Business meetings abroad - where? At Restaurants

Restaurants and Planning A Business Meeting
a) Choices
Restaurants with wifi

b) Challenges
Some clubs don't allow use of mobile phones. (I found this in Tanglin Club, Singapore.)
Some hotels jam conference wifis to make guests pay the hotel charges. There was a recent court case about this in the USA. If you want to read about it online search for Opryland and Mariott and Nashville.

c) Solutions
First check that the restaurant has wifi if you need it. Find out if this is for non-residents of a hotel. Get the password.

Find out if phones are allowed in the hotel restaurants.
Sometimes there is a separate business centre in the hotel. Or meeting rooms. There may be a charge for using them for business.

At a recent business meeting in London, we checked out
a) Top Michelin star restaurants with special bargain lunchtime offers.
b) Clubs with reciprocal arrangements (for example, the Tanglin Club in Singapore has reciprocal arrangements with several clubs in London). You may need time to ask your home club to prepare a letter of introduction and if you have to leave the letter with the club reception you might want half a dozen copies of the letter.
c) On the move and last minute - the restaurant opposite a coffee shop - phone number on the restaurant fascia. The home country host meeting organiser googled the name of the restaurant and booked in through book-a-table. The restaurant pays the booking free and the customer does not pay a charge.

You can also check the menu on line. You can look for the wine list. You can ask if the wine is in stock and get it chilled in advance.

d) Finally, there's the option of a private room at a restaurant. Private rooms aren't just for weddings. For a business meeting or presentation, AGM, whatever your needs, a private room might allow you to order in restaurant standard food, with the ability to discuss business without being overheard, no distractions, and able to use phones and laptops.

At a top hotel, or a small family run place keen for business, if you are lucky and plan carefully you will be treated like royalty.