A Spa day at Center parcs

This post was published in 2013. For a more up to date review, please read this post: Whinfell Forest Spa Review 


This year we are super pleased to be working with Center Parcs as part of their family blogger club. As part of this experience we were invited to enjoy some pampering at one of their aqua sana spa's. We were not obliged to blog about  it, however we had such a fabulous experience that I wanted to tell you all about it.

Arrival

We had never visited Center Parcs prior to this visit. The communication between the spa and ourselves before our visit was fantastic and when we arrived at Center Parc's Whinfell, the security team were expecting us and directed us where to park our car and handed over a map with directions of how to get to the spa.

We enjoyed a 15 minute stroll through the woods towards the spa. I think it would be impossible to get lost here, every 4th lamp post displays directions which is a fantastic touch (follow the squirrel for the spa).

Our check in at the spa was smooth. We were given a personal locker key which contained our own robe and towels. As part of our spa experience we enjoyed pastries and coffee in the vitality cafe-bar which was a lovely start to our day. The quality of the food and coffee was very good.

World of spa

World of spa is the best spa I have experienced in the UK. There are so many ways to relax. The whole spa area is huge with heated floor tiles and cosy corners throughout. There is a special designated quiet area as well which is a nice place for those who want total calm. Soothing music is piped around the spa and there are refreshment tables dotted around with water and juices that you can help yourself to. There are lots and lots of loungers, reclining chairs, tables and foot stools which was very refreshing to see. In all of my previous spa experiences there are never enough. That is certainly not the case here.

There were always attendants available to refresh your towels and replenish drinks.

There are two small pools for you to enjoy - the first one is indoors and is part pool/part jacuzzi. I think idea is to swim around the pool which has various jets/bubbles which focus on different areas.

The outdoor pool is heated but is just warm - not hot. It was strangely very pleasent floating around outdoors in the rain for a while.

Now for the main part of the spa, there are 15! yes 15 experiences to enjoy. Some are dry, some are steamy, some are hot some are freezing. They are all wonderful though and you definitely need to try them all if you are here. All of the experiences are in small rooms distributed around the spa and each has an 'experience' shower attached to it. You can choose different settings on the shower depending on your personal preference. The idea is to shower - enjoy experience - shower again. There are signs by every experience door detailing what to expect and a recommended time to spend in the room (most are 10-15 minutes)

One of my favourite experiences was the  Greek Herbal bath. Everybody has their own individual seat in a room that is strongly influenced by Greek design. The focal point of the room is a herb table featuring chamomile, sage and rosemary. Every 12 minutes steam released over the herbs which fills the room with a lovely relaxing scent.

Another favourite room of mine was the Japanese Salt Steam room. This room was very hot and steamy - so much so that it was hard to see in front of you when you first entered the room. This room is circular and the main feature is a rose quartz in the centre of the room which is said to relax. The chairs are designed to that you lie back and inhale the salt and steam. Very good for clearing the airways!

Other rooms to enjoy include a large traditional sauna, a Turkish hamman, Indian blossom steam room, Laconium and a Balinese steam room. 

These rooms were never crowded and you were free to come and go as many times as you pleased throughout the day.

Other parts of the spa to enjoy are the Japanese spa garden and Tyrolean garden. It was a bit too cold to brave the gardens in January but they were nice to admire from inside. 

There is also an overflowing ice fountain which you are encouraged to use straight after the sauna! Talk about a shock to your system! Invigorating though! We also enjoyed using the reflexology foot baths - there are 4 near the entrance. You pop your feet in, press the start button and wait whilst the bath fills with water, bubbles and then drains away. Lovely!

In the quiet zone there are 4 water beds which looked amazing! They are covered in luxurious bedding and surrounded with drapes and candles. They looked wonderful however we didn't get a chance to have a go as people did tend to stay on these for hours so we never got a chance. Never mind - there is always next time!

