SOFITEL MELBOURNE ON COLLINS WINS BIG AT THE 2018 MEETINGS EVENTS AUSTRALIA AWARDS20.04.2018

Friday 20 April 2018 –

This month at the Meetings Events Australia National Awards ceremony it was announced that Sofitel Melbourne On Collins was recognised as having the Corporate Event Of the Year in 2017.

Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) was established in 1975 and is the peak body representing the events industry in Australia.

Sofitel Melbourne On Collins received the award for The Australian Ballet gala dinner L’événement (The Event), and it certainly became ‘The Event’ of 2017.

What emerged from this rich creative collaboration amazed even the most high profile of guests who chose not to be named, however Robin Campbell Chairman of The Australian Ballet L’événement Committee described the event as “Completely spectacular, in terms of its appearance, the atmosphere, the lighting, the tables, the flowers and everything else.”

Inspired by The Australian Ballet’s famous production of ‘The ‘Merry Widow’, with its celebrated scene in Maxim’s and its high-kicking can-can dancers, Sofitel infused it’s French ‘savoir-faire’ with Parisian streetscape of cafes, boutiques, fresh food and flower stalls.

“Working with iconic arts organisations like The Australian Ballet speaks to our prestigious title as Melbourne’s Hotel for the Arts” says Clive Scott, General Manager of Sofitel Melbourne On Collins. “It was an absolute privilege for us to work with such a talented and creative organisation to pull together the Corporate Event of the Year”.

‘The Event’ had guests walking a star-studded streetscape to reveal ballerinas adorned in ‘The Merry Widow’ costumes, then entering Sofitel’s Grand Ballroom where guests were transported into Maxim’s with chandeliers sparkling, lush red and gold furnishings, lavish floral arrangements, exquisite table settings, Toulouse Lautrec images and a replica stained glass ceiling.

Maxim’s is a restaurant in Paris, France, and was once regarded as the most famous restaurant in the world. Sofitel’s Executive Chef, John Savage modelled the menu off the historic Maxim’s menus, fine wines, complementing each course and pop up ballet performances held guests spellbound.

‘The Event’ raised over $400,000 towards The Australian Ballet’s new performance of ‘Spartacus’, and was celebrated at Sofi’s Lounge which was transformed into a ‘delizioso’ Roman dessert salon.

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Sofitel is the only French luxury hotel brand with a presence on five continents with 120 addresses, in almost 40 countries (more than 30,000 rooms). Sofitel offers contemporary hotels and resorts adapted to today’s more demanding and more versatile consumers who expect and appreciate beauty, quality and excellence. Whether situated in the heart of a major city like Paris, London, New York, Shanghai or Beijing, or nestled away in a country landscape in Morocco, Egypt, French Polynesia or Thailand, each Sofitel property offers a genuine experience of the French “art de vivre”.

For more information or to obtain images, please contact:

Evan Hinrichsen
Associate Director of Communications & Marketing
Sofitel Melbourne On Collins
T +61 (3) 9653 7737 Mob : +61 477 360 928
E evan.hinrichsen@sofitel.com