Can this hotel really give you a holiday from your health worries?
THE Grove is not a hospice, nor a care home — although most of its guests have terminal illnesses and all of them require significant amounts of care. officially it’s a ‘ unique holiday hotel for cancer patients and those with lifethreatening illnesses’, according to the sign outside the green-shuttered 1920s building in Bournemouth.
In practice, it’s a place where the very sick (and, often, their carers) check in for respite from the daily struggles of cancer, safe in the knowledge that a nurse is on hand 24 hours a day, that someone else is doing the cooking and cleaning, that it’s fine to take 20 minutes to reach a table in the dining room if you are feeling particularly frail, and that every day offers the chance of outings, entertainment and making new friends without having to explain that you are poorly.
The Grove, on Bournemouth’s East Cliff, is indeed unique — the only UK hotel of its kind and, despite the circumstances of its guests, one of the most uplifting.
If returning business is the key to success in the hospitality world, then The Grove is thriving, with satisfied customers invariably booking their next stay before they’ve even settled the bill for their current one.
‘Coming here gives an insight into other people’s lives and makes me realise my situation could be a whole lot worse,’ says Margaret Wood, 82, whose breast cancer — which led to a mastectomy — has now spread to the bones in her right shoulder.
‘This is my third stay in as many years and in some strange way it gives me the determination to keep going. I’ve got cancer and I’ve got to cope with it. I could go and stay in a normal hotel, but it wouldn’t be the same. Here, no one ignores you and nothing is too much trouble. The food’s wonderful, too.’
The non-profit Grove is run by Macmillan Caring Locally, a charity and palliative care service founded in 1974 — and not to be confused with the better known (and better funded) Macmillan Cancer Support charity, with which it has no connection.
MACMILLANCaring Locally was launched in 1974 by Dr ronnie Fisher, a consultant anaesthetist who founded hospice care in the NHS, and led to the opening of the Macmillan unit at Christchurch hospital a year later, the first palliative care service in the country. (It was named in honour of Douglas Macmillan, who set up what was to become Macmillan Cancer Support.)
After acquiring The Grove’s leasehold in 2011, the charity embarked on an extensive refurbishment and opened the hotel a year later with 30 rooms, offering dinner, bed and breakfast at subsidised rates currently starting at £58 per person.
‘Your illness might not take a break, but you can’ is one of The Grove’s tag lines. That strikes a chord with John Davies, 66, from Herefordshire, who used to work for ordnance Survey. In 2009, he was given six weeks to live after doctors discovered he had an inoperable brain tumour.
After various rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and an ongoing cocktail of drugs, John has been told his cancer is ‘ not active’, although walking more than a few paces is difficult, and he has glaucoma in both eyes as a result of his tumour.
‘I’ve always been a positive sort of person and used to be quite fit because I did a lot of Morris dancing,’ he says. ‘ Coming here takes an effort, but it’s worth it.’
John is looked after by his wife Janet, for whom a fortnight’s stay at The Grove has become a crucial and invaluable moralebooster. ‘ There’s a family atmosphere here,’ says Janet. ‘You can do as little or as much as you want and everyone is supportive. We come away each time with a new confidence.’
As testament to the positive atmosphere, turnover of staff is minimal. General manager Brenden Howard, nurse Karen Brown and chef Ian Cole have all been here from the start.
Brenden, who wears ties that make Channel 4 News anchorman Jon Snow look conservative by comparison, makes guests laugh with his self- deprecating wisecracks as he flits from table to table at breakfast. He says he could never again work in a traditional hotel.
‘If you do something for a guest here you really know it is appreciated because this could be the last holiday they have,’ he says. ‘I don’t ask how they are feeling. It’s all about normality. And I don’t have to tell the staff what to do — they just do it because their heart is in it.’
A number of volunteers’ hearts are in it, too. The Grove has become a focal point of the community.
A volunteer plays the piano twice a week at dinner, others look after the garden, raise funds and accompany guests on outings if they would like company. During my stay, there’s entertainment after dinner in the form of a local singer called Paul Spencer (who manages to get even the weakest of guests to wave their hands in the air), and the next morning I join an excursion in The Grove’s 16- seater bus to Poole, via posh Sandbanks, with a volunteer giving a spirited running commentary.
If booking for the first time, guests — the majority of whom have cancer — not only have to complete a questionnaire about their medical situation, which must be signed by their doctor or consultant, but must also talk honestly and frankly to a nurse about their needs.
While this is not a hotel for those with mental health conditions, there are no other restrictions.
‘When someone arrives, one of us nurses will show the guests to their room and that gives a chance to assess them,’ says nurse Karen Brown. ‘But often it’s as much about the carer having a rest and change of scene as it is the person who is unwell.’
But not everyone who has undergone treatment for cancer or is waiting for the next round of treatment necessarily wants to be with others who are in the same predicament. A getaway for some might mean getting away from other cancer patients.
‘It’s a personal choice and there is no right or wrong answer,’ says Dr Justin Grayer, lead clinical psychologist at the royal Marsden Hospital in London.
‘For some, it can be very helpful; others might find it a painful reminder of their own predicament.’ Douglas richardson, 74, a former HSBC branch manager, and his wife Sue, who live in Buckinghamshire, are seated at the table next to mine at dinner.
This is their first time at The Grove and on arrival two days ago they had doubts.
‘A lot of people seemed older than us and we weren’t quite sure how we felt, but we have come round to it and would think seriously about coming again,’ says Douglas, who developed Parkinson’s disease seven years ago and then six months later was diagnosed with prostate cancer — all of which he dismisses lightly.
‘I call it the double whammy — but you’ve got to get on with it,’ he says. ‘People here are unwell but they don’t tend to talk about their illness — although there is a chance to swap information and that’s helpful.’
NoTall guests are elderly. Jenny Negus, from Wimborne, Dorset, is only 42. She suffers from ‘brittle’ asthma, severe asthma that is difficult to control, and has led to Jenny having to be rushed to hospital — this year, since March, she has been admitted to hospital three times.
Although a trained nurse, Jenny was forced to retire aged 30 and returned to live with her parents.
‘My mum and dad are in their 70s and should be enjoying their retirement rather than looking after me and so when I come here it gives them a break,’ says Jenny.
‘My medical history is here and I trust the staff completely. The chef knows all about my various allergies. It’s a brilliant idea.’
Jenny books in to The Grove three or four times a year. She receives a call from the hotel a week before her arrival date to find out how she is and is asked if she wants the same room as her previous visits.
‘I really love this place. It takes the pressure off and I feel safe,’ says Jenny. ‘There must be people all over the country who would benefit from a hotel like this. There’s nowhere else like it.
‘For example, if you aren’t well enough and have to cancel at the last moment you’re never charged a cancellation fee. You always feel this hotel is on your side.’