MEET UP London 2025: a toast to design, connection and 10 years of Hotel Designs

The design and architecture community came together in style for MEET UP London 2025, hosted by Hotel Designs at the Sway Bar. As one of the most anticipated networking events in the industry’s calendar, the evening buzzed with creativity, collaboration and celebration – and this year, with an extra special reason to raise a glass.

The event marked the first official celebration of Hotel Designs’ 10th birthday, and what a way to begin a year of festivities. From start to finish – and well into the night – MEET UP London brought together top designers, architects, hoteliers, and suppliers for an unforgettable night of connection and merrymaking (of which there was aplenty).

Sophie Harper, Editor of Hotel Designs said of the evening: “What a night! Hotel Designs’ MEET UP events are known for bringing the design and hospitality communities together, but this year’s London edition surpassed all expectations.

“Record numbers made for such a great energy across the venue – and I’m glad to say the addition of the dance floor went down well! London, you’ve done us proud yet again – I can’t wait for Liverpool next.”

The night’s highlights included a spirited champagne giveaway, courtesy of Aslotel, which saw six lucky guests win a celebratory bottle to take home. Meanwhile, ARRAN treated every attendee to beautifully curated gifts, adding a touch of luxe to the evening’s takeaways.

Adding to the ambiance was the BoConcept mini-lounge setup, featuring the iconic Imola chair and footstool combo – a much-appreciated place to grab a quick breather from the dancefloor (and yes, the Hotel Designs team made the most of both!).

Image credit: Hotel Designs

With engaging conversations, thoughtful touches, and the unmistakable energy of a vibrant design community, MEET UP London 2025 set the tone not only for a stellar year ahead, but also for a decade of success and innovation in design.

During a heartfelt welcome from the Hotel Designs team, guests were treated to some exciting industry news. Most notably, the team proudly announced that The Brit List Awards 2025 is now officially open for entries and nominations, with several new categories available.

This year’s awards evening, taking place on 5th November at London’s Ministry of Sound, promises to be a wild one – quite literally – as it embraces the bold and untamed theme of ‘Go Wild’. This means we’re expecting, stripes, spots, scales and feathers galore from you incredibly creative bunch!

The team also took the opportunity to spotlight two more key dates in the design calendar: the Interior Design & Architecture Summit and Mixer on 23rd June in London, which will host the first of the new Accessible Design Talks, and MEET UP North, which will follow on 9th July at BOXPARK Liverpool, featuring the second talk in the accessible design series.

These announcements were met with huge enthusiasm from the crowd, further proof that the appetite for meaningful design conversation and connection has never been stronger.

To all who joined us for MEET UP London 2025 – thank you for making it such a special evening. We hope to see you again soon! Check out more images from the evening below…

Main image credit: Hotel Designs