Tranquil Heaven For A Few Hours On A Spa Day
All too often life is all work and no play. If you’re feeling fed up, run down or a little worn out, that's your body calling for a bit of 'you' time.
Take the day off and try something seriously special in one of these many different spa days, which will smooth out the stresses and strains of everyday life in a soothing and sumptuously self-centred experience. Choose a location, pick your perfect spa package and head off for a day of delectable delights that will leave you looking and feeling radiant. Your body will thank you for it.
Enjoy a relaxing spa day, either on your own or with a friend, and choose from a range of different packages and treatments.
What is a spa day?
Spa day experiences come in many different forms, the majority include access to the health spa of your choice for a whole day, and inclusive use of their on-site facilities. This varies from one location to another but may include a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, a gym and perhaps a choice of fitness or relaxation classes. You may also have access to other facilities such as tennis courts and bicycles.
Some spa day vouchers may include treatments, such as a massage, facial or manicure, and of course such treatments are usually available to book in advance (fee applies). Some vouchers will also include a healthy lunch.
Ran out of batteries? Need a re-charge? Then take time out, leave the world behind and plump for a pampering in this seriously sumptuous spa experience. At the location of your choice, enter a deep sense of relaxation and feel your strains melt away in a tranquil, unhurried environment, with a wonderful range of relaxing and revitalising treatments right at your fingertips. It’s the perfect way to unwind, de-stress and look after number one. It’s a heavenly delight for the senses that will leave you feeling fully refreshed, recharged and raring to go.
If a day isn't long enough, check out these overnight spa breaks.
Types of Spa Treatment
Personally, I'd avoid the spa access experiences and book a spa day with at least one treatment. Options vary depending on the experience but treatments generally span the following list.
Massage
A hot stone massage is a perfect mid-week treat for anyone with a hectic lifestyle.
Buy anyone a massage and you’ll be their new best friend. It’s one of life’s little treats and the perfect tonic against the daily grind. This heavenly therapy has a long list of health benefits and what’s more, it has many different forms – so you can pick and choose your favourite. Will it be a full-body massage for a head-to-toe pampering? The tingly sensation of an Indian head massage? Or the rigorous Swedish massage – renowned for its ability to ease stiffness and pain? Whatever you choose, it’s the perfect way to get back in touch with No.1 and enjoy a thoroughly relaxing, refreshing and revitalising experience.
Facial
Lying back, eyes closed, and allowing yourself to completely relax as someone pampers you to the moon and back, is such a treat. And a facial fulfils every wish you could have about a calming, gorgeous, self indulgent experience. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of utter chilled out bliss as you stop thinking for a moment or three and float away on a cloud of enjoyment. Pampered and preened, afterwards you are walking on air. It’s incredible how just a few essential oils and some dexterous hands can make you feel better than ever before.
It sounds so good. It sounds as though you need to treat yourself, or someone you love very much, to a facial experience day. It sounds as though you know who I'm talking about. Everyone deserves a bit of bliss in their lives now and then.
The facial experience is ideal for anyone – male or female, young or old – who needs a bit of a new start. It’s a great way to put the past behind you and begin again, more relaxed, more chilled, and with much softer skin! A birthday treat they will never forget, this is a great way to show how much you care. Or why not buy this gift for a bride or groom to be? Ideal for ensuring that those wedding photos will look stunning.
Manicure / Pedicure
A treat for tired hands
Prep your feet for summer sandals and give your hard-working hands the treatment they deserve with this manicure and pedicure experience. Sit back in soothing surroundings, enjoy a relaxing cup of tea and sink into sophistication as you’re spoiled and pampered to your heart’s content. Your hands and feet will be massaged, buffed and mollycoddled to the extreme, before the attention moves onto shaping and painting your nails. By the end, you’ll look and feel fabulous from tip to toe.
Rasul Spa Treatment
Rasul sounds exotic and interesting, which is great because that’s exactly what it is. Rasul is a sensationally pampering mud cleansing treatment. It removes dead skin cells and increases circulation, making your skin look glowing and healthy. Not only will you look incredible, you’ll feel it too; this mud mixture boosts the immune system and relaxes your muscles. You’ll feel happy, healthy, and chilled.
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to feel so good after a perfect piece of pampering? So why not indulge yourself or a loved one with the Rasul treatment experience, and strip away those worries and cares, forget about the problems and anxieties you may have, and simply live in the rather muddy moment for a little while – it can’t hurt, and it could be the best thing you do all year!
Rasul is a ritual from Arabia; you (and a partner if you choose the experience for two) will have access to your very own steam chamber, just for you, in which the ritual can take place. Afterwards, depending on the package you have chosen, you will have a one hour full body massage to iron out the last of the kinks, as well as a light lunch to up those energy levels.
