How about a business meeting...in a convent?

KUALA LUMPUR - A new survey by Regus, the provider of flexible workspaces, revealed that for some executives, meetings can take place in the oddest of places.

Does a meeting in a massage parlour sound kosher? Well, it has been done by executives before. As have meetings in deserts, landfills and construction sites.

Regus interviewed more than 26,000 respondents from over 90 countries, asking them about the strangest place they have had a business meeting, and found that some of the oddest venues included a convent, an old railway tunnel, a nursery and a maggot farm.

"The strange places that people find themselves in for business meetings, from bathrooms to abandoned buildings and beaches, show just how open-minded and flexible people have become in the business world," said Mr John Henderson, Regus regional director for the Asia-Pacific.

"The venues revealed in this research may not be to everyone's liking, and some certainly give pause for thought in terms of safety and professionalism," he added.

"Luckily for less adventurous professionals, a huge network of professional and productive meeting places is available around the world, helping them focus on targets rather than their unusual surroundings."

Some of the locations revealed in the study seem more suited to an action-packed thriller, while others show that there is literally nowhere that business people consider off-limits for a meeting.

The places include an airline hangar, a submarine, inside a mine, an out-of-service lift and an old shrimper.

More common grab-a-meeting venues seem to be cars, coffee shops and hotel rooms, while planes and airports are also popular choices, reflecting the international nature of business today.

However, it gets more curious: Toilets and bathrooms feature in the answers, too, while one unfortunate individual was subjected to a meeting at a hospital.

On the upside, restaurants, hot tubs, beaches and boats all feature, showing that business meetings are not always such hard work.