Quirky hotel bars shake up the typical cocktail function. Picture: Fish Pool cocktail bar, The NCO Club at JW Marriott Singapore South Beach.
The cocktail reception has long been the workhorse of the corporate event calendar – a standard expectation, yet, with repetition, increasingly less memorable.
In Asia, a new generation of venues is shaking up the formula and offering planners greater imagination than a passed canapé and a house pour.
People People Brewing Co., Singapore
Beyond hotel ballrooms and rooftop bars, drink-makers that blend brews with event and community spaces are standing out as alternative reception venues.
Take for example People People Brewing Co.. The brewery on Sentosa also functions as a 836-sqm social space. Helmed by Dave Pynt of Michelin-starred Burnt Ends, the space offers built-in conversation starters for cocktail events that are visible, tangible and unusual. The tanks are in the room. The beer is made metres from where attendees mingle.
With a keen eye on the events business, the brewery offers branding opportunities for hosts and organisers.
"You can brew a beer with us from scratch, or put your branding on one we already make, get it pouring on a custom tap at the bar for the night, and send people home with cans of it," says managin director Brandon Grusd. "We can sort branded door gifts off the merch side too."
Capacity runs to 172 seated or 300 to 400 standing across the indoor space and outdoor terrace, with dual LED screens and a raised stage for presentations and speeches.
For international planners whose clients have cycled through the polished hotel ballroom many times, Grusd makes the case plainly: "Despite feeling like a destination venue, we're also only minutes from the central business district, which makes logistics straightforward for planners."
The NCO Club at JW Marriott Singapore South Beach
For organisers whose brief calls for spectacle, new-age venues are also turning up the ante. Equipped for live mermaid performances, NCO Club's Fish Pool cocktail bar offers what JW Marriott Singapore South Beach’s GM Karl Hudson describes as a space where "the elements of mixology, storytelling, and spectacle create a novel event experience".
The wider NCO Club enclave is steeped in heritage and offers multiple entertainment-lifestyle spaces, giving planners room to design a reception with distinct zones and a natural flow of movement rather than a single static gathering point.
1 Hotels
Reinventing cocktail events do not start and stop at the razzle dazzle.
For clients prioritising wellness and sustainability over spectacle, 1 Hotels has developed a programming format that meets both. "We are seeing a distinct dual trend: a desire for clean, functional wellness alongside demand for highly curated, experiential indulgence," says Steven Minor, Starwood Hotels’ corporate beverage director.
On experiential side, nitro-charged Espresso Martini taps have become a reliable crowd-pleaser for larger receptions – efficient, and with enough novelty to keep a room moving.
On the wellness side, organic and biodynamic wines, locally produced spirits, and intimate tasting experiences led by regional distillers offer hosts a way to signal values as well as taste.
The common thread, Minor suggests, is that "when guests choose to drink, they are looking for more than just a cocktail. They want a story, a sense of place, and a connection to the destination”.