A 40th birthday at The Firs: take over the whole site for the weekend

A 40th birthday calls for somewhere that feels like an event in itself — and at The Firs you can take over the whole site for the weekend. Not a hotel, not a marquee in a field, but an entire private countryside retreat that's completely yours. For marking a big birthday, that changes everything. We're 2 hours from London and 45 minutes from Norwich.

A whole private site. Six lodges scattered across four acres, each with its own private wood-fired hot tub, all yours to take over — up to sixteen of your favourite people, no one else in sight. When you're celebrating a milestone, that sense of this is just us is worth everything.

Make an occasion of the food. The outdoor kitchen in the Cartlodge can run all weekend — cooking on fire in the pizza oven, the firepit lit as the light drops, the horsebox bar open. Do a long-table dinner one evening and graze around the flames the next. Days are for garden games on the lawn, lazy hot tubs, and a slow coffee in the gardens.

Beautiful in every corner. The styling across the lodges is gorgeous — the kind of place where every corner photographs well, which a birthday group will happily make the most of. As Suffolk hideaways go, it's one of the county's best-kept secrets.

Or head to the coast. Aldeburgh is close for fish and chips by the sea, and Southwold for the pier and a wander — though the gardens, the fire and the tubs tend to keep everyone home.

For a milestone birthday where the whole group celebrates together and stays together, this countryside retreat is hard to beat.

Planning a 40th (or any milestone) in Suffolk? Check availability and enquire here.