THE FACTS ABOUT THE GROVE

England

Both Queen Victoria and Edward VII attended weekend house parties at The Grove, home to the earls of Clarendon until 1920. It is now a country-house hotel, and guests are still treated like royalty. The 300-acre estate, minutes from London's M25, was bought (by the owners of Mayfair's Athenaeum Hotel) eight years ago and completely restored. It opened as a hotel, with a world-class golf course, in September last year. An elegant new entrance and modern west wing link the 18th-century mansion to the stable block. Fox Linton Associates created decadent interiors with antiques, quirky artworks and extravagant textiles. A zebrano-topped, red-leather reception desk by Bill Amberg fronts a procession of drawing rooms where showpieces include a dark-blue Murano-glass chandelier and Empire chairs fringed with Swarovski crystals. Upstairs, a labyrinth of black-velvet drapes leads to huge, bright suites with freestanding baths, mirrored wardrobes, working fireplaces and large, flat-screen TVs. The Sequoia spa (featuring ESPA treatments) has a 22-metre, black swimming pool. There is also a heated pool in the large walled garden. Dining is an unalloyed pleasure: The Stables serves comfort food such as wood-fire pizzas; The Glasshouse is an 'international cooking theatre' with its own wok station; and Colette's has a chef from Le Manoir, a restaurant manager from Spoon, an inspired sommelier and a tasting menu fit for a king. ROOM TO BOOK A suite in the mansion (suite 18 has a baby grand piano, 25 a glass bath, 45 a perspex four-poster with deep-purple drapes). The west wing is less atmospheric. WHEN TO GO Year round. CONTACT The Grove, Chandler's Cross, Hertfordshire (01923 807807; fax: 221008; www.thegrove.co.uk). Doubles from £282; suites from £764