Exploring a whole town on a fam is a fantastic, immersive experience that allows our members to not only find the best hotels and properties for their delegates when planning an event but it allows the group to be able to understand the history of the place we visit. We loved our second fam for September, exploring Cheltenham with Meet In Cheltenham.
Travelling in style, the group met in the Great Western Rail’s First Class Lounge before taking the two-hour train from Paddington to Cheltenham Spa. Our group used the opportunity to chat and catch up on a little work; with super-fast wifi, it was easy to work on the trip down.
On arriving, we were met by the lovely Tara of Meet In Cheltenham at the M Gallery Queens Hotel, a gorgeous property right in the middle of the town, ideally placed for your delegates as not only central, it’s just a short five-minute drive from Cheltenham Spa Rail Station. The property boasts 84 bedrooms and gorgeous meeting and event spaces. You can find out more about them here.
Our Fam trips are all about seeing all of the unique event options, and first up on our agenda was a trip to Cheltenham Ladies College, which was just a short walk from the property. The Ladies College is one of the largest venues in Cheltenham, which can hold up to 800, and we felt so privileged to visit the space. Meet on arrival by the lovely team. We were also able to sample some of their catering (which was amazing). Our group thoroughly enjoyed being privy to the private viewing of such an iconic venue. You can find out more about the school and the options for events here.
After our site visit, we went to the fabulous The Mahal, which I am going to say was probably the best Indian Cuisine I have ever sampled and I’ve been to some pretty excellent restaurants globally. It was that good. We were fortunate enough to sample the seven-course tasting menu with paired wines in their PDR, perfect for an offsite dinner, in conjunction with the M Gallery, for your event would be ideal, as it is just a short walk away.
After dinner, a couple of our group went to explore the local pub (a necessary hardship on a fam) and the remainder of the group headed back to the hotel for a lovely sleep ready for a full day of site visits.
The next morning, it was up early for a group breakfast, ready for a site visit of the M Galley and our private walking tour of Cheltenham. Our Blue Badge guide Sean Callery took us on an hour tour of Cheltenham’s most exciting sites (and there is a lot) and would be a perfect addition for your group as an activity option. Fresh air, getting those steps in and learning about this gorgeous town steeped in so much history was just so wonderful and I know the group loved it as well.
The rest of our afternoon was spent visiting the Sibling Distillery, which the group loved (I mean who doesn’t love Gin). Whilst the intention was to show the group the distillery, which makes an amazing add-on option to your event, I think we also walked away with so much more. The story of how the distillery came to be, the family business, the drive and determination to make it what it is today motivated the group a lot, so when we left, not only did we walk away with a few cheeky bottles we purchased but, with a little motivation as well to chase our own dreams. You can find out more about the distillery here.
Up next, we were off to Cowley Manor for a full site visit of their 31 bedrooms, fantastic meeting and event spaces (all set within their 55 acres of stunning grounds) where we met the team, had a quick cup of coffee and learnt about all the different events you can run within the property. The property also boasts an award-winning spa, and I know a few of the group will be heading back for a leisure trip soon. You can find out more about the property here.
The final stop on our fabulous fam was Boxtree Barn, an extraordinary meeting & event space nestled in the quiet green area between Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud and Cirencester – Boxtree Barn is purpose-built to house their own fantastic business – BoxTree as well as the event space for hire. BoxTree is all about #giftsthatmatter and ethically source all of their products that go into their gifts with a mission that supports discovering (and sending) beautiful gifts, created by beautiful people that are then sent to your beautiful people. Their gifts are packaged in planet-friendly gift boxes, which can be sent to your giftee. You can find out more about them here.
We loved our fam with Meet In Cheltenham and can’t wait to head back soon!
