Aubrey Park Hotel

As you drive up to the hotel (which is situated only 8 minutes from the M1 and 15 minutes from historic St Albans) you are immediately hit by the reception area and the fab Oak Suite – but more of that later. Car parking is a breeze and there is plenty of space for coaches to arrive and drop-off / pick-up for off-site dinners, tours, etc.

The reception area is really warm and welcoming here, and the staff are super friendly. It’s quite spacious as well for a hotel of this size, with plenty of room to meet people and set up a registration desk, etc.

Just through reception is the chilled ‘Bar & Lounge’, where you can order bar food as well as drinks - split over two levels, with the upper level leading to an outdoor terraced area, home to plenty of tables in the sunshine (lucky for me on my visit anyway!). Here in the summer, the hotel can also operate a BBQ as well, so you can enjoy a private BBQ as well. I loved this area!

Walking round the hotel, one thing that strikes you is the masses of land that they have. Especially round the back and side of the hotel, which includes ‘The meadow’ (6 acres) and ‘The Woodland’ draped in festoon lighting – perfect to use for team building or pre dinner drinks / fire side chats in a unique setting.

Parking: There are 130 parking spaces at the hotel – all free.
Coach / Bus Pick-up Location at hotel: Yes, lots of room to drop off directly outside reception and there are places for the coach to wait too.
Number of bedrooms: 137 bedrooms in total (which includes 2 suites and 30 executive rooms).
Bedrooms: The bedrooms have a nice contemporary design, with clean lines and a large flat screen TV. I had a really enjoyable stay in my room on the first floor, even in the hot temperatures – especially as the hotel had kindly installed a large free standing fan to keep the room cool. A nice touch!

Number of floors: Three
Business centre: No but any printing / photocopying can be done at the reception desk
Wi-fi: Yes, really easy to access and was super-fast. Worked all over the hotel really well.
Fitness gym: Yes, there is a brand new gym on the ground floor of the hotel with state of the art cardio machines, free weights and some of the latest Technogym equipment
Spa & Swimming Pool: No however they provide subsidised passes to the local Nuffield Health Gym for guests who wanted a little bit more during their stay.

RESTAURANTS & BARS
The Bar & Lounge is based on the ground floor, just past the reception desk. It was split level so good for breaking up into two distinct parts. On top of this the upper level leads to the terrace which is a lovely place to relax, with tables, chairs and parasols. As well as drinks, and the new bar and lounge menu served here also.

The main restaurant in the hotel is the double rosette award winning Brasserie which is lovely and bright (lots of windows!) and has new decking with additional seating overlooking the front of the hotel. In total, with both spaces open this accommodates up to 100 covers. They use the finest and freshest English produce, sourced locally in Hertfordshire whenever possible and I’m very pleased to report that I had a fantastic dinner during my stay, with the food being absolutely first class. Highly recommended

MEETING / CONFERENCE ROOMS
There are nine meeting rooms in the hotel and they’re a mixture of brand new contemporary style and stylish character filled rooms – so there is something for everyone’s taste.

The smaller meeting rooms (Sycamore, Ash, Maple & Elm) are situated in the main hotel building and would lend themselves really well to training rooms or to be used as breakout rooms as part of a bigger conference. All these rooms have natural daylight and are easily accessible from the hotel reception

The superstar of the meeting rooms is the Oak Suite which can be used as one large room or divided into two separate spaces – see highlight below.

The Oak Suite
This fabulous space is less than two years old and it is a lovely piece of design. Standing immediately to the right of the hotel reception, it is a real attention grabber. Benefiting from its own private entrance and lobby area called the Oak Foyer, it has a really spacious feel, and comes complete with its own bar, toilets and cloakroom. This is the perfect place to run your conference registration, coffee breaks or pre-dinner drinks, etc.

Once inside the meeting room, you are struck by the clean lines, the high ceiling, the natural daylight and the flexibility that is affords. It’s excellent and really good to be used for experiential conferences when you could dress and brand the room to your heart’s content.

Inside the room, the technology is great too – with a built in 3 metre screen, wireless projector, PA system and 21 uplighters - which can be set to the exact colour scheme for your conference. Fantastic!

As well as being used as one large room, the Oak Suite also splits into two smaller rooms - the Beech and the Willow room, with the Beech being the larger of the two.

This really is an excellent space and you should consider it for any projects in this part of the country.

Natural light: Yes
Size: 187 Sq.M
Reception: 300
Theatre: 220
Cabaret: 132
Classroom: 54
Dinner: 180
Location: Ground floor (own private entrance)
AV Equipment included: Built in 3 metre screen, wireless projector, PA system and 21 uplighters

For meeting room capacities, layouts and further information please click here:
http://www.aubreypark.co.uk/meeting/conference-rooms