Venezuela—sorry, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela—sits atop Latin America with Colombia to its west, Guyana to its east and Brazil to its south. This beautiful country has a gorgeous Caribbean coast, including the vacation isle of Margarita, as well as the world's tallest waterfall, Angel Falls, Amazonian jungle and strange, plateau-topped mountains called tepuis, which contain plants, birds and animals found—from tepui to tepui—nowhere else on earth. Venezuela's capital, Caracas, is the place most groups will alight to enjoy Venezuela event venues and hospitality.
The main airport to this country is Caracas' Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia (CCS), named after the Liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar. It is 15 miles north of the city on the Caribbean coast, which means groups staying at beach resorts need not go into the city. Direct services from North America include Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, New York City and Toronto, with Newark offered seasonally.
Venezuela event venues in the capital city include the 269-room JW Marriott Caracas (most meeting hotels tend to be to the east of downtown), which has more than 11,000 square feet of meeting space; the 195-room Hotel Pestana Caracas, which has 10 function areas able to host up to 1,330 persons, and the Gran Melia Hotel Caracas. Close to the airport on the Caribbean coast is the 206-room Venezuela Marriott Hotel Playa Grande, which has 10,750 square feet of meeting space, while a wonderful boutique hotel close to dramatic Angel Falls (it still requires an outfitter and a flight), which is close to where both Guyana and Brazil join Venezuela, is the 15-room Casa Grande de Angostura, on the banks of the famed Orinoco River, close to a small airport with flights to the falls and with a restaurant and function space.
Event venues in Caracas include a real jewel, the Museo del Arte Colonial, also known as the Quinta de Anauco, which has the Carlos Rodriguez Landaeta room for events, as well as an outdoor plaza. Other choices include Caracas's botanical gardens (Venezuela has one of the most world's most diverse array of fauna and flora), another art and cultural gallery, the Centro de Arte La Estancia, and El Museo Sacro de Caracas, the city's foremost site of religious art. In Avila National Park, which shields Caracas to its north, is the Hotel Humboldt, which has just reopened after 30 years of neglect; named after Alexander von Humboldt, the German explorer, the hotel, which sits at 7,000 feet above sea level and affords excellent views, can be reached in part by taking Caracas's cable car, the Teleferico Warairarepano.
The main district for great Caracas restaurants will space for groups is the city's arty La Candalaria area. Choices there include Cocina del Francy, which has a local menu and cool art, and El Tucan, A sushi-Thai choice is Nobu, which is excellent but has absolutely nothing to do with the famed Nobu chain of sushi restaurants, while two final selections might include Mezzanotte (rare here in that it has a website) and the celebrated Casa Urrutia.
