Birch (Cheshunt)

"Very nice community feeling, upscale hotel. The room we stayed in was chic, clean and spacious , facing the south lawn. Community spaces are great. They have dens, library, screening room, gym. Staff is friendly and helpful. There are two nice restaurants and a bar. Good selection of drinks, interesting meals. Convenient if you stay for a night or two, but boring if you stay for longer as options are limited. I found the breakfast options too limited and unnecessarily 'complicated'. For instance vegetarian, egg breakfast is not served. Which would be basic. The website is more about the image than about functionality (for booking). Overall, very good experience for a weekend getaway, near London."

"Haven’t stayed there myself, just visited friends for New Years and what a great little gem just outside of London! Such a chill vibe, dog and kid friendly, just very relaxed. Good space/house, perhaps it’s not luxury but that’s probably not why people stay here. Big open spaces - and the food at the Zebra riding club was very good as well! We were these during a big NY bank holiday weekend and at that time, it did seem very kid and dog orientated so if you don’t have one of those, it might not be for you. I have a dog and my friends have a kid, and we love a relaxed atmosphere so it worked out perfectly for us!"

"The Travelling Booth spent the weekend at Birch and I have to say, we had a super fantastic time! From the welcome we got from the various heads of department we bumped into, to the lovely team working the floor at Valerie’s, to the team on the bar, and all of the cleaning staff, and everyone in between, every interaction was lovely. Clearly, judging by some of the other reviews this place is not for everyone. It certainly was the right place for us. From the fantastic food served at the restaurant Valerie’s, most of which has been grown in their market garden on-site, or reared in the fields nearby, to the cold (cold water swimming is great for the health!) lido this place is superb. We also had a super deep tissue massage, with James in the wellness centre. This place is not The Ritz, nor does it claim to be, it does what it does, very well and with a real kindness that is hard to manufacture. The Travelling Booth will certainly be back, and we will be recommending Birch to all our friends, family and colleagues. Thank you Team Birch. Keep doing what you are doing. Big Love The Travelling Booth"

"I have a mixed review for Birch. The building itself is beautiful but it has been cheaply renovated throughout which doesn’t reflect the steep prices. Think H&M furniture, cheap fabrics and stained carpets. My impression from their marketing is that it might be like Soho Farmhouse type hotel, but it lacks the investment in coherent design and overall direction to feel like ‘home away from home’ you might be expecting. It feels very temporary. The atmosphere of the hotel is also bizarre. They have several activities going on all at once which makes you feel like you should be doing something at all times (£35 p/activity) instead of actually enjoying the hotel itself, and end up feeling quite confused as to what you should be doing, and in our case it certainly wasn’t relaxing. It’s worth noting this might have been because it was the weekend and there were DJ’s till 2am & kids running around. Good points are that the main restaurant is in a beautiful room and the food is good. The Zebra Riding Club restaurant (more up market option on site) was unfortunately fully booked but I have heard very good things. The staff are also very friendly and happily compensate when service is slow and orders are forgotten. The gym is also bright with good equipment and much smarter showers than the ones in our room. This hotel might be appealing to some - good for kids to run around and attend classes to keep yourselves occupied. But if you want a relaxing stay in a well designed, up market hotel then you might want to look elsewhere. FYI - my sister kindly gifted me this stay as she couldn’t attend."

"We stayed at Birch for a couple days in The Riding club family room. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The events, staff and chilled out vibe they create is truly unique. Our kids loved it. The staff were particularly good with my autistic/ADHD teenage daughter. And the food is the best we’ve had in ages. Yes, the rooms are basic (air-con major plus) but it’s meant as a base to explore the gems within the grounds. Well done team Birch - we love what you’ve created and will definitely be back. Justine & James"