Laura recently attended a Handpicked Hotels FAM Trip; this is her blog:
We met at Woodlands Park Hotel where we enjoyed canapes and bubbly before being shown around the property.
Woodlands Park is a Grade II listed Victorian house set in 8 acres of land not far from the Surrey Hills. It has a 2AA Rosette Fine Dining restaurant, 57 bedrooms and 9 meeting spaces.
The largest meeting room is the Prince of Wales Suite which can seat up to 200 looking out over the lawns. The hotel recreates it’s grandeur from years past by replicating designs from the originals and maintaining traditional features such as fireplaces.
The Grand Hall has stained glass windows in the ceiling and elegant woodwork so is a wow factor upon entrance.
Following the showaround, we headed to the Drawing Room for dinner; we enjoyed 3 delicious courses accompanied by a glass of wine (or two). After a nightcap in the Grand Hall, we headed off to bed; it’s safe to say a good night’s sleep was had in the Hypnos beds that are in every room.
We feasted on a full English breakfast in the morning before making our way to sister property Nutfield Priory, this venue has real impact on arrival with its neo-gothic design.
We were shown around the facilities of the hotel which includes 60 bedrooms, 15 of which are feature rooms, a 2AA Restaurant, 9 meeting spaces and a health club and spa. My favourite meeting room was the Gibson, a traditional oak panelled room with views across miles of countryside. This room really lends itself for private dining.
We reconvened in the Fielden Suite where we put on a fetching outfit of a helmet, anorak and gloves ready to throw ourselves at the team building activity- a crystal maze style series of events.
We had great fun working together as a team and challenging ourselves to complete the tasks. There is so much team building equipment already built on-site so it’s all set-up and ready to welcome new groups. Nutfield also allows motorised activities.
Following our pursuits, we enjoyed a private lunch in the Leigh Room, we got to try out a hot and cold buffet package that would be offered to conference delegates which has a great selection. We all then said our goodbyes and headed home for a well-earnt rest.
Thanks Handpicked Hotels for a great fam trip!
It is an important part of the job for event planning companies to visit as many venues as we can so we can recommend the venues personally for our clients corporate events.
