A weekend with Handpicked Hotels
14/11/2018
Angela recently attended a familiarisation trip with Handpicked Hotels to understand what Audleys Wood Hotel in Basingstoke, and the Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest, has to offer for meetings and events. Here's what Angela had to say...
"We arrived on the Saturday and were greeted with arrival drinks and lunch. We then set off for our afternoon activity which until we arrived was a complete surprise as we recieved our full itinerary upon check in.
The afternoon activity was actually a tour round Bombay Sapphire Distillery, so they organised transport for us to be picked up from the hotel. We spent a couple of hours here, with a tour guide taking us round explaining how the gin is made, the history etc. We then went up to one of the rooms where we did cocktail making and of course, tested some of the gin. The Distillery provided us with a goody bag with lots of information -mainly for conference and events, and a lovely bottle of Bombay Sapphire Gin.
After one final cocktail in the bar we got picked up and taken back to the hotel, to freshen freshen up and get ready for dinner.
Went down for pre-dinner drinks and a show round of all the conference rooms, before dinner in one of their private rooms.
The next day we woke up and chose to make the most of our final part of our stay at the hotel with breakfast in bed. Following breakfast we checked out and made our way over to Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest. I must say, the drive to the hotel which was in the middle of the forest, was absolutely was stunning - especially with the Autumn leaves!
We arrived at the hotel for coffee and a full showround of their bedrooms, conference rooms and we got the chance to look around the grounds, which again was stunning. Half way through we were met by hotel staff with champagne and canapés.
Following the showround we had Sunday lunch in one of their private rooms before making our way home.
Sharla, Kiran and Mandy were amazing hosts and I couldn’t ask for a more perfect weekend. This weekend has given me an amazing insight into what these two hotels have to offer and how the spaces can be used for meetings and events."