Wyboston Lakes Resort has always been an standout location, but with a huge £10 million investment this year, the resort has made exciting, forward-thinking improvements to its venues which blew us away. The venues’ Waterfront Hotel saw huge development this year with three new event spaces as well as renovations to the Bar, Restaurant, Terrace and Reception. More than ever, Wyboston Lakes is establishing itself as an industry innovator, putting their gorgeous location and huge space to use in order to create a truly exciting place to host an event.
With 406 Bedrooms, 380-acres of Bedfordshire countryside, over 20 event spaces between the Woodlands, The Willows and The Waterfront facilities, Wyboston uses its size to create a dense, exciting environment that’ll always have another area for you to explore.
As well as their brilliant facilities for training and events, Wyboston lakes also has a brilliant array of places for you to wind-down and have some fun, such as the Y-Spa, Golf course and on-site RIDE leisure Outdoor Activities which has an Aqua park, Jet Skis, Hovercrafts and Kayaks.
We couldn’t help but feel that Wyboston lakes ticked every-box, leaving no-itch unscratched, whether that be a productive co-working space to focus in, or a stunning meal at the Lakeside Brasserie
Contact info:
Address: Wyboston Lakes Resort, Great North Road, Wyboston, Bedfordshire MK443AL
Website: www.wybostonlakes.co.uk
Conference Sales Contact: Rosie Ackerman
Tel: 01480 223031 / 07717 827747
Email: rosiea@wybostonlakes.co.uk
With a major £10 Million refurbishment this year, Wyboston conducted extensive research into the needs of event planners and delegates of the future for their ‘NextGen’ development.
This renovation included two impressive, newly refurbished, high-tech conference and training venues with a huge range of flexible eventspaces. Wyboston have also put an emphasis on accommodation for delegates – including a four-star hotel, restaurants, and experience-led dining concepts, to suit all tastes and budgets.
There is 2Gb of high-speed internet offered across the site and in all facilities, this ensures delegates receive good bandwidth, with no passwords or limitations, completely free.
With this emphasis on the future also came a focus on diversification and mental health. Recently Wyboston Lakes Resort was the first organisation to have an EventWell® Mental Health Champion, which we loved to see, as such a great commitment to the wellbeing of its people.
As another industry first, the resort launched Wyboston Venue Management – a new service to help venue owners maximise opportunities in the MICE sector.
Finally, of course, Wyboston could not look to the future without focusing on the resort’s sustainability, which they have done so many impressive ways! Recently the resort has secured three accolades for sustainability:
The resort is ‘Zero to Landfill’ for the sixth year and is on course for no food waste to leave the site. The resort also uses 100% renewable electricity, helping to reduce its carbon footprint by 65%, with big plans in place for 100% energy production on-site by 2026.
Wyboston also has 26 electric car charging points and single-use plastics have been cut by 42% since 2019. But they’re not done yet, recently the resort began a new green initiative “Room2Grow” in which the team will plant a tree each time a guest decides not to have their room cleaned and this initiative is off to a flying start with at least 5,000 trees planted in 2022!
The Waterfront Hotel (103 Bedrooms)~
Situated on the edge of the Lake, this 4-star property was fantastic. Home to 103 bedrooms, the fabulous Y Spa and the aptly named Gravel Pit Brasserie & Bar - it was a truly relaxing place to be. The Gravel Pit provided an amazing experience, sitting on the edge of the lake, it was fantastic to have your meal there with views of the golf course and treeline. What we really liked was the atmosphere in there - a really nice buzz - totally friendly and relaxed.
The staff at reception greeted us kindly and made us feel at home, always accommodating to any need we had throughout our stay. This applies to any of the Woodlands Event Centre, Willows Training Centre and the Waterfront Hotel which all have their own reception desks, and excellent, friendly staff.
We thought across the resort, the bedrooms were really comfortable spaces. All include fab bathrooms, large flatscreen TVs and everything you need. Particularly the bedrooms in the Waterfront hotel all of which have freshly renovated bathrooms! The buildings have nice economical and simple two floor layout and corridor structure which make finding your room, or way-out or for example, the Y Spa, a doddle.
