The Waterton Park Hotel, Wakefield

Access to the hotel is along a rather winding route from junction 39 of the M1 motorway. After initially passing a large lake and the local Asda you travel through the leafier outskirts of Wakefield before going into the countryside on the approaches to the hotel. The hotel comes into view after you pass through the adjacent 18 hole golf course, which surrounds the site.

We arrived rather late in the afternoon and had to pass through a six foot high security gate before entering the car park. This was rather full so we went onto the overflow car park adjacent to the lake. From here we could clearly see the wonderful setting of the Walton Hall on it's island with pedestrian access over an iron bridge flanked by two jetting fountains.

We carried our luggage over the footbridge and along the path on the island to the hotel reception. Overall the hotel boasts more than 60 rooms and the friendly reception staff booked us in efficiently and gave us information about the hotels facilities. We paid the balance of our room fee of £130 as the hotel has a policy of room payment on arrival. This payment was for two and included bed and breakfast. When we booked the room we had already paid a £40 deposit.

The hotel seems to have an obsession with cushions as on entering our room I counted four on the bed and two on the armchairs. With or without the pillows the large double bed was very comfortable. We also had all the usual modern conveniences of internet access, TV (including some of the satellite channels), direct dial telephone, voicemail, hairdryer & the usual tea & coffee making facilities. The traditional wardrobe contained a full iron and ironing board and there was also a trouser press in the room. Our on suite bathroom was well equipped with plenty of towels and a full bath with shower. It was well lit and had the usual complementary toiletries. The large sash windows provided extensive views across the lake and golf course and onto the countryside of Yorkshire.

Fully refreshed after our swim our thoughts turned to dining. We had a number of choices from the Table d'hote and A La Carte menus in the Bridgewater Restaurant to the Bar Menu in Charlies Bar. Always looking for value for money we looked at the Restaurant Menus with interest. It looked like we would be paying upwards of £25 a head and it soon became clear that those conference delegates had a large portion of the restaurant pre-booked. By eight o'clock they were well into party mood, and we wanted a relatively quiet meal!

For our meals I had a lovely Steak and Ale Pie at £7-50 and my other half had the Cod and Chips at £7-95. We both had a glass of wine with our meals at £3-25 a glass. The menu also has Sandwiches costing £4 to £5 for those wanting a lighter bite. Our food came within ten minutes a was extremely tasty and well presented.

In the morning we walked down the large stairway and made for the restaurant for our inclusive breakfast. As it was nine o'clock most of the conference delegates were long gone and I noticed the lawn outside prepared for some of those mandatory "team building" challenges. This took me back and I was pleased that my days of climbing through "the spider" were over.

After a long breakfast our thoughts turned to packing as the hotel has a 10-30 checkout time. It didn't take long to pack after a one night stay and we were soon back in reception checking out and paying for our meals from the night before. As we headed to the footbridge the hotel front lawn was a hive of activity with all those conference delegates in weird and wonderful positions trying to achieve their team building objectives. I must admit on the sunny day that it was this was an excellent setting for such training.