There’s a brand new private dining room in the Surrey Hills with a view like this!
Site visit date April 2026.
Thirty minutes from Waterloo, then ten minutes from Guildford Train Station ….
… your next meeting could be at Barnett Hill Hotel, with transfers via a vintage bus to dine in a stunning, brand new private dining room overlooking the Silent Pool?
I cover the meeting element, activities, transfer options, off-site dining, suggested itinerary, budgets and there’s a list resources too.
Barnett Hill Hotel
Barnett Hill Hotel is enough of an attraction in its own rights to be fair to the hotel; a Queen Anne style mansion built in 1905 by the grandson of Thomas Cook as a family home.
It’s located 10minutes from Guildford train station (and the city itself which offers a vast array of dining, shopping and entertainment options) set at the end of a tree lined driveway, in the peaceful Surrey Hills.
You literally relax as you get out of the car.
The hotel is surrounded by gardens with Acer’s larger than I’ve seen before and has stunning views, not just from the public areas, but also from the bedrooms and function spaces, of the hotels 26 acres of grounds and the Surrey Hills beyond.
Accommodation
The hotel has a total of 56 bedrooms spread across the main house (x18 rooms), courtyard (x22 rooms), mews rooms (x12 rooms) and gardeners’ cottage (x 4 rooms). No two rooms that I saw were the same but all are beautifully designed, many with unique features (particularly and obviously those in the main house).
The Courtyard accommodation is a short walk from the mansion house, literally adjacent and the rooms are as you would imagine, all off the main courtyard which features a statue of a horse as a centre attraction.
Meeting space
The meeting space is all located in the main manor house:
The Garden Room Is located on the ground floor, with natural daylight, neutral tones and a maximum 56 cabaret style.
Opposite to which you have the Drawing Room, an oak panelled feature room with direct access to the patio and stretch tent, the ideal refreshment and lunch room to the Garden Room, or, a meeting room for a maximum of x 24 boardroom style or 60 theatre style.
Also at this end of the hotel you have the Library where the hotel serve afternoon tea and the stairwell to the bedrooms and the smaller first floor meeting rooms.
The Chestnut and Acer Suites can be used separately (seating 12 and 10 boardroom respectively) or can be used for a meeting in the Chestnut and daytime catering in the interconnecting Acer which is super useful for highly confidential meetings when conversations may continue over coffee or lunch.
Then on the second floor there are four syndicate rooms, the Dunsfold, Albury, Bramley and Chilworth. These are quirky attic rooms and it’s worth noting that the Bramley is accessed via the Albury. These rooms hold between 10 and 16 delegates each u-shaped without a tables (actually its, x10, x12, x12, x16)
Activities
What can you not do in 26 acres of land? Tree bathing or yoga in the woods or on the flat lawn or in the walled garden, mindfulness yoga to start your day by the Wendy House with bomb (not real) disposal tasks on the terrace after lunch to energise the group?
Group mountain bike and tour guide option. Take your group on a tour of the Surrey Hills? It doesn’t have to be a round trip, a destination trip can be organised with vehicle transfers back to the hotel.
You can bring Silent Pool Gin Distillery to the hotel where they will set up set up marquees in the grounds and offer a talk and tasting with a G&T. Costings circa £600 plus VAT £12.50 for a G&T and then the guests get to keep the beautiful Copa glasses.
Or take your group to the Silent Pool …. more on that below.
Dining
In addition to the Library where afternoon tea is served you also have the 1905 Bar and the hotel’s main restaurant, the Oak Hall, which is also where your conference breakfast will be served with buffet stations set up just across the corridor.
If you take the hotel on exclusive use then you obviously get run of the mill including the Library, Oak Hall etc as dining options for groups, but there’s always the grounds as an option for a BBQ.
OR you can go off-site with transfer options including a single decker vintage bus @ £1145 with option to have period tickets and photography.
The Silent Pool Gin Distillery
Once upon a time a TV exec took early retirement, spotted some derelict barns on a dog walk one day and had the idea of opening a gin distillery. Love a light bulb moment!
And with not just the distillery on-site now but also the Terrace PDR it offers a unique destination in the heart of the Surrey Hills.
The Terrace, only just opened in September 2025, seats 44 maximum on one long table and offers panoramic views over the Silent Pool. It has a fully retractable roof with patio heaters inbuilt and glass walls to give the option to be both an enclosed or open air dining space.
Use the “Get In Touch” button, contact form (scroll down) or email me your venue requirements/brief to helen@mdem.co.uk and I’ll email venue options to your inbox.
The Courtyard and Bar can be used for pre-dinner drinks but why not throw a pre-dinner activity into the mix?
· Private tour of the distillery, max x 20 per group but two groups can start at separate locations and cross over so a maximum of x 40 is possible all starting at the same time. Cost per person is £25 inc. VAT. Duration is 90minutes but can be tailored to suit
· Bee keeping @ £55 per person (max x 16). Honey is a key botanical in the Silent Pool Gin recipe. It’s added to help create the smooth, luxurious mouthfeel that sets the gin apart, and is sourced from the sustainable hives adjacent to the distillery.
· Aroma mist @ £45 per person (max x 12). Explore the aromatic world of Silent Pool Gin and botanicals, then make your own Aroma Garnish to take home. Did you know that 80% of our taste experience is derived from aroma?
· Cocktail Masterclass @ £50 per person (max x 10). Step inside the world of cocktails! Join the experts as they guide you through the experience of creating the three signature cocktails: the perfect G&T, the Bees Knees and the Martini.
· Gin tasting with the Head Distiller @ £45 per person (max x 12)
Sample Itinerary
Morning – Barnett Hill
Mindfulness, breathing and yoga session in the woodland at Barnett Hill to energise and focus (1hour)
Conference session in the Garden Room
Buffet lunch served in the Drawing Room with the doors open to the terrace and stretch tent.
Afternoon
Team building activity on the back lawns (bomb disposal and cannonball) to invigorate after lunch.
Conference session resumes.
Summary, close to allow delegates to refresh for dinner.
Transfer via single decker vintage bus to Silent Pool (10minutes)
Evening – Silent Pool
Welcome, introduction and divide into groups for activities (1hour).
Pre-dinner drinks in the Courtyard & Bar
Seated BBQ or fine dining in the Terrace
Minibus return transfer to Barnett Hill for overnight accommodation.
Group size 40 – 45 is ideal
Budget circa £16,500 – £23,000 plus VAT total OR £360 – £510 plus VAT per person
(budget is approximate, based on June 2026 costs, subject to availability and dependant on which activities & elements you wanted to include)
I specialise in venue’s for events.
What’s next? Let’s talk …
Drop me an email or fill in the form below to find out more about the above venues and activities or details of what you’re looking for in a venue for your next event, it can be basic or bold, I really don’t mind.
📮 email: helen@mdem.co.uk
🤙 call, text or WhatsApp : 07831 455206
website: www.mdem.co.uk
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Use the “Get In Touch” button, contact form (scroll down) or email me your venue requirements/brief to helen@mdem.co.uk and I’ll email venue options to your inbox.
Let’s get talking …
#roofgardens #conferences #events #meetings #venuefinder
Resources:
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