Reflexology
Enjoy a holistic reflexology treatment
A heavenly therapy that’s a real treat for feet, reflexology is a holistic healing remedy which is centred around the lower legs and feet, reintroducing balance and harmony into the body and stimulating its natural flow of energy. The reflexologist will focus on any specific needs or complaints thereby encouraging the body to activate its own method of healing. You don’t need to be a tree-hugger or have a foot fetish to enjoy this; it’s a delight for the senses and will ease you into a deep sense of relaxation, leaving you feeling rejuvenated and radiant from head to toe.
There aren’t many things in life that feel this good yet are still healthy – so hot foot it to the spa for your chance to try something seriously special. Way beyond your average foot rub, a soothing reflexology massage is designed solely to work on your body’s natural balance from the feet up and draw out the stresses and strains of everyday life. It’s a sumptuously tingly sensation that will leave you feeling fully refreshed, recharged and raring to go. So put your best foot forward and walk this way for the stimulation of a lifetime. Your body will certainly thank you for it.
Chocolate Spa Treatments
Chocolate is a wonderful thing – it makes us happy when we’re feeling down (I'm sure that’s a scientific fact!), it’s an ideal gift no matter what the situation, no matter who the recipient, and it tastes absolutely fantastic! And it’s so versatile as well; food, drink, sweet, savoury, main event or decorations. It can even be used as a spa treatment. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But it’s absolutely true – this revolution in chocolate delight is one hundred per cent available to you, and if you purchase one of the chocolate based spa experience days, then you’ll be able to see (and smell, and maybe even taste!) for yourself!
There are a number of different chocolate spa treatments to choose from when thinking about your Chocolate Spa Treatment. You could indulge in the most wonderful body wrap, in which you are literally wrapped in chocolate and left to relax with the delicious smells of delectable chocolate all around you.
The Great Escape - What You Need To Know
- WHEN: Spas are usually open all year round, but be sure to book well in advance as weekends can fill quickly.
- WHERE: The experience can be booked at locations all over the country.
- WHO: Stressed out peeps will love any opportunity to stop and regroup. A spa day offers exactly that - a respite from the hardship of the daily grind. Spend a day at the spa, enjoy a massage or two, and simply relax.
- OCCASIONS: Spa days are excellent Christmas and birthday presents as they offer flexibility on dates, slotting in with time off work if pre-booked far enough ahead. It's also a lovely gift for mum on Mother's Day.
- PRICES: Basic spa days start from around £35 a head, and generally includes access to a day spa and an express or mini treatment. Luxury spa days can push the £400 mark for a couple. In between, there's a world of choice, with some experiences including lunch or afternoon tea, and others including several pampering treatments. (correct at the time of writing)
- QUESTIONS: Need help? Ask questions here and I'll try to help as best I can
- TRIED THIS?: Would you recommend it? Share your thoughts here
Top Spa Days
There are literally hundreds of spa days that span the country. Picking the best is no easy task, but here are a few that stand out to me.
Bannatyne Classic Choice Pamper Day
Enjoy a spa day at one of 30 locations around the country. You can use the leisure and relaxation facilities and relax with a 25-minute treatment. Choose from an express facial or an upper body massage.
Rasul and Spa Day for Two
Enjoy a unique and cleansing Moroccan-style treatment for two at the Wildmoor Spa and Health Club in Warwickshire. In a private, ornately-tiled Rasul chamber, you'll apply different nutrient-dense muds to each other’s faces, bodies and legs, before reclining and being enveloped in menthol-infused steam. You can enjoy the various facilities at the resort, including crystal steam rooms, a herbal sauna, Roman Caldarium, and Hydrotherapy spa. Lunch for two is also included.
Luxury Day at Titanic Spa for Two
Head to a former textile mill on the edge of the Pennines for a luxurious spa day. The Titanic Spa on the outskirts of Huddersfield is the setting for a relaxing day. Take advantage of the spa's 15-metre salt regulated swimming pool, hydrozone, steam room, sauna, Technogym gymnasium, relaxation room, aromatherapy room, crystal steam room, foot baths, sauna, ice room, plunge pool, and sanarium. You'll also enjoy a taster facial and mud chamber treatment as well as a light lunch.
Champneys Spa Day with Afternoon Tea for Two
Arguably one of the most famous names in spa days, this experieence is set at Champneys Springs in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. Take advantage of the spa facilities on offer including gym, sauna, steam room, heated swimming pool, and Jacuzzi. Enjoy a 25-minute facial or a back, neck, and shoulder massage. A traditional afternoon tea experience is also included.
(Photo credit to Gbeaty; Body-n-Care; andreas160578; Dkochli)
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