Report Of This Week’S Mini-Expo

On Tuesday, three hotel groups and one independent venue, Peckforton Castle (pictured) came to visit our offices for a mini expo. 

Starting with Peckforton Castle, Cheshire, this was built in the style of a medieval castle in 1850 and lends itself beautifully for events that will be remembered. The castle has spectacular rooms for meetings, conferences and private dining, and offers outdoor activities in the grounds along with the Land Rover Experiences. This gem is just 40 minutes from Manchester airport and an hour from the city of Manchester and half an hour from Chester.  We were surprised by the very affordable day delegate rates for such a unique property.

The Sundial Group consists of three stunning country houses, Barnett Hill in Surrey, Highgate House in Northants and Woodside in Warwickshire. This award winning family business focuses on the personal touch and the attention to detail often overlooked in the corporate world. The brownies and cookies that they brought to office, which were baked by the Sundial chefs, helped to confirm our views that the food at the Sundial properties takes a lot of beating!

Hotel Republic discussed the many different hotel groups that they represent, mainly European hotels, including SANA, Movenpick and Kimpton in the UK.  They only represent one hotel in the UK which is the Taj Hotel in London. From the traditional to the quirky the Hotel Republic includes a European hotel to cover every preference.

Finally Helen from the Prima Hotel Group gave us the details of their 5 properties, 4 of them luxury 4-star country houses in England and 1 property in the city centre of Edinburgh.  Hellaby Hall, Quorn, Stanneylands and Nunsmere Hall all sit in their own grounds and have all the facilities available that you’d expect from a fine country manor hotel. Nunsmere Hall has its own lake and is available for exclusive hire. The city hotel, the Crowne Plaza, Edinburgh is a Georgian property on the Royal Terrace and offers a terraced garden for al fresco dining and drinks receptions.