Seminars and company events
Seminars and board meetings for up to 35 people, business dinners for 50 and cocktails on a rooftop can be held at Hôtel La Zoologie in Bordeaux, a hotel set in the former zoology institute of the city's university. Three meeting rooms open onto the garden or the inner passage known as La Sente, all with daylight.
The hotel sells meeting days with breaks, business lunches and dinners, lunch or dinner cocktails, and after-work events. Groups can add a cocktail masterclass or a wine workshop to the program, a natural fit in Bordeaux. The sales team prepares each proposal on request.
Rooms and capacities
Salon Belém is the largest meeting room, for up to 35 people. It is bright and has a private terrace that opens onto the exotic garden. Salon Banksia takes up to 18 people for smaller working groups, and Salon Botanique up to 8, a good size for a board meeting or a recruitment day. The rooms come with the technical equipment needed for presentations.
For private events, the bistronomic restaurant can be booked for up to 50 guests, the bar for up to 45, and the panoramic rooftop for up to 40. The rooftop overlooks the exotic garden and opens in the evening, mainly in summer. The planted terrace can also be reserved. These spaces suit birthdays, launches, cocktails and intimate evenings.
Accommodation
Participants can stay on site. Rooms are grouped by mood and comfort level, with interiors inspired by the natural sciences, including bathrooms styled like laboratories. The hotel also has a spa. The website does not state the number of rooms.
Catering
Catering is in-house. Mornings start with hot drinks, fruit juice and pastries; afternoon breaks bring cannelés, financiers, madeleines and fresh and dried fruit. Lunches and dinners are served at Le Tapir, the hotel's restaurant with an open kitchen. Le Banksia, a wine and tapas cellar with a small delicatessen, and the bar complete the offer.
History and setting
The building was put up between 1900 and 1903 to designs by the architect Ernest Lacombe to house the Bordeaux Institute of Zoology. The renovation kept the original stone, brick and iron structure and its glass roofs, and added new wings whose design refers to the natural sciences. The result gives a seminar a setting with more character than a standard business hotel.
Getting there
The hotel stands at 151 cours de la Marne, between Saint-Jean station and the historic center, a few minutes from each. High-speed trains reach Bordeaux Saint-Jean from Paris in about two hours, which makes a one-day seminar practical for teams coming from the capital.
