If you are looking for a Christmas party venue near Aberdeen for a team of up to 36, the Charleston Suite at the Cove Bay Hotel is a private room you can have to yourselves, with the pre-Christmas menu served from 4 to 24 December and The Cover, our bar, next door for afterwards. Smaller teams book a table in the restaurant above the sea. To check a date, ring 01224 897211.
The whole room, for up to 36
The Charleston Suite is our private dining room. It seats 36 at tables, and it is a separate room from the restaurant and from the bar, so a works do in it is not sharing the space with Tuesday's regulars. There are patio doors off it, and the bar and the Poop Deck are there when people want to stand up between courses.
It is also the room we use for meetings, so it has a digital projector, a screen and flip charts. If the Christmas do doubles as the end of year review, or somebody insists on a quiz with slides, the kit is already in the room. The full spec is on the private dining page.
For a party of that size we put a menu together with you rather than hand you the one on the wall. Tell us roughly what people eat and what the budget is, and we will come back with something that works for the kitchen and the room.
Tables in the restaurant, for smaller teams
A team of six or ten does not need a private room. The restaurant looks out over the water, and in December it serves the pre-Christmas menu at the usual hours. Book online through the restaurant page or by phone, and if the window matters to you, say so when you book. The window tables go first every December, and we would rather tell you that now than on the night.
What people eat: the pre-Christmas menu
From Friday 4 to Thursday 24 December the restaurant swaps to the pre-Christmas menu. It is our main menu with the festive dishes added, which matters for a works do because not everybody wants turkey.
The turkey platter is the one most people order: butter basted turkey breast, roast and mash potatoes, honey roasted winter roots, sprouts, peas, cranberry stuffing, kilted chipolatas, skirlie and gravy, at £19.95. The festive hero puts turkey, cranberry stuffing, pigs in blankets and melting cheddar in a warm baguette with skinny fries, at £18.95. There is a traditional Christmas pudding with brandy sauce or vanilla ice cream at £8.50, a three cheese brioche toast to start, and seven liqueur coffees to finish.
Around those sit the dishes the restaurant serves all year: the jumbo haddock, the Cove Bay steak pie, the Cullen skink, the rump steak, the macaroni cheese, a vegan soup every day, a five bean chilli and a Bangkok burger. Every dish and every price is on the Christmas page.
How a works booking works
Numbers and the deposit. Eight or more and we take a £50 deposit at the time of booking, by card over the phone or in person. It comes off the final bill. Numbers can change up to three hours before the booking without losing it; inside that window the full deposit is still redeemed, and if people drop out and nobody tells us, it is lost.
Pre-ordering. More than fourteen and the table pre-orders from a slightly reduced menu. That is not us being difficult. It is how forty plates come out of a kitchen this size at the same time, so the first table is not finished before the last one is served.
The bill. Where there is a deposit to redeem we cannot split it. The simplest way is one person pays and the others transfer them the money. If you would rather, tell us the amounts and we will take several payments, and the last person settles whatever is left.
Allergies. Tell us when you book, not when you sit down. The chef will help with special requests, and the gluten free dishes are made with gluten free products, though we cannot promise any dish is 100% gluten free or free of nut traces.
Running late. We hold a table for 30 minutes after the booking time. A phone call keeps it.
After the meal
The Cover is the public bar downstairs, and it is where most parties end up. It has the sport on, live music some weekends, and dogs are welcome in it, which has been known to decide the venue. It is on its own page.
The rooms are upstairs. All of them are en-suite, breakfast is cooked to order, and the sea is outside the window. For anybody who is drinking, or anybody from out of town, a room is easier than a taxi queue on a Friday in December. They are on the rooms page and they book out in December the same way the restaurant does, so take the room at the same time as the table.
Getting here from Altens, Tullos and the city
We are at 15 Colsea Road in Cove Bay, on the south side of Aberdeen, just off the ring road. For anybody based at Altens or Tullos it is a short drive down the coast road, and the industrial estates at Portlethen are a few minutes the other way. There is parking outside the hotel.
Without a car, the bus stop is 250 metres from the door, and a taxi from the middle of Aberdeen is about fifteen minutes. Plan the taxis home before the night, not at eleven o'clock on the night.
To check a date for the room, ring 01224 897211. The menus and every term are on the Christmas page.
- The Charleston Suite is a private room at the Cove Bay Hotel that seats up to 36 for a meal, and a works Christmas party can have it to itself.
- The pre-Christmas menu runs in the restaurant from 4 to 24 December 2026, with a roast turkey platter at £19.95 and the everyday dishes alongside it.
- Parties of eight or more pay a £50 deposit when they book, and tables of more than fourteen pre-order from a slightly reduced menu so everybody eats at once.
- The Cover, our public bar, is next door for after the meal, and there are rooms upstairs for anybody who does not want to find a taxi.
- The hotel is at 15 Colsea Road in Cove Bay, with parking outside and a bus stop 250 metres away, a short drive from Altens and Tullos.
Questions people ask
How many people can you take for a Christmas party?+
Up to 36 seated in the Charleston Suite, which is our private room. Smaller teams book a table in the restaurant instead. For more than 36, ring us on 01224 897211 and we will tell you straight whether we can do it.
Can we have the room to ourselves?+
Yes. The Charleston Suite is a separate room from the restaurant and from The Cover, so a party in it has the room to itself, with its own patio doors.
What is on the Christmas party menu?+
The pre-Christmas menu, which runs from 4 to 24 December. It is our main menu with the festive dishes added: a roast turkey platter, a festive hero in a warm baguette, a traditional Christmas pudding and liqueur coffees. Parties of more than fourteen pre-order from a slightly reduced version so the kitchen can serve everybody together.
Do you need a deposit for a works Christmas do?+
For a party of eight or more, yes: £50 at the time of booking, by card over the phone or in person. It comes off the final bill, and you can change your numbers up to three hours before the booking without losing it.
Can we split the bill?+
Not where there is a deposit to redeem. One person pays and the others transfer them the money, or you tell us the amounts and we take several payments, with the last person settling whatever is left.
Is there somewhere to stay afterwards?+
There are rooms upstairs, all en-suite, with breakfast cooked to order in the morning. They fill up in December the same way the restaurant does, so book them at the same time as the table.