Waterton Park Hotel hosts meetings, conferences, team building days and weddings for groups of 6 to 140, with five meeting rooms shared between a modern hotel building and Walton Hall, a Georgian house built in 1767 on an island in a 26-acre lake. The estate lies in Walton, about three miles from the center of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, and has been privately owned since 1989.
Seminars and company events
The largest room for a conference is the County Suite on the first floor of the main hotel building, reached by lift. It seats 140 theatre style, 110 classroom or 96 cabaret, is fully air-conditioned and can be divided into three smaller rooms for breakout sessions. Across the water, the Waterton Suite on the first floor of Walton Hall seats 100 theatre style or 50 around a boardroom table, with views over the lake. Smaller board meetings and workshops can use the Lakeside Suite, the Library or the Boathouse. All rooms have free Wi-Fi and natural daylight. Corporate bookings go through the hotel's central reservations office, and the grounds, gym, spa and neighboring golf course give teams something to do between sessions.
Weddings and receptions
The hotel offers weddings in two settings: the historic Walton Hall on the island and the more modern hotel building on the mainland. It states weddings from as few as 6 guests up to 140. The lake around the hall serves as a backdrop for photographs. Wedding menus and packages are set out in separate brochures, and couples should confirm with the team which rooms hold the ceremony and the meal.
Rooms and capacities
The Lakeside Suite, on the ground floor of Walton Hall, takes up to 30 guests under a high ceiling with original Georgian details and good daylight. The Library, also on the ground floor, seats 16 boardroom style with lake views. The Boathouse sits on the lower ground floor at lake level with its own patio and suits presentations and board meetings. Rooms in Walton Hall have no lift access, which matters for delegates with reduced mobility.
Accommodation
Bedrooms come in several categories: single, double or twin, executive or deluxe, family and hideaway rooms, plus the Gamekeepers Cottage. All are en suite with a workstation and free Wi-Fi. The site does not state a total room count. Check-in is from 3 p.m. and check-out at 11 a.m.
Catering
The hotel has a restaurant and full bar with all-day dining, the Grand Café, afternoon tea and Sunday lunch, and the Essence Bar beside the spa.
History and setting
Walton Hall replaced an earlier moated medieval hall; a watergate, possibly from the 14th century, survives at the head of the island and was once its only entrance, reached by a swivel bridge. The naturalist Charles Waterton (1782 to 1865) grew up here and enclosed his 250-acre estate with a wall about three miles long, creating what the hotel describes as the world's first nature reserve. Charles Darwin was among his visitors. The Simpson family later lived in the hall, which served as a maternity home from the Second World War until 1966, then became a country club in the late 1970s.
Getting there
Wakefield Westgate station is about 4.5 miles away, the M1 about 4 miles and the M62 about 7 miles. Leeds city center is 10 miles away and Leeds Bradford Airport 26 miles. The hotel has 100 free parking spaces and two charging points for electric cars.
