The NICI

You can run a meeting for up to 150 delegates theatre style, then move everyone to dinner, the spa or a room upstairs without a coach transfer. THE NICI says it has 91 bedrooms on Bournemouth’s West Cliff, a two-minute walk from the beach and five minutes on foot from the Bournemouth International Centre, so it also works as an overflow or breakout base for larger conferences. It is a boutique resort hotel with a spa, two restaurants and a heated outdoor pool, part of a group with sister hotels in the New Forest and Newquay.

Event spaces and capacities

You get one daylit main room that splits in two, a mid-sized room and a video-equipped boardroom, plus three dining and lounge spaces. Ocean Drive is the largest, at 204.9 m² on the venue’s floor plan, taking 175 standing or 150 theatre style or seated for dinner; it divides into Ocean Drive North, which has a private bar option, and Ocean Drive South, which opens onto a private terrace. Little Havana covers 98.3 m², and Surfside, the boardroom, 31.1 m². No space for exhibition stands is published, and the venue does not list classroom capacities.

Boardroom layouts, as published, seat 45 in Ocean Drive, 30 in Ocean Drive North, 24 in Ocean Drive South, 24 in Little Havana and 11 in Surfside. East Side Dining seats 56 for dinner and The Lounge takes 12 in its existing furniture. Capacities as published by the venue on its meeting spaces page and its group dining page, with areas from its own floor plans, checked 10 November 2026.

Getting there and parking

Your delegates can arrive by train without a long transfer. The hotel’s contact page puts Bournemouth station a 6-minute taxi ride or 20-minute walk away, the pier a 6-minute walk and the Bournemouth International Centre a 5-minute walk; its FAQs put Bournemouth Airport about 15 minutes’ drive away. Drivers come in on the A31 from the M27. The hotel has its own car park, charged at £27 per night, but spaces are first come, first served and cannot be guaranteed, and there is no EV charging on site; the venue says several chargers are within half a mile. Car parking is listed among the day delegate package inclusions.

Catering, AV and accommodation

Your basic kit is already in the main rooms. Ocean Drive, both its halves and Little Havana have a built-in PA system, a screen on request, wifi, power and air conditioning, and Surfside adds a wall-mounted screen and a video conferencing system. The hotel’s day delegate rate covers arrival refreshments, two breaks, a light buffet lunch with soft drinks, stationery and a flipchart, a TV screen and microphone, wifi and parking, with VAT included. Its 24-hour package adds a three-course dinner, a room with continental breakfast and use of the spa, and a dinner, bed and breakfast option gives each guest a £50 dinner allowance. Prices are given on enquiry. Off-site guests can eat in South Beach, the first-floor restaurant, or Old Harry Rocks, the clifftop restaurant by the pool. For downtime the venue lists an 18 m indoor pool, a 30 m heated outdoor pool open all year, a gym, tennis courts and eight treatment rooms, and it offers cocktail-making as a team activity, with water sports hire from Shaka Surf nearby.

On access, the hotel says it has a small lift to all floors and rooms with walk-in showers, and that fully accessible rooms will be bookable shortly.

What to ask before you book

• How many of the car park spaces can be held for your delegates, given the hotel says parking is first come, first served at £27 per night?
• Can Ocean Drive South’s private terrace be used for breaks or a drinks reception, and what happens to that plan in wet weather?
• If you split Ocean Drive, how much sound carries between the North and South halves during a plenary and breakout?
• Which bedrooms will your group get, since the 24-hour rate and DB&B start from an Inland Standard Room and some rooms sit in a separate annexe?
• Do any delegates need step-free bedrooms, given the fully accessible rooms are not yet on sale and the lift is described as small?
• What are the current day delegate and 24-hour rates for your dates, as the hotel does not publish them?

Related on Events Review

• Conference venues in Bournemouth
• Conference hotels
• Bournemouth International Centre, five minutes’ walk away
• Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel
• Seventa Events, an event agency with a Bournemouth base
• Conference venues in Southampton
• Leonardo Royal Hotel Southampton Grand Harbour
• Utilita Bowl
• Choose the venue around the event, not the headline capacity
• Turn venue accessibility claims into a usable event plan

Sources: THE NICI meeting spaces, group dining and celebrations, delegate packages, Ocean Drive, Little Havana and Surfside floor plans, contact page, FAQs and spa facilities, checked 10 November 2026.