Karen Visits New Hall Hotel & Spa

From the moment I arrived, I knew this was going to be a little different from your typical hotel visit.

New Hall is an incredible Grade I listed, medieval moated manor house set within 26 acres of grounds and gardens. Dating back around 800 years, there’s history everywhere you look – but what really struck me was how well that history sits alongside everything you’d expect from a modern luxury hotel.

And, of course, I was there with my event planner hat firmly on!

First impressions
The approach to New Hall immediately gives you a sense of the character of the property. With the moat, historic architecture and beautiful grounds, it feels more like arriving at a country estate than a hotel.

Inside, that character continues. The property has 60 bedrooms and plenty of original and historic features, but it still feels comfortable and welcoming rather than overly formal.

One of the things I loved was learning more about the history of the building as we explored. New Hall can trace its origins back to the 13th century, when the Earl of Warwick established a hunting lodge on the site.

Over the centuries, various families have shaped the property. The Gibbons family developed the house during the Tudor period, including the addition of the banqueting hall – now the Great Chamber – while later owners continued to enlarge and adapt the house.

It even spent a period as a boys’ school before returning to private ownership and eventually becoming a hotel in 1985. Hand Picked Hotels acquired the property in 2008.

You can genuinely feel those different layers of history as you walk around.

Looking at it through an events lens
Naturally, a big part of my visit was exploring how New Hall could work for our clients.

For smaller meetings and events, there’s a good selection of rooms. The Great Chamber is the largest within the main hotel and can accommodate up to 75 delegates theatre style, while the Sir Alfred Owen can accommodate up to 40.

For smaller meetings and boardroom-style sessions, there’s also the Chadwick for up to 14 delegates, Garden Room for 12 and Oak for eight.

What I particularly liked was the variety. Rather than feeling like you’re walking through a series of identical meeting rooms, the spaces have their own character, which fits perfectly with the rest of the property.

For larger events, there’s also the separate Garden Pavilion, a marquee-style space accommodating up to 200 guests.

For me, this opens up some really interesting possibilities. You could use the main house for meetings or smaller sessions and then create a completely different atmosphere in the Pavilion for an evening event or larger gathering.

Getting outside
One of my favourite parts of the visit was getting out into the grounds.

With 26 acres to play with, there’s loads of potential for team building, outdoor activities and more relaxed corporate events – particularly for companies looking to get their teams out of the usual conference-room environment.

During my visit, the team showcased some of this with outdoor games and activities alongside a BBQ.

And I have to mention the food.

It was genuinely exceptional – some of the best food I’ve experienced on a hotel visit. The quality, presentation and service were all brilliant.

It’s something I always pay attention to when visiting venues because food can have such a big impact on the overall delegate experience. Based on what I experienced, this is definitely an area where New Hall impressed.

The people behind the venue
As much as I loved the building, grounds and food, probably my biggest takeaway from the visit was the team.

Alannah, Adam, Olivia, Sarah, Naomi and Ally were fantastic hosts.

Within about half an hour of arriving, I felt completely at ease and as though I’d known the Hand Picked team for far longer.

That might sound like a small thing, but when you’re looking at venues from an event management perspective, the people matter enormously. A beautiful venue is one thing; knowing there’s a responsive, proactive team behind it who genuinely care about your event is another.

Nothing felt like too much trouble, and there was a real warmth to the way the whole visit was hosted.

Would I recommend New Hall for an event?
Absolutely – but, as with any venue, it needs to be right for the event.

For me, New Hall would work particularly well for leadership meetings, team offsites, smaller conferences, company away days, team-building events and events where you want to create more of a retreat feel.

The combination of the historic house, accommodation, meeting spaces and extensive grounds means you could build an event that feels very different from a traditional city-centre conference.

And that’s probably what I liked most about it.

It has character.

You’re not walking into another hotel that could be anywhere in the country. You know you’re at New Hall.

A huge thank you to Alannah, Adam, Olivia, Sarah, Naomi and Ally for looking after me so well. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I’m looking forward to hopefully bringing some Hippo clients to New Hall in the future – as well as getting out to see more of the Hand Picked Hotels portfolio.