The Aztec Hotel & Spa in Bristol nears the end of its fabulous £1million refurbishment

In the 15 months since our last visit to the fabulous Aztec Hotel & Spa in Bristol, when we ran a Venue Showcase – see here: http://www.thedelegatewranglers.com/aztec-hotel-spa/ - there’s been tons of changes. In fact, 17 out of the 21 meeting rooms have been completely refurbished, as have most of the bedrooms and the spa has received a complete update. And we loved it.

Let’s be straight about this, the Aztec was an exceptional hotel to begin with – glorious spa, fab bedrooms, excellent meeting spaces and funky touches galore but these updates take it to another level.

Spending some time with Head of Sales, Andrea Nelson and General Manager, Gareth Ireland, it was easy to see why the refurbishment has been done to such a high level - to put it frankly, they love the place! Gareth told us, “As a company we’re proud of the businesses we operate, being family owned the House of Daniel Thwaites invests for the long term and isn’t short sighted unlike some other businesses. As General Manager of the Aztec Hotel I’m always proud to walk into the business because of the great people I get to work with, but also because of the company and the way we do business”.

Starting with the spa – what’s not to love about it? Luxurious is the word, with the swimming pool, sauna, hot tub and steam room all being completely refurbished and very nice places to spend some down time. The gym is the next on the list to get the treatment with work starting this week in November 2018 with all brand new equipment and decoration planned.

The quality of food at the Aztec is absolutely fantastic – under the watchful eye of Executive Chef, Marc Payne – their one Rosette restaurant is stylish, classy with amazing culinary treats. The amazing Chef’s table being a firm favourite at dinner.

The bedrooms here are excellent, very contemporary with lots of nice touches for the guests – such as coffee machine, large flat screen TVs (including some sports channels), super comfortable bed and fab bathrooms. In total there are 128 bedrooms in the hotel itself (including 6 suites) with a further 36 bedrooms available at its sister property ‘Lodge at Bristol’ just across the road (literally 1 minute away) – so they can accommodate large residential conferences if needed.

The refurbished meeting rooms are the final piece in the jigsaw for the Aztec – with 17 already refurbished, there’s just 4 left to get the treatment (starting early 2019). Most rooms have been completely redecorated, with new carpets and lots of contemporary touches – such as large flat screens replacing projectors etc. Some of the meeting rooms even have touch screen TVs too – perfect for the most up to date presentation requirements.

It was all the little touches that we also loved, such as the fabulous ‘Press Here & A Genie Will Appear’ button (see photograph) in every meeting room. So, when you need assistance, hit the button and a genie will appear…or a member of staff if the genie is busy! Another big favourite of mine was the ‘Free Parking for Mobile Phones’ car park located in the middle of the tables for the smaller boardrooms. Absolutely genius. Personally, I absolutely love playful aspects like this – helps to set the atmosphere and tone for your meetings.

All in all, we loved coming to the Aztec last year and I have to say that we loved it even more this time. An almost completely refurbished hotel with amazing staff, a fantastic management team with a brilliant positive outlook, excellent food and wonderful meeting spaces make this my go-to recommendation for Bristol. Highly recommend that you give Andrea a call and get yourself over there for a show round if you need a meeting in this area. Now where’s that ‘Genie’ button gone??

At a glance info:

Bedrooms: 128 (including 4 suites) and there is a further 36 rooms at the hotel’s sister property (Lodge at Bristol) located 20 yards across the roadMeeting rooms: 17