings by De Vere allows delegates to stage live meetings and run syndicate events across multiple locations using De Vere’s brand new and fully encrypted video conferencing technology. De Vere’s state-of-the-art technology and AV has the ability to host over one thousand delegates at a time, virtually from their home or office, by simultaneously linking meetings by live camera and audio feed, to creating regional meeting pods within a virtual meeting room.
De Vere has also created Studio Space; fully hosted studio-style production facilities where business leaders can record broadcast quality footage with ease. Studio Space can be used to create engaging communications so those working remotely to turn any communications into a polished, poised and professional piece.
Those visiting the properties will also be able to take advantage of De Vere’s market leading Smart Space meetings concept, which comprises nine service features designed to offer a highly responsive, personalised meetings and events service. The service includes everything from a live availability booking service to truly tech-savvy support, with up to 1GB super-fast Wi-Fi, interactive displays, and an on-site team of friendly experts to help overcome any tech issues a client may face with strict distancing measures in place to ensure a safe and productive environment for everyone.
We’re well connected
Whilst De Vere properties are surrounded by acres of green space, parkland, and beautiful countryside, they’re also impeccably connected and benefit from plenty of on-site parking, and we even have electric charging points at some of our properties.
What else have I missed?
We’ve been busy over the last few months. In February we donated £202,248 to NHS Charities Together to help NHS staff, volunteers, and patients at the centre of the COVID-19 crisis. The money was raised when De Vere pledged a proportion of the value of each direct bedroom booking, including VAT, to NHS Charities Together after the hotels opened in August 2020. We would like to thank all the guests who stayed with us last summer and helped to raise the money; together we are making a difference for those affected by coronavirus.
When schools had to take lessons online owing to lockdown in January, De Vere Beaumont Estate and De Vere Cotswold Water Park donated a number of laptops to schools in Swindon and Gloucester and Slough based Learning to Work to support the education of young people in their local areas. It has been a challenging time for families and young people facing home schooling, especially those who don’t have the equipment they need, so we are absolutely delighted that we were able to donate laptops to ensure that children were not at risk of falling behind in their studies.
Somethings don’t change
Although we’ve made a few updates and adapted to the current environment, you can still expect the same award-winning facilities and hospitality. Our rural and city locations make our properties ideal for meetings and events of all shapes and sizes with all properties easily accessible by bus, rail, plane or car.
Our properties are set within 20 acres or more of natural parkland, providing endless opportunities for outdoor breakout sessions; team building activities; dining al fresco; working in the sunshine – thanks to the super-fast Wi-Fi that stretches up to a 100m perimeter around each property; or enjoying our jogging trails or walking routes pre or post event.
We are continuing to implement our sustainable initiatives and longer-term plans in a journey towards a sustainable future, ranging from the chemicals used in our cleaning products, the introduction of electric car charging points to removing single use plastic items.