Speaking of the spa, one of the stars of the show is the glorious Y Spa itself, located in the hotel, is hosted by well-trained therapists offering the latest in holistic and beauty therapy and is home to eleven treatment rooms, a Hydrotherapy Pool, Thermal Spa and two dedicated relaxation areas. The Spa has an indoor/outdoor area which makes it an amazing space to utilise come rain or shine, with the main hydrotherapy pool area outdoors, surrounded by seating areas and the scenic Kelo Sauna to one side! Having visited this Spa twice, we’re itching to get back! Check it out here: www.yspa.co.uk
The Woodlands Event Centre - (120 bedrooms)
This self-contained conference centre would be an amazing place to hold your event – with recently refurbished bedrooms, and a huge refurbishment of its event facilities, The Rosewood Suite, can now hold up to 620 delegates in theatre style viewing. This expansion also saw the creation of the Olive Restaurant - a Mediterranean themed dining experience to cure that post-conference hunger.
The Woodlands Event centre also boasts some tech that we couldn’t help but be impressed by. One of which was their smart flip charts, which are front of room whiteboard style presenting aides, which, using a QR code, can be scanned instantly to create a high-quality PDF scan image of the notes - helping delegates be more productive in these meeting spaces.
Meeting Rooms: 19
Biggest room: The Rosewood Suite which can hold 620 theatre style.
The Willows Training Centre (183 bedrooms)
Situated just past The Waterfront hotel is the Willows Training Centre with its 183 bedrooms and 18 meeting rooms including the fab Wiilows Suite which can hold 260 in theatre style and 160 in cabaret. There is also a large restaurant here which has up to 200 covers and can cater for everyone here on your conference or training days.
The Willows Training centre is also home to two funky spaces which we thought brought a really fresh feel to the accommodation experience. The Cricket Kitchen, which has excellently painted walls and a cool vibe about the area, offers a nice, relaxed place to dine with a buffet menu that combines cultures from around the world. Just off the Cricket Kitchen is The Loft a relaxing, games room type area with a modern interior, a great little place to enjoy a game of pool or darts, or simply enjoy a drink with friends or family after a long day of exploring this great resort!
RIDE Leisure
A short trip across the expansive Wyboston Lakes Resort is the previously mentioned RIDE Leisure where you can experience the thrill of water and land-based activities such as piloting a hovercraft, riding a Jet Ski, wakeboarding, water skiing, 4 x 4 off-roading and much more. They even advertise a “swim with a newfoundland” experience if you’re looking for something different!
The Rosewood Suite
The Rosewood Suite is truly a massive area, excellent for large conferences and events, award dinners, product launches and pretty much anything you can think of. The venue also has its own dedicated coffee shop, snacks, cakes and coffees freely available to delegates all day. Definitely one to check out.
Natural light: Yes
Size: 385 Sq.M
Theatre: 620
Cabaret: 360
Location: Ground floor, The Woodlands Event Centre
AV Equipment included: Yes – screen, repeater screens, laser projection, Dolby Atmos sound, PA system, mics and Crestron controlled lighting.
The Willows Room
The Willows Room in the Willows Training Centre is another large room, which boasts some exciting flexibility, perfect for a really good cabaret or theatre style conference. This is also a fantastic choice to satisfy hungry delegates with its Paddy and Scotts style break out area and the Cricket Kitchen.
Natural light: Yes
Size: 258 Sq.M
Theatre: 260
Cabaret: 160
Classroom: 110
Location: First floor, Willows Training Centre
AV Equipment included: Yes – screen, projector, PA system, Mics and lighting
As well as these two more large-scale spaces, there’s also dozens of other, smaller meeting rooms in the property are in both the Woodlands Event Centre and the Willows Training Centre (and also a couple of small options in the Waterfront Hotel too). These spaces are excellently put together, bright, sometimes thematic but never over the top, and always perfect for a productive meeting - no matter the topic!
For meeting room capacities, layouts and further information please click HERE