8 Things to Check Before Booking...
A meeting room can look great in photographs and still be completely wrong for the meeting you’re planning.
Before you book, it’s worth looking beyond the table and chairs. The right meeting room should make the day easier, not give you another list of things to sort out.
Whether you’re booking a room for a client meeting, team session, interview, workshop or hybrid meeting, here are eight things worth checking first.
1. Is it the right size?
Start with the obvious: how many people are actually going to be in the room?
But don’t just look at the stated capacity. Think about how you’ll use the space. Six people sitting around a table for a presentation need something different from six people running a workshop.
A room that’s too small gets uncomfortable quickly. One that’s much too large can feel strangely empty.
Check:
- How many people the room comfortably seats
- The layout of the tables and chairs
- Whether there’s space to move around
- Whether you’ll need extra space for laptops, documents or workshop materials
- Whether the room can accommodate any last-minute changes to numbers
If you’re unsure, it’s usually worth asking the venue. A good meeting room provider should be able to recommend the right space based on what you’re actually doing, rather than simply giving you a capacity number.
2. Is the technology suitable?
A meeting room doesn’t need to look like a NASA control centre. It does need to have the technology your meeting actually requires.
If you’re presenting, check whether there’s a screen and how you’ll connect to it. If you’re running a video call, find out what conferencing equipment is provided. If you’re running a workshop, check whether there’s a whiteboard or digital collaboration tools.
Before booking, check:
- Screen or display
- HDMI and/or USB-C connectivity
- Video conferencing equipment
- Camera and microphone
- Whiteboard or collaborative display
- Power access
- Whether you need to bring your own adapter
The more important the meeting, the less you want to be discovering how the AV works five minutes before everyone arrives.
3. Is the Wi-Fi reliable?
It sounds basic, but reliable Wi-Fi is one of the most important meeting room essentials.
For a straightforward internal meeting, a slow connection is annoying. For a presentation, hybrid meeting or session involving large files and shared documents, it can bring the whole thing to a halt.
If you’re booking a meeting room for an important session, check that Wi-Fi is included and suitable for the way you’ll be using the space.
And if your meeting is hybrid, don’t stop at asking whether there’s Wi-Fi. You’ll also want to know whether the room has the conferencing equipment and connectivity needed to actually run the call smoothly.
4. Is there natural light?
Nobody wants to spend a whole day in a windowless box if they don’t have to.
Natural light can make a noticeable difference to how a longer meeting feels, particularly if people are going to be in the room for several hours. It also helps when you’re on video calls, where good lighting can make everyone look considerably more human.
If you’re booking a room for a full-day workshop or off-site, look at the room itself rather than just the building. A good meeting space should be somewhere people can comfortably spend time.
5. Is the room private?
For some meetings, privacy is non-negotiable.
If you’re discussing clients, hiring, finances, strategy or confidential projects, you need to know that the conversation is staying in the room.
Check whether the meeting room is fully enclosed and whether conversations can be overheard from neighbouring spaces. It’s also worth considering what happens immediately outside the room. A private room isn’t particularly private if there’s a busy breakout area directly outside the door.
This matters just as much for interviews as it does for client meetings. Candidates should be able to have a confidential conversation without feeling like the whole building can hear it.
6. Is the location convenient?
The best meeting room in London isn’t much use if everyone spends an hour trying to get there.
Think about where your attendees are travelling from and how easy the building is to find once they arrive.
Things worth checking include:
- Public transport connections
- Walking distance from the nearest station
- Parking, if relevant
- Nearby hotels
- Places to get coffee or lunch
- Clear signage and directions to the building
For meetings involving people from different parts of London, or guests travelling from outside the city, a well-connected location can make a real difference.
It’s also worth thinking beyond the meeting itself. If someone has travelled across London for a one-hour meeting, being somewhere with cafés, restaurants and places to work nearby can make the rest of their day considerably easier.
7. What's included?
The headline booking price doesn’t always tell you the full story.
Before you book, check exactly what’s included in the price. Depending on the venue, you may need to pay separately for equipment, refreshments or additional support.
Look out for:
- Wi-Fi
- Screens
- Video conferencing
- Whiteboards
- Tea and coffee
- Water
- Notepads and pens
- On-site support
A cheaper room isn’t necessarily the better deal if you end up adding everything you need afterwards.
It’s also worth checking what happens on the day. Having someone on-site who can help with the room or technology is one less thing for you to worry about.
8. What happens if something goes wrong?
This is the one people tend to forget until something actually goes wrong.
Technology occasionally stops cooperating. Someone forgets an adapter. The screen doesn’t connect. You realise halfway through the presentation that your laptop has decided it no longer recognises HDMI.
The question is: who helps?
When choosing a meeting room, find out whether there’s an on-site team and how easy they are to reach during your booking.
Good meeting spaces aren’t just about the physical room. The service around the room matters too.
Before you book
A good meeting room should make your meeting easier, not create another job for you.
So before you book, don’t just ask:
“How much is the room?”
Ask:
“Will this room actually work for the meeting we’re trying to have?”
Check the size, technology, Wi-Fi, natural light, privacy, location, what’s included and the support available on the day.
Get those things right, and you’re already a long way towards a meeting that runs smoothly.
Meeting rooms at Oneder
At Oneder, our meeting rooms are designed to take care of the details, so you can focus on the meeting itself.
At Channel in King’s Cross and Kindling in White City, meeting rooms come equipped with the essentials, including reliable Wi-Fi, screens and video conferencing, with an on-site team available if you need a hand.
Whether you’re meeting a client, interviewing a candidate, bringing your team together or running a workshop, there’s a room to suit the meeting.
Explore Oneder meeting rooms and book your space here.