There are 3 group spa sessions in the sauna and 3 complimentary beauty classes throughout the day. I have heard hear are fun, however we didn't participate on this occasion.

Lunch

Lunch was included in our spa day and is a very chilled out affair. It is taken in the vitality cafe and you are encouraged to enjoy wearing your robe. My husband enjoyed a fresh salmon salad and I enjoyed a Spanish style panini with chorizo and roasted peppers. Both lunches were served with freshly squeezed orange juice and were of a very high standard. Service was also very good. There are a range of hot and cold drinks, champagne and even cocktails on offer so a great place to take a breather if relaxing is all getting too much.

Treatments

My husband was booked in for a men's stress reliever massage and facial. His treatment lasted for an hour and it was very relaxing.

I opted for an Indian head massage as I've never enjoyed one before. You are asked to wait in the treatment lounge before your treatment where you can help yourself to herbal teas and juices. You are also asked to complete a short health questionnaire.

My therapist called me through to her treatment room and the treatment was thoroughly explained. She left the room while I made myself comfortable. The treatment was lovely and relaxing and used the most gorgeous smelling oil on my hair. It ended with my therapist giving me personalised ideas for perfect products to buy for my skin/hair type (no pressure though). You are then taken through to the post treatment relaxation lounge where again you can help yourself to complimentary herbal teas whilst relaxing on the beds and sofas. My therapist brought me some hot water and lemon which was lovely.

As you can see, we had such a wonderful day at The Aqua Sana spa at Center parcs. I think because of it's size,I perhaps wouldn't recommend it to large groups (as you would probably never see each other as there's so much to do). It is absolutely perfect for mothers and daughters/sisters/couples/groups of 2 or 3 friends to enjoy. Next time a spa day is needed, I will not hesitate to re-book here.

Nb I have taken some photographs from the center parcs/aqua sana website as cameras/phones are not allowed in the spa area.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

People who know us will know how much we love our fine dining! When we are choosing where to go away for the weekend we usually base it on a restaurant we want to try! I turned 30 this weekend and I desperately wanted to enjoy the celebration at The Fat Duck in Bray-on-Thames. We even got as far as managing to secure a famously hard to get table. Unfortunately when it come down to it, the £260 per person price tag plus wine, accomodation and travel was just too much. So, after much deliberation, we decided to try the next best thing and visit Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Here is what we thought:-

Dinner by Heston is situated inside The Mandarin Oriental Hotel overlooking Hyde Park in the Knightsbridge area of London. This is one of the most beautiful hotel's I have ever seen. Upon entering you are greeted by three friendly doorman who are happy to direct you to the restaurant areas. The hotel reception area had been decorated for Christmas. The fireplace was picture perfect!

We arrived at Dinner's reception area and we were taken through the restaurant to our table. The restaurant can seat 140 diners so is a lot larger than what you may expect of somewhere with 2 michellin stars. It is interestingly decorated though and split into areas so it still has an intimate feel. We were seated by the window with wonderful views over Hyde Park. As we were walking to our table our host pointed out the kitchen area which is all open behind glass for diner's to watch and we passed a table which was in the middle of having ice-cream made for them using liquid nitrogen at their table. Very Heston and very exciting!

Open kitchen in the middle of he restaurant.

Ice cream prepared at your table using liquid nitrogen.

We were offered an aperitif and our menu straight away. When you visit somewhere like here it is very hard to decide what to order as you are only probably going to visit once in your life! We usually opt for the tasting menu so we can sample the best of what the chef has to offer but unusually there wasn't one on offer here and everything is a la carte. I already knew what Heston's signature dishes were and my husband was happy to order these. I really needed some guidance though and our waitress was happy to advise. 

Next the sommelier approached with the wine menu. It was huge! It's fair to say most were out if our price range so we opted for a bottle of house red which was £35. We weren't frowned upon for doing this and still received personal service from the wine team throughout the evening. I found it interesting that your wine wasn't kept at your table but instead at a wine station where the Sommelier was based. The service was very attentive though and our glasses were topped up throughout the evening.

