Hever Castle takes off-site meetings, conferences, team building days, company parties and weddings, with meeting rooms for up to 60 and up to 150 delegates. The castle, once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, stands in 125 acres of gardens and grounds at Hever, near Edenbridge in Kent.
Seminars and company events
Three spaces are offered for corporate hospitality: the Astor Wing, the Guthrie Pavilion and Lord Astor's Study. A typical program pairs a day meeting in one of the two meeting rooms with a dinner in the castle or in Lord Astor's Study, then a night in the estate's bedrooms. The events team also organizes summer parties and Christmas parties. For team building, the estate has an activities field for outdoor pursuits, a championship golf course, a wellbeing center with five treatment rooms, an outdoor heated swimming pool and a tennis court. Packages are priced to each brief.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings take place in three settings: the castle itself, the Astor Wing and the Italian Garden by the lake. Couples can also book a ceremony only. Capacities and packages for each wedding type are set out in the wedding brochure, and the weddings team runs show rounds of the venues. The castle keeps a list of recommended suppliers who have all worked on the estate before.
Rooms and capacities
The meeting room in the Astor Wing is a Tudor-style space with recently refurbished audiovisual equipment, for up to 60 delegates. The Guthrie Pavilion is a contemporary building in the Italian Garden that holds up to 150 delegates and works for a conference or a dinner. Lord Astor's Study and rooms in the castle are used for evening dining.
Accommodation
There are 25 bedrooms in the Astor Wing and the Anne Boleyn Wing, an Edwardian wing joined to the castle and connected to it inside. They carry a five-star grading from Quality in Tourism, and all are en suite, some with four-poster beds and roll-top baths. When bedrooms are part of an event, a minimum of ten must be booked. Medley Court, a four-bedroom cottage within the Astor Wing, sleeps up to eight. Overnight guests have the William Waldorf Bar and Eden, a small restaurant reserved for residents and evening diners.
Catering
Food for events comes from the estate's own team of chefs. Menus change with the seasons and use local produce where possible, and the chef will build a menu around specific requests or dietary needs.
History and setting
The castle has stood for more than 600 years. In 1903 William Waldorf Astor began restoring it. He added the Astor Wing in 1904 to house his family and guests, dug a lake and laid out the Italian Garden to display his collection of ancient Greek and Roman statues. The estate holds a Silver rating for green tourism and heats its buildings with a biomass boiler.
Getting there
The address is Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG. Hever railway station is about a mile from the castle, and London Gatwick is the closest major airport. The Hever Castle Golf Club lies a mile from the castle's main entrance.
