A new hotel is opening in Hertfordshire this spring.

Birch is a city escape in Cheshunt with 140 bedrooms, situated in 55 acres of nature and with a farm, two restaurants, three bars, 20 event spaces, fitness studios, a lido, pottery workshop, and an interactive bakery.

Birch is open to members and those staying for a night - although Birch isn’t for those that only go away for the weekend to sleep. Guests can enjoy a cultural programme of events, workshops and maker masterclasses, as well as a busy wellness schedule.

The design of the hotel is led by architecture and design collective Red Deer, whose vision was to challenge wastefulness and uniformity. Inspired by the resourcefulness of the past, where old estates used to manage their resources and land holistically, Birch spaces aim to work with their environments as much as possible, from estate-made produce to nature-led restaurants.

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At Birch, Red Deer set out to reuse and repair the existing site’s materials, stripping back clutter and unnecessary furniture to create more thoughtful spaces. This can be seen in the bedrooms, which are set up to remove the pressures of daily life. No noisy TVs or boring desks. Just warm and well-crafted rooms full of locally made artwork.

Robin Gill and Ben Rand - renowned chefs from the Dairy Group - will lead an interactive bakery and two on-site restaurants: The Zebra Riding Club and Valeries.

Known for farm-to-table cooking, Robin Gill will have his first farm kitchen on-site and will be working with farmer Tom Morphew to grow estate-made produce. Tom will also run garden walkabouts and farmer days where he’ll be teaching members how to grow and compost as well as forage in the woodland.

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The Zebra Riding Club is a restaurant led by nature, using Birch’s farm and the surrounding woodland’s produce as the cornerstone of its menu. Cooking will be straightforward, dishes unfussy and everything put together for a reason.

Meanwhile Valeries is a casual all-day restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Meat and fish are cooked on the grill. Sourdough flat breads are baked in the wood-fired oven. Guests can also hide out in The Gun Room for dinner - a private area that seats eight.

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There will be over 30 classes every week available at Birch, with members and those staying the night receiving free access to a selection of classes. A 25-metre lido will open in the summer and be heated all year round, while treatments and massages are available at the Parlour.

Memberships are available for £100 per month for an access all areas pass, which includes unlimited access to the cultural events programme and discounted room rates.

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Chris Penn, co-founder of Birch and former managing director of The Ace Hotel London, said: “We are more conditioned today than ever before. Told to work harder and do more if we want to be happy. It’s led to an obsession with productivity, improvement and always being ‘on’. Believing we need to keep up to date with everything and everyone, then feeling guilty when we don’t.

Chris King, the other half of Birch’s founding duo, added: “Birch is a space for those living in cities to escape to. Whether you’re with us for a day or night, we want to leave you in a better place than when you found us.”

Birch (Handle.Silk.Comet) opens this spring 2020. Book now at www.birchcommunity.com