CHANDLER’S CROSS, Hertfordshire, England — You’re in London, exhausted from sightseeing, theatergoing or business meetings, or perhaps you have a weekend with nothing to do before going on to the Continent.
For a change of pace and scenery, you could head out the M25 into the countryside for a weekend — or even just a day and a night — at the Grove, a cosmopolitan country resort in Chandler’s Cross, just a half-hour from the West End.
The Grove, one of the stately homes of England, is a gorgeous country estate that once was the home of the earls of Clarendon. The 18th-century building is set in 300 acres of rolling hills, meadows and forests and looks like something out of a “Masterpiece Theatre” production. There’s a lake with swans and a lazy little river with an occasional houseboat drifting by.
The mansion was built in the 18th century, and archaeologists have discovered remains of human settlements in the area dating to 7000 B.C. They unearthed some of the earliest pottery made in Britain, dating to the Bronze Age. Evidence of early Iron Age and Roman occupation were discovered as well.
The brick house served as a girls’ boarding school in the 1920s, and it housed the British rail communications center during World War II. A bomb shelter, now inhabited by a unique species of miniature bats, is still in evidence in the garden.
Owned by Ralph Trustees Ltd., the Grove opened in September as a spa and golf resort with Michael O’Dwyer, a charming Irishman, as managing director. The resort, he says, is trying to bring the outside into the building and take the inside out. For example, the entrance hall is a mix of animal sculptures and potted trees, with light streaming in through large windows.
The Glasshouse, the informal restaurant, overlooks the garden through a wall of glass; the house itself is filled with flowers and small trees, and in the new addition, also of brick, the wallpaper has designs of leaves and grasses. The ballroom, designed to resemble a conservatory, overlooks the formal gardens.
Rooms in the two-story addition are contemporary; the lower-floor rooms have sliding glass doors opening onto the garden; the upper rooms have balconies. The Grove’s 23 meeting rooms and its location within a half-hour of London or London Heathrow Airport make it an attractive venue for conferences. The beauty of the house and gardens are ideal for a wedding.
The original house has been renovated and decorated throughout by Martin Hulbert of Fox Linton Associates. Michael Balston is responsible for the garden design, and the 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Kyle Phillips, an American.
Mr. Hulbert decorated the Grove with considerable wit and pizazz.
The halls are lined with midnight-blue velvet, “the better to accommodate the ghosts” said to haunt the building, he says. Whimsy, in fact, is the leitmotif of the decor.
All rooms are furnished differently, some in contemporary style, some old-fashioned, but all have wonderfully comfortable beds; excellent bathrooms; and refrigerators filled with such exotica as herbal tonics, a little bottle of absinthe and a Kinky Khemist condom kit. The rooms overlooking the garden and the golf course have splendid, airy views.
Dozens of witty works by German artist Volker Kuehn are scattered throughout the building.
In the hallway leading to the back drawing rooms and library is an amusing slide projection of a naked gardener motioning passers-by to follow him into the greenhouse. The sitting rooms have an eclectic style of furniture, lamps and silk wall coverings, but always with comfort in mind. The Grove means to be fun.
There are three restaurants: the elegant Collette’s; the Glasshouse, a contemporary restaurant serving buffet-style — where guests can order combinations from the chefs who stand at the ready behind the buffet; and the Stables, an informal restaurant and bar in the old stable block, serving light meals. When weather permits, tables are set outside.
The 4-acre 19th-century walled garden should be ready this summer with an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, a croquet lawn and an herb garden.
The original greenhouses have been restored to provide a cafe and kitchen and for their original use.
The Grove’s fine spa, the Sequoia, is one of just 10 spas worldwide offering ESPA Ayurvedic treatments.
The “ama-releasing abhyanga” holistic treatment, which lasts almost two hours, is wonderfully energizing and relaxing at the same time and includes face, body and head massages.
The indoor swimming pool, 72 feet long, is set in a colonnaded oak barn. The spa has an exercise studio and offers a limited program of exercise classes to hotel guests and outside guests on day or half-day programs.
