A back-of-house corridor at Claudelands Conference and Exhibition Centre was transformed into an intimate laneway bar and restaurant for a group of buyers on Saturday night. 

The buyers, who were on a famil in the Hamilton & Waikato ahead of this week’s Meetings 2016 event, spent three days exploring some of the region’s attractions including Hobbiton™

Movie Set, Waitomo Caves, Hamilton Gardens, Zealong Tea Estate and Hampton Downs Race Track. 

Amid their adventures, the group were able to unwind with cocktails and dinner in Claudelands’ specially created laneway. Dubbed ‘The Arcane Arcade’ due to the mystery and secrecy surrounding it, the laneway featured a garden bar and separate dining room – with the hero piece of the space being a chalk art graffiti wall created by Hamilton illustrator and designer Loryn Engelsman. 

Claudelands Business Development and Sales Manager Wendy Harrison says the famil dinner was a great opportunity to showcase the creativity and versatility of the award-winning venue.

“Event organisers are always looking for new, innovative ideas for their events so for us this was a good opportunity to do the same. By turning an unconventional function space like a back-of-house corridor into an amazing laneway bar and restaurant, it demonstrates just how flexible our venue and team are, and how this can translate to our clients’ events,” she says.

Wendy and her team will be on stand 246 at Meetings 2016 this week. 

ENDS