by Last summer, I visited Birch Selsdon, a just-opened hotel and members’ club in a restored De Vere property on the outskirts of London, where Croydon juts out to Surrey. In their restaurant, extended families ate breakfast in the sunlight that flooded through its large picture windows.
Outside, a patch of meadow flowers bloomed on the remains of his old golf course, which was being reclaimed as a home for cows and sheep. We tramped through the hotel’s woodland until the rain came, then my children found a room where they could play arcade games and darts. We all agreed that it was quite special.
It was this day, along with a shared workspace and gym (and, more recently, a lido and chef Lee Westcott in the kitchens), that convinced my husband to become a member. He loved working from the hotel, taking breaks to walk the grounds and have coffee in the orangery which was full of plants. There were certainly initial problems – erratic service and still shabby corners of the large castle-like building – but we were looking forward to staying the night and maybe trying out one of Birch’s classes such as pottery or forest bathing.
We never got the chance. A few months after that first visit, the hotel closed unexpectedly along with its sister property, Birch Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. Administrators took over both hotels, with Selsdon citing “cash flow pressures” as the reason for the operator’s decision. The staff were released and even the sheep were said to have been brought back. An Instagram post by Westcott showed a space that wasn’t even finished, pictures set against the building’s old wood paneling.
Birch Selsdon has only been open for seven months, after two years of multi-million pound renovations. Birch Cheshunt, which welcomed guests for the first time in 2020, lasted three years. It was a big fall from grace for Birch, who was initially sent off by ex-Ace Hotel London managing director Chris Penn and entrepreneur Chris King. Although they left the brand long before the Selsdon hotels opened (in 2022 and 2023 respectively), Penn’s original vision was still felt.
“We felt there was an opportunity to take assets that sat just outside the cities and were not already loved as conference centers and wedding venues but had an underlying beauty. They seemed very disconnected from the needs of a modern consumer. They were in great places for people in cities to escape to, but the offering inside those buildings didn’t reflect what these consumers could get on their doorstep,” Penn told me, speaking of the phone just days after the shock announcement.
Hotels close, but are often quickly revised into new incarnations. When Ace Hotel London closed in 2020, its operators refurbished it and reopened as One Hundred Shoreditch in March 2022. Huge suburban spaces can be a harder sell, however, and parent company Aprirose has has removed all traces of Birch from its website, leaving hotels from Travelodge. , Premier Inn and Hilton which feel very much at odds with the original philosophy of the brand.
Birch presented itself as a hippest creative version of Soho House, with the intention to “look like a hotel but feel like a festival”. Many liked the idea, but perhaps the Selsdon hotel was too “hipster” for the locals (as one comment on the Inside Croydon website suggested). It wasn’t polished enough for the hipsters either – and, with the two hotels housing more than 140 bedrooms and cavernous public areas, it would take dedication and plenty of money to add the necessary sparkle.
Rooms started at around £140 a night and the price reflected: more student digs than Soho Home. The official line about Birch’s lack of televisions and other amenities was that guests were encouraged to explore the grounds and park in on-site activities rather than lounge around in their pyjamas, but he did try to cut corners for some . Others were left unimpressed with the service and the environment.
Originally, Birch’s reuse and recycle approach stemmed from a strong desire for sustainability. “Every decision… was made with integrity around this idea of being really careful about its impact on the consumer, the building, the natural environment and the world. That sometimes meant we felt it was better to reuse something than buy something new. And I think in the early days consumers really understood that because we were talking directly to them,” Penn said.
Meanwhile, Cheshunt seemed to be on a downward trajectory. The guests I spoke to previously promised not to return. One friend’s disastrous stay for a few months before it closed included black stains on the carpets, strange paper signs telling everyone to be quiet, reception staff refusing to book her a table at the restaurant and telling her to organize they taxi when not. t, and a half-eaten sandwich left lying by the pool all weekend.
A Google review of the Selsdon property from two months ago said: “At one point I left the pool area to get something from my car, when I returned there was a queue to get back in and I was told the very full area and I would not be allowed to go back in despite all my things and my partner still in there with my empty sunbed. They finally let me back in after a few minutes of wrangling but it’s clear the staff are out of their depth and not properly trained.”
Insiders murmured that an indefinite pause on plans to build a UK base for Hollywood’s nearby Sunset Studios was the final nail in the coffin of the troubled Hertfordshire hotel.
Despite all this, there was plenty that got Birch right. Securing Westcott, who previously worked with Jason Atherton and Tom Aikens, was a coup, and his restaurant Elodie was the only restaurant in Croydon to feature in the Michelin Guide. Meanwhile, the roster of activities appealed to experience-seeking millennials and Gen Z-ers.
On the last day of Birch Selsdon, staff and members mourned a special building with a real sense of camaraderie, a great restaurant and some of the best grounds in Greater London. “This has been a transformative space for me and my family and we are very sad to see it close. All the friendly, dedicated staff we’ve come to know since May were to blame,” said one statement on LinkedIn.
It remains to be seen what will be done in these other transformed spaces. Milan Vuceljic of Moorfields Advisory, who is joint administrator of Birch Selsdon, told the Telegraph: “The assets will be marketed in due course as we continue to manage the closure of the hotel. We believe the Selsdon hotel presents a good opportunity for potential buyers.”
Penn hopes the land will not be turned into luxury apartments. “I think the biggest thing would be if there was a large residential development because I believe these old estates should be loved and enjoyed by many people,” Penn said.
Whatever happens, there will probably never be anywhere like Birch again. Love them or hate them, suburban London just won’t be the same without them.
