Park Spa Warbrook House
A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I would like to review the newly opened spa at Warbrook House, a local luxury hotel. It did occur to me that we didn’t really have any spare time in the next couple of weeks which, the more I thought about it, made me realise we should absolutely make the time to do it. Spending time with Mr B where we literally had to do nothing felt like my idea of the perfect day. Whilst we spend a lot of time together, probably more than many couples since we often both work from home and do 8 hours on the M6 a couple of times a month, it isn’t “quality time”. And when I say quality time what I mean is, “doing nothing, sitting in a hot tub with a glass of Prosecco”.
So on Saturday we left the chaos of our working week behind us, ignored the huge packing list we have for our Iceland trip tomorrow, and hot footed it to Eversley. In my head spa days are always a bit of a palaver. You have carve out travel time and make all sorts of plans to even just get to the spa, and then at the end of the day when you are all relaxed you have to get back into the car and drive home undoing all your newly found zen mentality. Not so for us and The Park Spa, it is ten minutes away! Making it the perfect spot for us to make the most of one of their evening or afternoon packages.
Situated in the grounds of Warbrook House (follow the signs for Park House) it is away from the main comings and goings of the busy hotel so it has a natural peace and calm about it. Oh and its own car park that means you can park right outside.
Not only does the spa offer a whole range of treatments but it is also has a gin bar!
Yes my friends. They have a “gin and bubbles lounge” stocked with a great range of gins and some locally produced sparkling wines. Any spa that has a gin menu alongside the treatment menu gets a huge thumbs up in my book. They will even serve you pink fizz in the hot tubs outside on the terrace (in a plastic cup of course in case you knock it over).
We had the added pleasure of having the place to ourselves (quite by fluke) which was a real treat and gave us a chance to just spend half an hour in the tub with our drinks catching our breath and staring out into the fields beyond the main buildings. It seemed hard to believe this was 12pm on a Saturday!
There are various packages available in the spa, all of them coming with full use of the outdoor tub, gym and the thermal suite for the day (or half day). Be aware though that this is a small and intimate spa so it wouldn’t really work if you wanted to bring a group of 20 friends for a hen do or birthday celebration. This is much more geared towards a group of two or four having a relaxing day. It is possible to book the whole place though for either an afternoon/morning, whole day. A group of 20 could use the facilities at different times and take over the whole place or if you just want a pamper session 5 or 6 of you could take over the manicure lounge.
We were asked if we would like to experience the “Melting Hearts Spa Journey”, this being the run up to Valentine’s Day. The day includes full use of all the facilities, a robe, a towel and slippers. Lunch or afternoon tea (with a glass of pink bubbles) and a 45 minute Lovers Rassoul, and a 60 minute Couples Candle Massage.
After a cup of tea in the gin and bubbles lounge to catch our breath we were then taken off to the Rasul room where it was explained how to make the most of the products. We had gone for the gin scrub (er hello why would we not) but we could have chosen coffee or green tea and were told this was for our faces, the other small dishes for our arms, legs and bodies. Oh and PS, don’t try and eat the gin scrub, its very salty. Ahem. To be fair I wasn’t actually eating it, I got it on my lip and then licked it off. But don’t say you weren’t warned.
Having covered ourselves in the mud we were told to sit in the steam room for around 20 minutes until the lights went red, at which point the showers would turn on to wash all the mud and oils off us. It was like some kind of magic to watch the mud go through its various stages of drying out and then turning to oil. Once showered and dry we then applied the moisturisers. My skin hadn’t felt so good in a long time!
The above is the gorgeous relaxation room, complete with just some of the blankets and throws you are welcome to choose from for a properly snuggly sit down. If I had one criticism it would be that I would have liked this room to be darker, but that is only a personal choice. I like to sneak off at spas and have a lie down in a darkened room, all warm and relaxed and have a delicious afternoon nap. This room was perfect for relaxing with a book, note the huge bean bags, but I would have felt a bit odd having a bit of a snooze! It was certainly well used in the afternoon with a few groups enjoying a glass of cucumber water on the comfy chairs as they waited for their next treatment or relaxed after an earlier one.
Our last scheduled treatment was a really lovely massage (all with ESPA products) up in the couple’s treatment room that was done in candlelight. I could seriously have fallen asleep after mine!
We thought it would be rude not to jump in the sauna and steam room before we went home (especially as they were empty). Also we thought that as we are off to Iceland this week where we may well freeze to death it would be nice to be truly warm one last time!
I had no such desire to use the gym however but thought I would photograph it for you for research purposes 🙂
All in all the Park Spa is lovely, its small so would. never get too busy or overwhelming, the staff were all incredibly friendly and attentive and everything was spotlessly clean. Oh and the lunch was Bento box style and delicious.
What more could you want?
Our Melting Hearts Spa Journey day retails at £199 for a couple, but there is also an afternoon or morning package including half a day’s access retailing at £99 per couple. Though do check out the website for other packages and deals too.
We were invited to review the spa free of charge and we weren’t compensated in any other way.
All thoughts and images are my own