Chances are you have already been here, telephonically. When U.S. companies outsourced their call centers, India’s third-biggest city became one of the major hubs. Your voice has almost certainly been carried around the world to an agent talking back to you from Bangalore.

In recent years, some Bangalore call centers Americanized the names of their agents and employed coaches to shift their accents from southern India to the West Coast. All this effort is intended to mask the fact they’re based in Bangalore — yet, at the same time, the city represents the proud face of modern India, increasingly becoming a destination in its own right, with MICE leading the way.

This being India, things are never entirely straightforward. In the past decade, Bangalore achieved brand recognition other cities would envy. Whether you like them or loathe them, the call centers put this city on the map. People across the world know the name. But that hasn’t deterred the regional authorities from decreeing a name change. Officially, Bangalore is now Bengaluru.

The new name doesn’t sit easily on a city that forged a confident path into the 21st century, with gleaming new high-rises and a booming IT industry that earned it its reputation as India’s Silicon Valley. Against this modernity, “Bengaluru” harks back to the rustic past. It means “town of boiled beans.”

For now, many local companies and tourism organizations retain the better-known name — most notably, the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, India’s premier conference and exhibition venue.

Located about 12 miles northwest of downtown (the drive takes 30–60 minutes, depending on the traffic), BIEC, an unashamedly forward-looking complex, sits within 34 acres of landscaped grounds with three exhibition halls totaling 430,500 square feet. Recent events staged at the site include electronics and bio-tech trade fairs and the 2014 Space Expo.

In keeping with Bangalore’s high-tech aspirations, BIEC boasts state-of-the-art facilities, with particular emphasis on sustainability. India’s first conference venue to earn LEED certification, it features rainwater harvesting and ozone-friendly air-conditioning. The center’s energy-efficient food hall includes international brands such as Domino’s Pizza and Subway as well as local fare.

North of downtown, within easy access of the airport highway, the Royal Orchid Resort & Conference Centre offers boardroom and banqueting facilities as well as The Dome, a theater-style venue with seating for up to 370 delegates. The resort’s 54 guestrooms (including cottage suites with a separate living and dining area) are well-equipped, though WiFi access comes with a fee.

Meeting room at The Oberoi, Bangalore © The Oberoi, Bangalore

Downtown, meeting planners will find no shortage of high-end hotel venues. The Oberoi, Bangalore, situated at the heart of the financial, business and shopping districts, boasts 160 guestrooms, all equipped with Oberoi Enhance, an iPad interface that enables guests to customize the lighting, air-conditioning and entertainment systems in their room at the touch of a screen.

The Oberoi offers three meeting rooms with a maximum capacity of 70. The rooms include teleconferencing facilities and are tended by skilled staff. The colonial-style veranda of the hotel’s Polo Club provides an ideal venue for informal business meetings.

A little farther along the Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road, the Hyatt Bangalore MG Road offers two boardrooms, with a maximum capacity of 10 people each, ideal for small meetings or seminars. The hotel’s banqueting room can host business or themed events with catering for up to 180 people.

The modern focal point of downtown Bangalore is the UB City development, a cluster of high towers overlooking the city’s largest green space, Cubbon Park. The new district’s flagship hotel is the 297-room JW Marriott Bengaluru, one of the group’s four properties in the city. The JW Marriott’s nine meeting rooms include a pillar-free ballroom with capacity for up to 500 seated delegates. One of the hotel’s greatest selling points is its proximity to Cubbon Park, which provides a leafy retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The district of Whitefield, among Bangalore’s prime technological centers, lies 11 miles east of downtown. Here you’ll find the International Tech Park, or ITPB, which houses many IT and software companies. The futuristic Vivanta by Taj – Whitefield, situated at the ITPB entrance, offers 170 guestrooms and 29 suites.

The hotel boasts a theater-style auditorium with seating for up to 350 delegates. (Bear in mind there are three Vivanta by Taj hotels in Bangalore, distributed widely across the city. If you take a taxi, make sure the driver knows which one you’re going to.)

Another important Bangalore business and technological hub, the Embassy Golf Links Business Park, lies adjacent to the prestigious Karnataka Golf Course (considered India’s best). The 247-room Hilton Bangalore Embassy, the most convenient base for both the business park and golf course, features large guestrooms equipped with kitchenettes and a range of meeting rooms that accommodate up to 80 people.

Many of the city’s modern hotels feel one step removed from India. The Leela Palace Bangalore leaves you in no doubt as to your location. Taking its architectural inspiration from the Palace of Mysore, the hotel offers opulence fit for a maharaja. The conference rooms, suitably sumptuous, handle meetings for groups of 18 to 550.

Bangalore is the ideal place to immerse yourself in India’s greatest sporting obsession, cricket. From April to June each year, the Indian Premier League, the richest tournament in world cricket, transfixes the country. The locally based Royal Challengers, one of the eight competing teams, features a roster that includes many top international players. A night game at the 36,000-capacity M. Chinnaswamy Stadium provides an unforgettable experience, the perfect finale to a MICE trip to Bangalore.