What to Include in a Company Trade Show Hotel Booking Policy
Companies that send teams to trade shows regularly eventually run into the same problem: every show gets planned from scratch, by whoever happens to own it that quarter, with no consistent process. A short internal policy fixes that — here’s what’s actually worth including. Who owns hotel booking, and when it starts The single biggest […]
How to Choose Between Multiple Hotels Near the Same Venue
Most major convention centers have a real choice of hotels within reasonable range — which is good, until you’re staring at eight options that all say “near the venue” and need to actually pick one. Here’s the order to weigh the factors in, since price is rarely the first thing that should decide it. 1. […]
NEC Birmingham: On-Site Hotels vs. City Centre — Where to Stay
The NEC (National Exhibition Centre) is the UK’s largest exhibition venue, sitting right next to Birmingham Airport — and unusually for a major convention centre, it comes with its own dedicated hotel cluster built directly around the halls. That gives NEC visitors a genuinely different choice than most cities: stay on-site, or stay in Birmingham […]
How Trade Show Hotel Room Block Cancellation Actually Works
Trade show attendance lists change constantly — a team member can’t travel, a booth gets resized, a client meeting gets moved. Before you commit to a block of hotel rooms, it’s worth understanding exactly how cancellation works, because it’s rarely the same as booking a single room on a normal trip. Room blocks work on […]
How Much Do Trade Show Hotel Rooms Actually Cost?
“How much should I budget for hotels?” is one of the first questions any trade show planner has to answer, and it’s harder than it sounds — rates near a convention center swing far more than a normal business trip because of one thing: the show itself. Why the “normal” rate for a city tells […]
Booking Hotels for European Trade Shows: What’s Different from the US
If you’re used to booking US trade shows, the first international one on your calendar — MWC Barcelona, EuroShop Düsseldorf, IFA Berlin, or similar — often catches teams off guard on timing and hotel availability. Here’s what’s actually different. Rooms sell out earlier, and it’s citywide, not just “near the venue” Europe’s largest trade shows […]
McCormick Place vs. Rosemont: Which Chicago Venue Is Your Show At?
Chicago is one of the few major trade show markets that genuinely splits between two unrelated venues — and unlike most cities, picking the wrong one can mean a 20-mile trip across town rather than a five-minute walk. Before you book a hotel, confirm which venue your show is actually at. McCormick Place — the […]
First-Time Exhibitor’s Guide: What to Book Before Your First Trade Show
Your first trade show as an exhibitor comes with a checklist that’s mostly about the booth — signage, giveaways, badge scanners, shipping the display crates on time. The logistics around it get less attention, and they’re usually where things go wrong first. Here’s what to lock down before you’re two weeks out and scrambling. 1. […]
Convention Center Drive vs. the Strip: Where to Stay for a Las Vegas Trade Show
Almost every major trade show in Las Vegas runs at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) — a three-hall, 2.5-million-square-foot complex on Paradise Road, one block east of the Strip. But “near the LVCC” splits into two genuinely different options, and which one is right for your team depends more on what kind of show […]
7 Trade Show Hotel Booking Mistakes That Cost Exhibitors Money
Booking hotels for a trade show looks simple until you’re the one responsible for a team’s rooms, budget, and sanity three weeks before the show floor opens. Here are the mistakes that come up again and again — and how to avoid each one. 1. Waiting until the exhibitor kit reminds you Most exhibitor kits […]