There’s not much to see in the neighborhood around the Grove, except for Waddesdon Manor, a grand 1874 house built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild.
The house is filled with magnificent paintings and furniture and offers a glimpse of the splendor of Edwardian life enjoyed by the rich and powerful. A visit to Waddesdon Manor is a pleasant diversion.
At the Grove, you can play a round of golf; take a walk through the gardens, meadows and hills; enjoy a treatment at the Sequoias; splurge on a meal at Collette’s.
Or you can admire the beautiful old trees in the garden and be enchanted by the formal garden’s roses, lavender and numerous flowers growing beside flowing water.
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The Grove, Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire, WD3 4TG, England; phone 44-1923-807-807; fax, 44-1923-221-008; Web site, www.thegrove.co.uk. Amenities include 24-hour room service, valet and shoeshine, same-day laundry, helipad and airport transfers, and full concierge services.
By air and train to London, Leeds, Edinburgh
From Washington Dulles International Airport, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and United fly nonstop to London Heathrow Airport. British Midlands flies nonstop to Manchester in the north of England.
Virgin Atlantic has one of the best trans-Atlantic business classes in the air, with in-flight massages and meals upon request. BA’s business class has seats that turn into almost completely flat beds.
The British rail system crisscrosses the island, from Penzance at Land’s End in Cornwall to Thurso in the very north of Scotland. BritRail discount tickets are available for advance purchase in the United States. For information, call 877/677-1066 or visit www.britrail.net.
Peter Tyrie, the dynamic young head of the Eton Group, has created five charming hotels, three in London, one in Leeds and one in Edinburgh, which add a delightful English touch to a stay in those cities.
• The Glasshouse (152 Morrison St., the Exchange, Edinburgh EH3 8EB, Scotland; phone, 44-777-600-3890), in Edinburgh’s New Town, incorporates the facade of a 150-year-old church; all rooms are on the top two floors of the building, with views of the city on one side and of a lovely roof garden and Carlton Hill beyond on the other. The rooms are modern and comfortable, with witty and imaginative photographs on the walls. Suites include little pitchers of malt whiskey.
• Quebecs (3 Quebec St., Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 2HA, England; phone, 44-113-244-8989) is a Victorian building with many original features restored to their former splendor. Rooms are named for different sweets; each of the 45 guest rooms is unique in shape, size and decor. The hotel is a convenient half-block from the railway station and walking distance from the center of town.
• Threadneedles (5 Threadneedle St., EC2R 8AY, London; phone, 44-207-657-8080) is in a former bank in the center of the city; it is for business travelers.
• The Academy (21 Gower St., WC1E 6HC, London; phone, 44-207-631-4115) is everyone’s fantasy of the cozy English hotel. The hotel, in Bloomsbury, is near the British Museum and within walking distance from Soho and central London. Originally five private town houses, the hotel has furnished all rooms differently, and a delicious English breakfast is included in the price.
• The Colonnade (2 Warrington Crescent, W9 1ER, London; phone, 44-207-286-1052) is near the barges that take visitors on leisurely trips through London’s Little Venice and is close to the underground station where the London Walks tour gathers on Wednesday mornings for a tour of the area. The hotel has a first-class restaurant, the Enigma, named in honor of Alan Turing, who cracked the Enigma machine code and once stayed at the Colonnade — before it was a hotel. For prices and information, visit www.etontownhouse.com.
For more information:
Keighley & Worth Valley Light Railway Ltd.: www.kwvr.co.uk
Royal Tattoo: www.edintattoo.co.uk
Highland Minibus Tours: www.heartofscotlandtours.co.uk
Saltaire: www.saltaire.yorks.com/saltaire-info.html
Edinburgh & Lothian Tourist Board: www.edinburgh.org
Bronte Parsonage Museum: Church Street, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD22 8DR; Phone, 44-1535-642323
Royal Yacht Britannia: Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ; www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk
— Corinna Lothar
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