Reinventing An Industrial Giant

A coastal city with a wealth of history and a region famed for its fine wines
and boutique accommodation, the Hunter has much to offer.

Conference & convention venues in >> Hunter Valley & Newcastle.

Once Newcastle was known for its heavy industry and smokestacks. Now it’s boutique restaurants and sophisticated nightlife that captures visitors’ attention. A whole new industry has emerged, catering to the meetings market with groups from around the region as well as around Australia eager to taste the Hunter’s newly discovered charms.

The Newcastle Visitor & Convention Bureau has been active in securing and hosting a wide variety of high-profile conferences and conventions. One recent coup was the MIAA 2003 National Conference which met in Newcastle before moving on to Hunter Valley Wine Country, utilising such backdrops as ewcastle’s rand Civic Theatre and the Honeysuckle Locomotive Boiler Shop.

Newcastle’s newest and largest hotel, the Crowne Plaza Newcastle, opened in March 2003. It has 175 one bedroom suites, all with separate living space. The Club Floor comprises 38 guest suites including Club Spa Suites. There are five meeting rooms and two boardrooms including the Crowne Plaza Ballroom, seating 240 people theatre style or 160 for banquets.

Country Appeal

Far from the frantic pace of city life, the Eaglereach Wilderness Resort continues to hone its services and facilities for the conference market.
The Resort’s commitment to perfection has been evidenced in twice taking out the Australian Tourism Award for Excellence in the Superior Accommodation category amongst a swag of other industry awards. It is located on 400 hectares near Vacy in the midst of the Hunter Valley.

Opening early 2004 is the Lowanna Wellbeing Centre, a boutique health and fitness facility. Other new attractions at Eaglereach include a Star Gazing Deck, which makes the most of the Resort’s mountaintop location, and a new network of walking tracks and horse trails. A Koala habitat is planned for later in the year.
Mirvac, operators of such hotel brands as Quay West and Sebel, took over the Kirkton Park property at Pokolbin in February 2002. Now branded as the Sebel Kirkton Park Hunter Valley, the Colonial-style resort has 71 guestrooms and suites and is nestled into the foothills of the Brokenback Ranges.

Best Of The Hunter

Catering for corporate conferences, events, banquets and meetings, the Sebel has six meetings rooms ranging in size from 59 square metres, taking up to 40 people theatre-style, to 255 square metres for up to 300 people. In addition, four break-out rooms hold up to 10 people each in boardrooms-style seating.
Further expansion is planned for Potters Brewery, located at Nulkaba, the gateway to the Hunter Valley vineyards. Occupying six hectares and landmarked by National Trust-listed brick beehive kilns, Potters Brewery is already well-known for its boutique beers and traditional country hospitality.
Meetings space is available for up to 120 people theatre-style and Potters Brewery offers a comprehensive catering menu including dinners, working lunches, cocktails and morning and afternoon teas. There are currently 16 guestrooms and plans are in place to increase the accommodation component to a total of 64 guestrooms in 2004.

North of Newcastle

The only 4.5-star conference venue in the Barrington/Gloucester area, Riverwood Downs is approximately one hour north of Newcastle and 2½ hours from Sydney. Such high-profile clients as AstraZeneca and Connoisseur Tours are committed fans of the venue’s superb facilities and commitment to service.
A range of accommodation and conferencing options is spread across the property’s 300 hectares which includes five kilometres along the banks of the Karuah River. Recent conference groups have taken full advantage of Riverwood Downs’ outside banqueting facilities especially wine tasting under the river willow trees.