Barnett Hill - Guildford, United Kingdom     

We stayed here two nights for a wedding. I knew it was a conference centre and didn't have a pool so I was not overly enthusiastic at the thought of staying. On arrival I thought it was beautiful. It is a listed building and is carefully preserved. I am not much of a one for architecture and couldn't tell you what style it is, but it is beautiful. The rooms are all different, some quite large and airy and some quite small. It is a bit of a lottery I suppose. Our room was a corner room and I thoroughly recommend asking for a corner room if you are going to stay. I would imagine it to be a bit busy during the week and there are internet terminals and indeed everything you would need for business placed around the hotel. There are also tables with water, fresh fruit and biscuits that can be accessed any time of the night or day. The hotel was really hot. There is no double glazing so they keep the heat right up. We had to sleep with our windows open. The bed was a bit small, which was a shame, but it didn't stop me getting a good nights sleep. The food was very nice. Nothing terribly fancy, but plentiful and wholesome. They need to work on their vegetarian awareness as despite having won a vegetarian award, they served up meat and non meat sandwiches on the same plate. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful and the hotel is about 10 minutes drive from Guildford town centre and easily accessible for shopping. I am definitely going to stay again. I think a shopping weekend would be in order. I am not sure that I would stay during the week because of the conference traffic. A little difficult to find, old style understated elegance, a lovely place for a break.