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Sharon on Tour: Oulton Hall and Slaley Hall01 Oct 2014
It was a Friday evening and I arrived at Oulton Hall for around half seven. I was shown to my room, which had sumptuous Egyptian cotton bed linen and duvets and right in the middle of the bed there was some traditional Yorkshire Parking cake sitting as a welcoming gift. My immediate thoughts of the hotel were fantastic; there was plenty of parking, a short walk to the hotel with beautiful grounds and then being welcomed by the open arms of Yorkshire Parking cake! The hotel is a beautiful old building from the 18th century making it very unique in décor. It’s very much picturesque to look at. We had some drinks and a three course meal, which were outstanding and the staff were brilliant- treacle tart is a must!
At breakfast on the Saturday the staff again were amazing and nothing was too much trouble. We had a show around of the hotel and seeing the sweeping driveway lead up to the grand entrance in the daylight was more breath-taking than the night before. The hotel has great flexibility in what they have to offer. With massive grounds for team building, an outside terrace for a champagne reception, golf, a choice of up to nine meeting rooms and a drawing room ideal for afternoon tea, there isn’t much this hotel doesn’t have to offer.
Later that morning we went to Snozone in Castleford. There was a selection of cakes and hot chocolate for us when we arrived. I think this was to sweeten us up before we ventured onto the slippery slopes! We kitted out in ski suits, helmets and snow boots and had a fantastic time Yooner Sledging. Might I just add I also won the race for team HG! We also tried sledging in the inflatable rings, which was an experience just trying to fit into them!
By Saturday afternoon we had ditched the snow kit and travelled to Slaley Hall. The hotel is a grand Edwardian mansion with 1000 acres of Northumberland moorland and forest, ideal for activities such as quad biking, adding to the hotels old grandeur with a modern twist. The bedrooms were huge with a separate seating area and TV, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers giving the room that little extra special touch. The bathroom was also extremely big with a bath and separate shower cubicle. I had a walk around the grounds which are kept very neat and immaculate. You could get lost in the amount of activities there is to do, everything from 4x4 off road driving, gorge walking and paintballing to archery. You could go for one night and end up staying the week!
On the Saturday evening we had a three course meal from the steak and fish restaurant, which again like Oulton Hall was fabulous. After the meal we had a couple of drinks in the bar which was very relaxing- Martine Expresso cocktail was my favourite!
Sharon and the HG Team would like to say thank you to Rachel (Oulton Hall) and Jo (Slaley Hall) for the great weekend!
Emma Hall