It’s a luxury country hotel in Luton. But not the Luton you’re thinking of. This is the Luton that is glamorous and decadent and will make you feel like a wealthy character from a Jane Austen novel. It’s the Luton with rolling countryside and fresh air. And whilst none of that sounds anything like Luton proper, I assure you it is very much Luton Hoo.
One of my career hats has been that of a party planner – my wardrobe is a bit like the shop in Mr Ben – so I went along to Luton Hoo’s ‘How to be the perfect host’ weekend break with more than a little professional curiosity and domestic nerdiness. A first edition of Constance’s Spry’s early 1960s ‘Hostess’ is, after all, right up there as one of my most-prized books. Nerdy, you see? But I digress – back to Luton Hoo.
The idea is that over the course of a weekend, guests take part in masterclasses with the hotel’s experts on all the key areas that a good host should be thinking about when organising a house-party. A cracking idea it is too. As Ms Spry says and so it must be true: “All the best parties really are those given at home.”
What did we learn? Well, the Hoo’s Executive Chef taught us the importance of planning ahead with party food and we tried our hand at building canapés. We were initiated into the mysterious art of napkin folding (anyone out there who wants to know how to do a fleur-de-lys should give me a call). Table setting and floristry were particularly interesting and honestly not just to Little Miss Domestic Nerd over here. Everyone had an absolute blast trying out all these things and remember too that all of this is happening amidst the luxury of a top class hotel. So we also drank cocktails, ate good food and luxuriated in the spa. Not necessarily in that order.
Like all good hosts, Luton Hoo saved the best for last – clay pigeon shooting in the beautifully clear, early winter sunshine. The hotel has its own shooting school run by Pete Lee and there can be little doubt that he’s a man doing the job he was destined for. Central Casting would snap Pete up as a gamekeeper any day of the week.
I’ve got to admit that a party round at mine would have rather less opportunity for the guests to go clay pigeon shooting. But then Luton Hoo obviously aren’t suggesting that we should all be doing clay-pigeon shooting at our own house-parties. Nor that a party just isn’t worth having without a crown-fold napkin. This weekend break is really the opportunity to indulge in a bit of Downton Abbey fantasy-life whilst learning a few new skills and one of the basic tenets of good hosting: that if you’re having people round you should put time and energy into how you will host them. It’s not about being lavish necessarily. It just stands to reason that the more effort you put in, the more your guests will feel really special and as if you actually want them to be there. A knack which the staff at Luton Hoo have definitely nailed.
My top host(ess)ing tip from the Hoo? Using fresh herbs in place settings or table centres. Simple but effective. Constance Spry would be proud.
Luton Hoo is a five-star hotel in rural Bedfordshire with 18-hole golf course, spa and over 1000 acres of parkland and gardens. For details on offers and courses, such as the one Angela took, visit the website.
First Capital Connect runs regular rail services between London and Luton Parkway. For more information, visit the website.