We were brought some white and brown soda bread to start which was pretty boring to be honest.

Our starter's arrived soon after. My hubby ordered Meat Fruit (c.1500)

Meat fruit, Mandarin, chicken liver & foie gras parfait, grilled bread

Designed to look like a mandarin the whole dish is edible. When you cut the fruit open it is filled with the most gorgeously smooth fois grad parfait. I was pleased we still had some bread on our table as it allowed me to dig in too. 

I opted for the Roast Scallops (c.1820) to start.

Roast Scallops, Cucumber ketchup, roasted cucumber, bergamot & borage

I ordered this dish as I love scallops but they always seem to be served the same way - with pea purée, bacon and black pudding. I was very interested to see how scallops worked with cucumber and I'm pleased to say it worked very well. I've asked hubby to try and recreate cucumber ketchup next time he cooks us a special meal. Let's see how he gets on!

For main, hubby ordered Fillet of Aberdeen Angus (c.1830)

Fillet of Aberdeen Angus, Mushroom ketchup & triple cooked chips

We were asked how we would like the steak cooked (medium-rare) and it was absolutely perfect. In fact it was the star dish of the whole evening. There was lots of it so again I was able to steal a few bites. I'm usually not keen on mushrooms but the mushroom ketchup was AMAZING. It had the same sweetness of regular ketchup but a completely different flavour. It complimented the steak perfectly though. Heston's famous thrice cooked chips also lived up to their reputation and the whole dish was brought together with a fabulous beefy sauce.

I could not decide what to order as a main course. The waitress suggested 18 hour slow cooked pork collar with dehydrated crispy pork skin and white truffle. I would not normally order this dish as it was served with spelt, onions and turnip which are not usually my preferred ingredients. I loved it though! I honestly think Heston can make anything taste great.

For dessert, hubby ordered tipsy cake. This needed to be pre-ordered at the beginning of your meal as the brioche that is used in the dish is freshly made to order. 

Tipsy cake with Spit roast pineapple

This dish was my husband's favourite part of the meal. Again, it isn't something he would normally order. 

I decided to choose the chocolate bar.

Chocolate bar with Passionfruit jam & ginger ice cream

This dessert is the richest dessert I have ever eaten. The chocolate bar was like a truffle inside all unctuous and smooth. Absolutely amazing!

We were then offered a post-dessert shot of earl grey infused chocolate ganache with carroway seed biscuit. This was lovely but after my very chocolately dessert didn't really add anything to my meal. Hubby however loved his.

We were asked if we'd like to try one of the ice creams that we had witnessed being made around the room. It would have been a lovely piece of theatre to end the evening however neither of us love ice-cream so it felt like we would have just been having it for the sake of it therefore we declined. It was rather amusing looking around and watching people eating ice cream cornets at the end of their meal in a michellin starred restaurant.

We had a little glimpse into how the other half live when the table next to us decided to take a look at the whiskey trolley! I have never seen such a thing and god knows how much a measure would cost. It was fun to watch the expert talk the table through them all.

So, our final bill was £210 for two including wine and service charge. This might seem expensive but for a 2 star Michellin restaurant it's really not. It worked out about 1/5 of the cost it would have if we'd dined at The Fat Duck and we would have spent at least £100 if we'd enjoyed a 3 course meal plus wine in a regular London restaurant anyway. We thought it was fantastic value. 

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal also offers a fantastic value lunch menu which is only £38 for 3 courses!

Set Lunch

Sample Menu. £38 for three courses. Available Monday to Friday between 12:00pm-2:30pm.

