Theobalds Park

The old house part of the hotel is a stunning building with beautiful rooms and curved staircases, set in a very nice piece of parkland.
While the food is to a good standard, the range of drinks available at the bars do not inspire and the prices for both are clearly an exercise in the management squeezing as much as they can out of their customers.
I didn’t find the staff particularly helpful, or in some cases, competent. My friend received a confirmation of reservation email with the wrong name on it. He was lucky enough to receive one. I stayed for three nights on a dinner, bed and breakfast package but each night dinner found it’s way onto my room bill. This made for an interesting conversation when checking out. Bar service was often also painfully slow, resulting in large queues.
Conference facilities are, well, conference facilities. Some of the sessions I attended were overcrowded but that may have been an issue between the conference organisers and the venue in allocating rooms at the event.
On the morning of departure the hotel’s entire hot water system failed so it was cold showers all round. Not that the staff seemed to be that interested.
A plaque opposite the reception desks proclaims the Theobalds Park Hotel to be a Conference Centre of Excellence. This is worded as if this is it’s current status but the experience didn’t match the dictionary definition of the word so perhaps it is a statement of ambition. Or perhaps centre of excellence simply doesn’t mean what used to.
Theobalds Park Hotel is a place for people told to go there under contractual obligation who can claim it all back on expenses, not a leisure destination.

I love to take my children to this park, especially in summer. There is a small café/​coffee shop which serves nice food for good prices. There are ice creams, jacket potatoes, sandwiches and hot or cold drinks and a seating area out the fron for plenty of people. There is also a large park area for playing but there is no part of the park here with any swings/​slides etc so bring your own entertainment.
At the edge of the park is a small river and you can feed the ducks here or take a walk alongside the river. The petting corner is brilliant with birds, small animals (rabbits/​guinea pigs etc) and if you time it right you can stroke the animals at feeding time. My son went into the cage with a cockerel!!! Braver than me!
There are also many events which happen here throughout the year and i know there is a fitness class for mums that takes place here where you walk with the buggy for exercise.
Could only be made better by the addition of a swing/​slide/​activity area for the children and best of all — it is FREE

This is a reasonable hotel, close enough to London but located far enough from the hustle and bustle of the city. The hotel is actually located very close to the M25 (although you don’t get the feeling that it actually is that close) so easy access to/​from the hotel from London. The hotel itself is of a good enough standard with well fitted and presented rooms. The rooms in the ‘old wing’ do not have any central air-​conditioning system which means opening the windows to cool the room not generally a problem if one is happy enough sleeping with open windows! The bar and restaurant facilities are great and have a good variety. Prices are comparable to similar hotels but some special offers are sometime available

A beautiful unpublicised hotel/​restaurant/​wedding venue just off junction 25 of the M25. Now owned by De Vere Venues, the building has had a varied history as a private stately home, hospital, college and childrens home. I think it now gains most of its business from conferences and there is a newer more functional wing of the building catering more to this, but the grounds and the main, old building are where this place stands out for the social/​leisure visitor. Grand entrances and stairways, dark wood pannelled rooms and great country walks around the grounds make this a great place to stay or to eat within easy reach of North London/​Hertfordshire/​West Essex (but be warned of no easy public transport access).
Bar snacks and a high class restaurant, I have always found all the staff to be very welcoming and friendly, even if you just want to go for a walk around the building and grounds.