But the Chiltern Hills are just a half-hour drive away and there are plenty of quaint nearby villages to visit. Arriving at the hotel is, admittedly, rather daunting. The first thing you hit is the vast championship golf course before you roll up the driveway into the ominously large car park. Passing two imposing event spaces before you even reach reception, the lobby — located in an 18th-century red brick mansion — bustles with families and groups of friends.
The aforementioned conference centres there are, in fact, three onsite are found in the more contemporary west wing which was added in and, from the outside, looks more like a boarding school or new-build flats. This, teamed with the endless stream of golf club-wielding men gives parts of the place a disconcertingly corporate feel. But all of that is forgotten once you start exploring the estate, whose award-winning spa and outdoor spaces are the main attraction. The staff are as available and attentive as in any smaller hotel and, although busy, nothing feels frenzied.
Indeed, more than a corporate hub or golfers' paradise, The Grove is clearly geared towards families. While visiting the games room, tucked into a long, glass-fronted potting shed, my two-year-old swiftly grew besotted with a staff member called Lizzie who was manning the arts and crafts section. Together, they decorated flags and paperchain-style people, and painstakingly threaded a beaded bracelet. All rooms boast separate baths and showers, king-size beds, minibars and Nespresso coffee machines, and have enviable views of the grounds.
We stayed in the west wing, overlooking the perfectly manicured gardens. The space was bright and airy, decorated with muted greens and browns in an obvious nod to the natural surroundings. But the real highlight was the carefully thought-out additions we found dotted around the room. Knowing we had a child, staff had left us a box containing toys and books, and a reassuringly stable travel cot, as well as a potty, loo-seat adaptor, and packets of swimming nappies. There was even a mini robe and slippers.
A hotel as big as this is all about the facilities, with the spa alone equipped with 18 treatment rooms, a giant jacuzzi, an indoor pool and its own restaurant serving health-boosting broths and bowls. The state-of-the-art fitness studio, also housed in the spa, hosts regular classes, including pilates, yoga, boxing and Zumba. For the kids, there is a very separate indoor pool on the other side of the hotel, as well as an outdoor playground and OFSTED-registered kids club for children aged two to nine.
