Pool, gardens and grounds
The garden here’s arguably where the fun’s at its funnest. The sweeping panorama of steps, terraces, cabana and stone balustrades around the heated 12-metre pool scream LA living. Yet your sensible self insists you’re in Potters Bar. Ignore it: California Dreaming is much more enticing.
Stay out there for the American-style pool house complete with jukebox, pool, table football and neon-lit bar. Cook in the outdoor barbecue kitchen. Play table tennis on the terrace. Or go big with actual tennis on the all-year-round, floodlit astroturf court. Say hi to the horses. Picnic by the pond. Vive le Hollywood.
Living spaces
Every living space here spells fun. Congregate in the main living room for Sky TV on the 65″ smart TV. Get over to the games room for snooker, pool, darts, and pinball. Or put your feet up with popcorn in front of the projector in the cinema room. Recharge your social battery in the family room with garden views.
Head to the gym for a workout on the weights, treadmill and boxing equipment. Purge your body in the sauna. Fancy an evening out? The garden’s as far as you need go. Hang out in the American-style pool house over pool and table football with sport on the smart TV and drinks flowing from the neon-lit bar.
Cooking and dining
Outdoor-cooking fans will love the barbecue kitchen. Eat in the shade of the cabana surrounded by palms after a dip in the pool. Yes, this really is Potters Bar. The indoor kitchen’s not too shabby, either, in a grey Shaker style with breakfast bar, gas range, microwave, dishwasher and American-style fridge/freezer you can fill from Waitrose.
If you’d prefer to lounge by the pool than cook in the kitchen, tuck into personalised menus from the pro chefs at Yhangry. Or try takeaways from Fig Tree Grill, for the finest Souvla and Cypriot kebabs, Relish Real Burgers for chicken or beef in buns, or just a rack or ribs. Or Persian Taste for melt-in-the-mouth Middle-Eastern menus.
Stop by The Old Manor for Sunday roasts, brunch or bar snacks washed own with cocktails or gin spritz. Try The Builder’s Arms for world beers, sumptuous fine wines and credible coffee that accompany hearty Sunday roasts and pub classics. Or head to Cask and Stillage for Thai food, an inglenook fireplace and big beer garden.
Tuck in to Turkish at Aksular Restaurant, including kebabs, fish and good veggie options. Try a taste of Italy at Macaroni Restaurant for risotto, pasta and all manner of pizza. Or pick from the eat-in or takeaway menus at Greek eatery, Tavernaki. Will it be kleftiko, moussaka, afelia or stifado?
Bedrooms
The Villa in the Trees sleeps 14 in up to seven bedrooms, with seven luxury bathrooms. Be quick and bag bedroom two for morning toast and orange juice with balcony views over the garden and pool.
Bedroom one is a ground-floor en-suite sleeping two in a double bed with luxury en-suite. Bedroom two on the first floor also offers a double bed and en-suite but provides a showstopping balcony with panoramic garden views. Bedrooms three, four and five are first-floor en-suite doubles.
In the annex, bedroom six comes with a double bed and bathroom, while bedroom seven offers a living room, double bed and shared bathroom.
What people say
Wildlife and nightlife
Be wowed by the amazing Jain Temple, watch the wildfowl at Oakmere Park, discover an ancient site of Christian worship at St Albans Cathedral or curiosities galore at Parkfield. Go Harry Potter potty on a Warner Bros Studios tour, catch shows and flicks at Wyllyotts Theatre or head into town for the lights and sights.
