This is when the lightbulb moments happen.
Eleven places. When they're gone, they're gone.
Founders aren't short of advice. They're short of quiet — and the company of women who carry the same weight.
A four-AA-Red-Star country hotel set back from a gravel driveway, just outside Colchester, looking out across Constable's countryside.
Twelve individually designed bedrooms — each one named after an English poet, from Shakespeare and Keats to Newbolt and Betjeman. Inside each room, a framed copy of that poet's best-known work. Quiet detail, properly done.
The lounge opens through to the Garden Room and out onto the terrace. The spa, the heated outdoor pool, the tennis court — all of it ours, from mid-afternoon through the following morning.
Twelve women, the hotel and spa given over to us entirely. No other guests. No shared spaces. No interruptions.
Arrivals from 9am, refreshments in the lounge while the rooms are turned around. The morning yours to begin slowly. A short walk of the grounds before lunch — for those who'd like one.
Lunch together. Check in to your room. An Elemis treatment of your choosing — massage, facial, or mini manicure. The heated pool, the hot tub, the infrared sauna. A cosy corner by the fire, blankets and hot chocolate within reach.
A drinks reception as the evening starts, then dinner together at the hotel. Unhurried, wine flowing into late conversation. The kind of evening where stories come out and friendships start.
Taken by the hotel's courtesy car to the Talbooth Restaurant — riverside, three AA rosettes — for breakfast together. Driven back. A walk through Dedham Vale for those who'd like one — Constable's countryside, the river path — before we part.
"This isn't another retreat. It's twelve women being given
permission to switch off — and the room to do it in."
Talbooth House sits in the heart of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty — the countryside John Constable painted again and again, on his way to becoming one of England's most beloved artists.
It's the kind of place that does something quiet to you. The river, the meadows, the soft light. Walk it in the morning before lunch, and the rest of the day arrives differently.
Eleven places. Twelve women including the host. Single occupancy throughout — your own room, your own door to close.
The hotel and its spa are ours entirely for our overnight. Nothing shared with the outside world.
You'll arrive to refreshments, leave with new friendships. In between: a treatment, the pool, a good dinner, a quiet night, and a riverside breakfast you didn't have to plan.
If you want to spend time on your business, the meeting room is there. If you want to do nothing — that's the actual point.
Last Autumn, I ran a spa day at the Grove Hotel for fourteen of us in Six Figured Females. The conversations taught me something I haven't been able to shake — there's a particular kind of friendship that only happens when founders are out of their houses, away from their laptops, in proper time and space together. Not at a conference with name badges. Not at an event with a stage. Just women, in good company, with the run of somewhere beautiful.
I've been wanting to put an overnight version together for a while. Talbooth House is the right room — exclusive access, twelve bedrooms, four AA Red Stars, the staff at our beck and call. 30 September is the right date. £995 covers everything, because there's nothing that breaks a retreat like worrying about money once you've arrived.
Eleven places. I hope yours is one of them.
An all-inclusive overnight retreat for twelve.
"Any drinks or extras beyond what's included are on me. No reaching for your wallet."
You'll get a confirmation email within minutes.
Eleven places only. When they're gone, they're gone.
Eleven places. By the time you've finished talking yourself out of it, someone else will have said yes. That's not a sales line — that's just what happens when a room is this small.
Reserve my place — £995