Bikini ASOS
Every once in a while you jut have to say, “to hell with it!”
The start of the year hasn’t gone quite the way I had planned, details one shall not go in to (but don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad but it feels like the tide is going against half of the time.) It’s the small moments of calm that I take pleasure in at the moment because everything else seems so frantic 98.5% of the time. I just feel like I need a lot of pampering to distract me from it all. So, when the opportunity arose to experience a little bit of luxury de-stressing at Rudding Park Spa, Harrogate I decided to grab life by the balls and enter a state of serene at this magnificent Spa.
Seeing the snow all over the grounds just made it even more magical! The urge to make snow angels on the floor was suppressed as we made our way up the grand, stone building in front of us. Little did we know what would be hidden beyond those glass, sliding doors.
I’ve been on many spa days and breaks, so I thought I knew what I was in for. The usual: A small sauna, the possibility of a a steam room, a pool and a jacuzzi. And whilst every other spa trip has been lovely, I now realise that I’ve been missing out on one of Harrogate’s (not-so) best kept secrets.
We were kindly checked in by a young woman, who took us straight through to the Horto Cafe where we got to enjoy a Champagne cocktail whilst filling out our client forms. We got to choose the experience we required, there were four options and I was hovering between “relaxed” and “de-stressed” – in the end I went for the latter because I have most definitely been feeling overwhelmed with stress recently and I needed some serious “RnR” to feel more like myself again.
About 15 minutes later we were taken back to the reception and were given our wrist bands which acted as a digital key to get in to our very own locker (complete with robes, sandals and towels) and for getting in and out of the different spa sections.
We managed to get booked in at 6pm for a 25 minute massage each which we paid for and it was £40pp. (Sadly, I didn’t manage to get many photos of the outdoor spaces due to fact it was dark once we made our way out of treatment but it was the only time they could fit us in.)
We were shown to the changing facilities (even they were beautiful!) where we checked our wrist band in and were told which locker we were to make our way to.
We made our way down to the “basement floor” where all the treatments take place. I grabbed a quick glass of cucumber water to freshen up a bit as I’d just has a large champagne cocktails. Julie was my masseuse and was really friendly, made me feel at ease when I explained I can be a bit touch sensitive but I still love having massages. We discussed that I’d like a more gentle massage, but if there was tension I didn’t mind too much pressure.
She left the room for a few moments so I could remove my bikini top and get under the towel for her to start. As the gentle music played and the smell of the aromatic oil filled the air I could already feel my tensions running away. Julie also used the hot stones which is something I’ve never experienced before. I’m so glad I did because the heat from them instantly warmed my whole body in the most comforting way. As the knots were kneaded out and arms gently rubbed I felt liked I’d entered a stage of bliss. My only criticism is that it had to end. The massage lasted maybe only 15-20 minutes which is sometimes a little bit disappointing when you have paid for a full 25 minutes, but I know this happens pretty much everywhere I’ve been before (does anyone know why this happens?)
Shortly afterwards after I’d popped my bikini back on and robed up, Julie showed me round the relaxation area which could have housed any of the previous spas I’d been to just in that floor space.
It was complete with a reading and relaxation room, there were books, puzzles, board games and even colouring books to wind down. Surplus to that there was a visual room where you could travel the world in 5 minutes, an audio relaxing room and finally the sleep room which was a dark room filled with starlight in the ceiling.
Absolutely everything had been thought of, down to the tiniest details.
Suitably relaxed and feeling serene, we wandered up to the Rooftop Spa area, which would firmly become our favourite part of the spa. With every staircase, twist and turn, there was something new to discover.
We headed straight for the outdoor, infinity pool and I tried my best at the whole “bond girl” look (failed.) We just swam around for ages. The spa was really quite warm, so being in the hot water with the frosty breeze on our shoulders cooled us down. There were even little, mini jacuzzi at the side (I can report they were pretty vigorous, fully expect to be launched around in that section. We laughed for ages, fun, but not relaxing!)
It was such a surreal moment, watching the snow, the layer that had already formed from the “Beast from the East” (as we so aptly named it) whilst being toasty in the pool. I think I could have stayed there all day, but alas there was far more to discover.
The Rooftop Spa area included a large sauna that looked out on to the grounds, a very large steam room, a herb room (similar to the steam room but with the fresh scents of handpicked herbs), foot spas and tropical storm rain showers (the only way to describe this experience is imagine you’re at the Rainforest café at Disneyland during that “storm scene” but the rain is actually falling on you. It genuinely is complete with sights and sound experience!
All of which were so relaxing. Did I really have to ever leave this place?
We went to explore even more (seriously, could there have been anymore surprises here?) We grabbed our complimentary glass of prosecco and went on another adventure. This time, outdoors on the rooftop.
As we headed outside, snuggled up in our robe and flip-flops, we cold air hit us and we found the jacuzzi pronto. As we dipped our toes in, once again we were met with hot water that would soothe any aches and pains we’d had.
(At this point you’ll have to excuse the lack of DSLR shots, our iphones had to do in the conditions!)
As we slid in to the jacuzzi, it was full of people, our incessant giggling may have drove them all away because by the time we’d been in 15 minutes, most people had left us too it.
It was the perfect spot to relax and unwind after the long week.
We didn’t manage to go in but there was also another outdoor sauna, and had it been a little warmer than -1 degree’s I’d have ventured a little further to it, but the jacuzzi was far too inviting to leave!
When we eventually decided to haul ourselves out of the water, we popped back downstairs to have a little peak around the large indoor pool, juniper log sauna and the Mud Rasul room (we didn’t get chance to pop in here, but this was included in our Starlight Spa experience.)
The one thing that struck me was how clean everywhere was, it was impeccable. There were also so many spots to explore at this award winning spa, that I could have spent a full day there, but sadly time was against us and we had to leave at 9.30pm when the spa closed.
I could have almost been dragged out kicking and screaming. It is safe to say that I’ve already been searching for an overnight spa break here for later in the year! But, don’t let me just tell you about it, read the rave reviews and check out the availability here! There’s a reason it receives a well-deserved 5 star rating review.
To end, this has to be THE BEST spa I have ever been to, and I genuinely think it will take a lot to beat it!
Bee
Twitter | Instagram | BlogLovin | Pinterest | Facebook
*Our Starlight Spa experience was provided to us free of charge. All views of this stunning place are my own.
