Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour

This venue is home to the city's only Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill. During our stay, we had to try this spot out and had, hands down, one of the nicest steaks we’ve tasted in a VERY long time. Not to mention the service was fantastic too, the staff couldn’t have been friendlier. This place is highly recommended as part of your visit to this wonderful hotel, trust us.

Another amazing place to eat at the hotel is the newly refurbished Leo’s bar. They serve delicious food all day long. Leo’s bar also has an amazing terrace for al fresco dining in the warmer months. This terrace is currently under renovation itself at the moment, after the completion of the wonderful bar, but we’re sure if the inside space is anything to go by, this will be a stunner for group or individual catering.

We were greeted by the lovely team who showed us around and pointed out this Hotel’s fantastic location and connections. The 4 star property has easy access to the local train station, shopping centre and waterfront in Southampton. An interesting note about the location of this hotel is its closeness to the Ocean Cruise Terminal (5 mins drive) which sees cruise ships from all around the world dock and depart, a perfect place to stay before your trip overseas.

Let's get to some more leisure shall we before we get down to the meetings and events side later in this showcase. Leonardo Southampton has an amazing indoor, heated 15m pool, as well as a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. If this pampering wasn’t enough, spa days and all kinds of treatments are available at the Rena Spa.

More self-care, the onsite gym has a really good variety of weights and space for your workout, we put it to good use! Our highlight from this was the sauna, it was the perfect wind down after a busy week, this must be high on your list.

Right off the bat when it comes to meeting spaces, the Leonardo Royal has you covered with the largest hotel event space in the city, we will fawn over the unrivalled Mayflower room below as our no.1 pick for a highlight. But this showstopper isn’t all that this venue has to offer. The hotel has 12 other meeting spaces, all on their very own mezzanine level of the hotel at your disposal, the mezzanine lounge too provides a fantastic place for registration for a large event.

Meeting Space Highlight: Mayflower Suite

The only meeting space located on the ground floor, the Mayflower Suite is a super flexible and massive space that can be used in some really quirky ways, which we loved. For example, the space can be used fully open, with the wood accented walls and fantastic lighting facilities on show across this big bright open space, or it can also be split into three smaller rooms…or, two rooms combined, with one third its own breakout space. This area is a perfect size, mixing high capacity capabilities with a level of intimacy some big spaces lack – just perfect for dinner dances, awards evenings and conferences or exhibitions

Best use for room: Large conferences, awards, dinners, exhibitions

Natural light: No
Size: 26 x 16 x 4.5 m
Reception: 500
Theatre: 500
Cabaret: 300
Dinner: 400
Location: Ground floor
AV Equipment included: Yes, HD Projectors and full range speakers

Meeting Space Highlight: Bradford Suite (part of Mezzanine Suite)

The Bradford suite is one of three spaces within the large Mezzanine Suite. Further showing off the impressive flexibility of this venue’s meeting spaces. Once again the mezzanine’s 3 sections can be divided how you like. Bradford is a fantastic space, with tonnes of natural light and an honestly fantastic view of the waterfront that’ll keep you motivated through long and hard-working days.

Best use for room: Small conferences, board meetings, breakout rooms

Natural light: Yes
Size: 9 x 8 x 3
Reception: 50
Theatre: 50
Cabaret: 36
Dinner: 50
Location: Mezzanine Level (1st floor)
AV Equipment included: Yes and Wifi

Meeting Space Highlight: Leo's Bar & Atrium

Location: Ground floor

We’ve already told you how amazing this space is, we really mean it, we at the Delegate wranglers LOVED (yes, all caps) this space – recently refurbished and teaming with natural daylight and spacious feeling, not too tight or stuffy, with the outdoor area just Perfect for drinks receptions and networking events. This bar also has some expert mixologists on hand, definitely try a cocktail made by them, they’re stunners.

Best use for room: Networking events, drinks receptions, lunches

Natural light: Yes

Overall, our stay at the Leonardo Royal Southampton was a fantastic one, everything we needed was just so easy, and it’s really important to point out just how great this location is. As well as being right in the city, there’s also the fabulous waterfront and boundless greenery nearby. This place has a serenity that so many city hotels and venues can’t rival, with fantastic event spaces to boot.

Definitely worth putting it on your go-to venues for clients that are looking for a break from holding their events in the larger, busier cities. Super flexible, excellent staff, great price point and a lovely place to re-charge your batteries – what’s not to love?