Dillington House

Dillington House is one of the most beautiful conference and training centres in the South West of England. It is architecturally breathtaking in a bucolic setting of 100 acres of mature parkland on the fringes of Ilminster in Somerset. Operated by Somerset County Council since 1949, it is a calm and relaxing backdrop for some serious thinking, strategic planning or team bonding.

There has been a house on this site for more than a thousand years and the present grade II listed house and mews dates, in part, from Tudor times. The house was acquired through marriage by Lord North, Prime Minister to King George III. After his death in 1792, Dillington was eventually sold to John Hanning, whose descendants still farm the surrounding estate.  Architecturally speaking the house, with clear Elizabethan, late Georgian and early Victorian Gothic influences, has emerged as a harmonious setting for its present purposes.

Today Dillington House plays host to its own programme of concerts and public lectures, whilst also offering residential courses in a wide variety of subjects. It caters for companies or private groups wishing to run their own training sessions or conferences and is a popular venue in the area for weddings. The latest addition is The Hyde, a residential arts studio which now gives the complex 11 conference rooms and 40 bedrooms, catering for functions from 2 to 160 people, who have just one thing in common – a need to sustain the inner man.

Serving up to 160 covers per day is an integral part of the Dillington proposition. In charge of catering and a key member of the management team is George Ceely, recruited 18 months ago for his vast experience as catering manager at Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, where he was unfazed by serving a broad spectrum of diners, from royalty to ‘squaddies’. He describes the cuisine as wholesome home cooking with the emphasis on regional suppliers. Given notice, the menu can be themed to match individual groups’ interests. The provenance of all meat used here is well documented by the local butcher in Ilminster. Journalist and broadcaster, Rosie Boycott, supplies Dillington House with salad, vegetables, fruit and 650 eggs a week – and that incurs nil food miles, since her smallholding is right next door!

Café du Monde has been supplying Dillington for 10 years with all its coffee and coffee equipment. Says House Manager, Loraine Newcombe: “Coffee is the first thing delegates want when they exit their seminars. So it has to be good. But more than that, we rely on our coffee supplier to advise us on the correct type of coffee service for different occasions. It is our good fortune to have met Café du Monde, which knows its business backwards. I recommend them without reservation”.

West Lodge

Leave the M25 car park at junction 24 and enter a different world. Two minutes later you are passing through the gates of West Lodge Park Hotel into peace and serenity. On the picturesque quarter mile drive, the contrast between modern and traditional becomes marked, with the world famous arboretum on the left and a heliport to the right. It’s a metaphor for the hotel itself — traditional standards of comfort yet thoroughly modern in outlook and so convenient for London.

West Lodge Park was probably built in the 15th century as a hunting lodge for gamekeepers protecting the deer on the royal estates of nearby Enfield Chase. It is reported that Queen Elizabeth I herself enjoyed hunting here. Re-built in 1838, it first became a hotel in 1924, but its full potential was only realised in 1945 when it was purchased by Edward Beale, grandfather of the present Managing Director, Andrew. Edward also founded the world famous arboretum, which boasts 800 different species of tree in 10 acres of magnificent woodland. Perfect for that after dinner stroll.

The hotel motto is “Generations of Excellence” which neatly sums up the past 60 years of family ownership. Following considerable investment, the hotel is now the highest rated AA 4-star hotel in north London, Hertfordshire and surrounding counties.

Its Cedar restaurant has held two AA rosettes for four consecutive years which speaks volumes for the consistency required of a great restaurant. That success is down to Executive chef, Wayne Turner and his team, together with Restaurant manager, Steve Sims. According to Wayne, the founding principle of their food is the use of local produce. The hotel website proudly gives hyperlinks to each of its main suppliers and actually states the distance these producers are from the hotel –now that’s real transparency in food miles.

The suppliers list includes Café du Monde, who supply all the Beale Hotels group’s requirements for coffee and coffee-making equipment and have done so for many years. For banqueting and conferences, the hotel uses a bulk filter brewing system with stainless steel cafetières. Cafetières are an option in the restaurant with Kenya coffee and for those guests preferring speciality coffees, there is a Gaggia espresso machine using Grand Cru beans. The hotel has also just started using Newby teas, distributed by Café du Monde.

According to general Manager, David Seward, the choice of coffee supplier is one of the simpler decisions he has had to make: “Like so many of our suppliers, it comes down to the ‘people thing’. With Café du Monde we are dealing with real people who care as much about our business as their own. The quality of coffee is unsurpassed and extremely popular with our guests. Add to that a very responsive back-up service and you will soon see why we are so happy with our beverage arrangements.”