The Grove sits on three hundred acres of Hertfordshire countryside, a half-hour from London. The mansion at its heart is 18th-century — once the seat of the Earls of Clarendon — and the house only became a hotel in the early 2000s. The Lounges, where we stretched afternoon tea into a full dinner, are 250 years old. A harpist played in the corner.
Free, finally
First time the kids could run around since California, twenty-some hours ago. They threw themselves at every surface — balcony, bed, closet — like they'd been holding it in. We let them.
A walnut tree, a stick, a fountain
We pointed at things and the kids ran toward them. A giant walnut tree first — one nice photo, then immediately a sillier one. Noah found a stick that was almost as long as he was. Then we wandered toward the water features, into the walled garden, past the kids' yurt and the pool we'd come back to. Three hundred acres takes a while.
The longest day, ending
Cupcakes in the kids' yurt — sprinkles everywhere. It was, incidentally, Noah's birthday: six years old. The cupcakes (and this trip) were what he got. Then the Lounges for an early dinner: 250-year-old room, harpist in the corner, people around us having tea while we stretched ours into a full meal. I read the kids a book back in the room and almost fell asleep mid-sentence — those involuntary twitches you do right before you go under. Bath, Peppa Pig, both of them out in five minutes with the TV still on. I was in bed by 7:30. I woke up the next day at 8:30. Layla woke up once, asked where she was, accepted the night light, and went back down. After a brutal travel day, this was the soft landing.
A small electric Land Rover, a big forest
We woke the kids up at 9:30 for our 10am reservation, fed them chocolate croissants on the walk over, and Layla wigged out for a moment before climbing in — then sat happily on my lap with her croissant for the duration. The forest was beautiful. Birds, flowers, wooden animal cutouts hidden in the trees.
We had the whole place to ourselves
We'd spotted the playground from the Mini Landies. The play structures had so much character. And it was empty: just us.
Coffees, sushi, pottery, more pool
We headed to lunch and discovered the kitchen wasn't open until twelve, so we just got drinks. Cappuccino, biscuit on the saucer, orange juice for Layla, mango juice for Noah. Quietly perfect. Then poolside lunch — Noah on his sushi (again), Layla in a bathrobe leaning on me with a sandwich. They broke up swims with a stop at the activity yurt to paint pottery: Layla very carefully on a duck, Noah triumphant with a clay heart. Indoor pool, outdoor pool, back to the room.
A buffet that took itself seriously
Bath, then dinner downstairs at the Glasshouse. Made-to-order tagliatelle with fresh-grated truffles. A carvery. Sushi. Ramen. Lobster tails. Curries. And a dessert cart that included a chocolate fondue and a mousse bar. Layla had her first ice cream — strawberry, sprinkles. Noah had a manic kind of joy I'd never seen on him before, somewhere between the mango sorbet and the gummies.
The case of the white bunny
Started the day by barely making it to the Glasshouse breakfast buffet. A short walk on the grounds after, then back to the room. I'd been up since 5:30 for some reason — took a nap while the kids watched TV. Woke up with not nearly enough time to pack before our taxi to the Harry Potter studio tour. And then Layla lost her small white stuffed bunny. I asked the front desk, they called housekeeping, I checked the restaurant, I retraced her steps, nothing. We assumed it was gone. As we were heading out for the taxi, the front desk caught us — they'd found a white bunny! They'd bring it to the front for when we got back. When we returned that evening, we asked to see it. It was a different white bunny. Some other kid's white bunny. Ours, it turned out, had been sitting on Layla's bed in the room the whole time, found by the cleaning crew.
Three nights, four meals, one harpist, one misplaced bunny.
— The Grove, fin.