There are times when business matters are best discussed in a relaxed setting. With the UKโs landscape offering so many beautiful locations for rural retreats, PA Life takes a look at just a few of the country hotels available
Ashdown Park (pictured)
Wych Cross, Nr Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5JR
ashdownpark.com
Spaces available: The Richard Towneley Suite seats 150, while the Harry Clarke room can accommodate 200. Other spaces include the more intimate Jacob Henniker suite, which can hold up to 40 people, along with the Henry Smart, Lady Brassey and Laura Stafford rooms.
Hire rate: A range of delegate packages are available, with a flexible approach to rates. Rooms start from ยฃ200 for a smaller suite to ยฃ6,000 for the largest.
Unique selling point: Ashdown Park is located in the heart of the Ashdown Forest, which, according to the playwright and author AA Milne, is the woodland that inspired his Winnie the Pooh stories.
Beaumont Estate
Burfield Road, Old Windsor, Berkshire SL4 2JJ
beaumont-estate-windsor.co.uk
Spaces available: The contemporary Hanover Suite provides a blank canvas and can cater for 550 people. The dedicated Conference Village has four rooms that are ideal for board meetings, in addition to the redeveloped Tudor Suite, which accommodates up to 140. The White House, an impressive executive wing at the heart of the estate, is ideal for exclusive events.
Hire rate: DDR from ยฃ49 per person
Unique selling point: The 19th-century chapel, with its stained-glass windows and ornate ceiling, offers a breathtaking space for dinners, receptions and meetings. Organisers can add team-building activities, leisure time options and overnight stays.
Belmond Le Manoir aux QuatโSaisons
Church Road, Great Milton, Oxfordshire OX44 7PD
belmond.com/le-manoir-aux-quat-saisons-oxfordshire
Spaces available: Raymond Blancโs Michelin-starred dining room can be hired for corporate dinners and can accommodate up to 50 guests. The hotel is also available for exclusive use and offers 32 guest rooms. Itโs home to a cookery school too, where you can impress your clients with a private demonstration.
Hire rate: Rates available on request
Unique selling point: The luxury hotel provides an idyllic, typically English setting. Beyond the eye-catching architecture are vegetable and herb gardens that provide the kitchen with ultra-fresh, organic produce, ensuring the restaurant remains at the cutting edge of culinary excellence.
The Coniston Hotel
Coniston Cold, Near Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 4EA
theconistonhotel.com
Spaces available: The hotel offers a variety of corporate event spaces that can accommodate up to 200 people, including nine meeting rooms that range from small, intimate areas to large conference suites. The venue also features the Huntsmanโs Lodge for informal dining overlooking a lake and expansive grounds that are ideal for outdoor parties and team-building activities.
Hire rate: From ยฃ135 for a 24-hour delegate rate, including dinner, bed and breakfast and a full meeting during the day.
Unique selling point: The property boasts fantastic scenery spread over 1,400 acres of Yorkshire Dales landscape. The team is on hand to help you organise every aspect of your event.
Dewsall Court
Callow, Hereford HR2 8DA
dewsall.com
Spaces available: Dewsall Court offers a wide variety of corporate event spaces that can accommodate up to 140 delegates, including the Chinoiserie, a naturally lit conservatory, and the study. It also offers exclusive areas in its converted barns, the wainhouse and the studio. In addition, the hotel features guest rooms for up to 23 people.
Hire rate: Exclusive use starts from ยฃ3,950; specific rates and packages are available on request.
Unique selling point: The hotel is set in 15 acres of land with far-reaching views and features the Great British Safari, offering activities such as horse trekking, paragliding over the Black Mountains, pheasant shooting and an SAS survival weekend. Itโs also surrounded by 1,000 acres of protected forestry that features miles of trails for hiking and walking.
Isle of Eriska Hotel
Benderloch, Argyll PA37 1SD
eriska-hotel.co.uk
Spaces available: The hotel features a range of meeting rooms that can host small, medium and large events, as well as providing options at the nearby Scottish Institute of Marine Science. Itโs also available for exclusive use and offers 25 bedrooms, plus two luxury one-room lodges and a three-room cottage (all with private hot tubs) that can be rented at an additional cost.
Hire rate: Exclusive use starts from ยฃ17,000, including two nightsโ dinner, bed and breakfast for up to 49 people. Day rates are available on request.
Unique selling point: The Isle of Eriska is located on a 300-acre private island, offering the last word in exclusivity. Its unique surroundings offer the perfect opportunity to arrange activities for corporate guests, including archery, sailing, watersports, fishing, clay-pigeon shooting and plenty of walking trails.
Sopwell House
Cottonmill Lane, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 2HQ
sopwellhouse.co.uk
Spaces available: From small meetings to product launches and conferences for hundreds, Sopwell House expertly caters for any business need across its 19 well-equipped function suites that can accommodate up to 500 people. Its outdoor space is ideal for summer parties and team-building activities, while its various dining areas offer both formal and informal dinner options.
Hire rate: Available on enquiry
Unique selling point: Each conference suite varies in size and adaptability to ensure that all requirements can be met. Each suite also benefits from natural lighting and air-conditioning. Sopwell House boasts a walled garden, situated among the picturesque grounds in the form of a 600sqm enclosure, which provides additional privacy during outdoor meetings and events.
Swinton Park
Masham, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 4JH
swintonpark.com
Spaces available: Swinton Park offers several function spaces, such as small turret rooms for meetings and the versatile library for presentations. The venue can accommodate up to 120 people for dinners and 90 delegates theatre-style.
Hire rate: Exclusive-use rates start from ยฃ9,500 a night, which includes bed and breakfast in 32 double guest rooms and all event space hire. It also has delegate rates from ยฃ170 per person, including a meeting room, lunch, accommodation and dinner.
Unique selling point: Swinton Park is rumoured to be the inspiration for the setting of Downton Abbey, with the 20,000acre Swinton Estate on its doorstep. It also offers dining options at the Deerhouse in the Parkland, overlooking the local fallow deer and the castle under a canopy of stars.
