A luxury Buckinghamshire hotel has unveiled a new range of community-focused corporate packages to allow businesses to go beyond just booking a meeting room – with 58% of UK companies specifically seeking out experiential away days.
Horwood House Hotel, an award-winning, 4-star country house hotel and conference venue in Little Horwood, near Milton Keynes, has launched four new packages with meaningful and engaging team-building activities at their core.
Designed for teams looking to make a meaningful social impact by weaving charitable and community-focused elements into every part of their event, experiences now include cocktail masterclasses, chocolate workshops, honey tasting experiences and painting classes.
Highlighting the hotel’s community-focused work, the cocktail masterclass is a unique 60-minute session led by the in-house bar team. Participants learn the inspiring story behind the venue’s partnership with the Crisis homelessness charity, while mastering the skills needed to create the perfect Espresso Martini or a bespoke mocktail to enjoy. Guests will also be able to create a second cocktail, using fresh lavender that children have planted on the 38-acre estate as part of ongoing community gardening projects with local schools.
The 60-minute chocolate workshop invites guests to discover the art of chocolate making alongside the hotel’s in-house chocolatiers. Ideal for team-building sessions, this hands-on, interactive experience features a demonstration of expert techniques, followed by a session where participants can create, decorate and take home their very own handmade chocolate truffles.
The honey tasting experience explores the crucial partnership between flowers and bees, uncovering the science of how the insects transform simple nectar into ‘liquid gold’. The sensory exploration guides teams through the diverse flavours of Horwood’s onsite hives, allowing guests to taste three to five unique varieties – including a ‘Mystery Honey’ – before taking their own jar home.
The experience is hosted by Urban Bee-lievers, a local social enterprise focussing on encouraging, educating and inspiring guests on the benefits of the threatened fuzzy insects.
Finally, to tie in with Horwood’s ‘Butterfly Resort’ campaign, which saw it work with local schools to design and decorate butterfly houses to raise awareness of the decline in UK butterfly numbers last summer, guests can now paint their own butterfly houses. The package builds on the hotel’s existing conservation and wildlife initiatives, while providing participants with a meaningful ESG-focused activity. Creations can also be used as table centrepieces if businesses choose to have a private dinner during their stay.
Caroline Morrone, General Manager at Horwood House Hotel, said: “We’re excited to expand our range of experiential packages, allowing businesses and organisations to go beyond just booking a meeting room with us. Educating guests about the importance of local charities, wildlife and sustainable initiatives, while providing a space for team connection, is something we are deeply passionate about. We know that corporate teams are increasingly looking for these types of hands-on experiences, and we’ll look to add more experiential packages in the near future to meet those demands.”
Additionally, with wellness-focused corporate away-day activities on the rise, the hotel is currently exploring the inclusion of sound bath, yoga and breathwork sessions. More information on this experiential package will be announced in the coming months.
To find out more about the new experiential packages, please email meetings@horwoodhouse.co.uk.
For more information on Horwood House Hotel, visit https://www.horwoodhouse.co.uk/.