STARTERS

Lemon salad (c.1730)

Smoked artichoke, goats curd and candy beetroot

Ragoo of Pigs Ear Chewitt (c.1750)

Slow cooked egg, anchovy, onions & parsley

MAIN COURSES

Cured Salmon (c.1660)

Samphire, Peas, Capers & Cockles

Slow Cooked Pork Collar (c.1820)

Savoy cabbage, lardo, ham hock & Robert broth

DESSERTS

Steeple cream (c.1774)

Poached plums, vanilla & lemon Verbena

Prune & Tamarind Tart (c.1720)

As huge fan's we are so pleased we have now tried some of Heston's food. Dinner was very friendly, modern and not stuffy at all. The perfect place for a London treat.

London:- Afternoon tea and The Southbank Wnter Festival

We are spending the weekend in London this weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday. Birthdays in our house are always a time to tick something off from our bucket list. We have already enjoyed Afternoon tea at the Ritz (which still remains my number one choice!) but ever   since I stumbled across a picture of the Winter Garden's at The Landmark Hotel I knew that this place was on my list and somewhere I must visit!

Our first impressions of this hotel were that it did not seem as 'five star' as other five star hotels in London - no doorman to greet you, no dress code (people walking around in jogging suits) and no offer to take your coat. Ignoring all of these minor details though, the setting was stunning. 

The ambience was perfect with somebody playing Christmas songs on the piano and the staff were friendly and attentive. In December you can opt for the Chololate Afternoon tea or the Festive  Afternoon tea (both £50 inc champagne). We opted for the Festive. 

We were offered a selection of delicious sandwiches (chicken and thyme was my favourite) and once our plates had been cleared somebody was soon over to offer us replenishments.

When we'd had our fill, our sandwiches were replaced with lovely warmed scones which were served with lovely pots of clotted cream, homemade lemon curd and strawberry jam. They were lovely! We were asked if we would like some more when we'd finished but declined as we wanted to ensure we had room for the gorgeous festive pastries.

The festive pastries arrived and were simply stunning. My husband loved the pecan pie and homemade truffle while I preferred the apple and cider jelly.

Afternoon tea at The landmark was lovely and we had a great time. I am pleased I have been, however if I was going to spend £50 on afternoon tea again I would probably return to The Ritz as the whole experience just feels a lot more special there.

After our Afternoon tea, we caught the tube to Waterloo station to sample the Winter Festival at The Southbank. I paid the markets a visit last year when on a midweek break and I have to say it is much less crowded midweek than at a weekend.

London by night is absolutely stunning and there were plenty of wonderful photo opportunities as we strolled the banks of the Thames.

As mentioned, it was very crowded and I would not recommend visiting at a weekend with little children. I thoroughly enjoyed walking along admiring the various wooden huts and listening to the Christmas music. I find these days that all Christmas markets tend to sell the same sort of thing - wreaths, gingerbread houses and wooden decorations were a common theme. If we hadn't have eaten there were lots of lovely street food stalls to sample. The smell from the ostrich burger hut and the Wahaca Mexican Street food van were particularly tempting!

We bought some mulled wine (£4.50 per cup) and took refuge upstairs just outside the southbank centre. There are lots of tables and chairs here so an ideal place to take in the ambience and view whilst avoiding the crowds.

There were lots of pockets of entertainment around this area - we loved the Christmas trees with push bikes around them and when you peddled the tree's lights illuminated. There is also a skate park, ice rink, carousel ride, numerous boat trips and of course the London eye. You are spoilt for choice for bars and restaurants in this area so it is a lovely part of London to visit at night. Really pleased we did!

Date night - Valley Junction and As U Like It

Last week we celebrated 7 years of marriage! This sort of accomplishment definitely deserves a nice meal out and a few drinks. We really fancied something spicy and somewhere that was easy to get to so decided on the Valley Junction restaurant in Jesmond.

The Valley Junction is owned by the same people who run the infamous Newcastle-Corbridge curry train. The restaurant in Jesmond is stationery but the train theme is still there - in fact half of the restaurant is a converted train carriage!

There is plentiful free parking outside. Valley Junction has an upmarket feel and it is the sort of place you would go for a special treat - it was mostly couples and a few large groups. 

The service throughout was just fantastic.   From the waiter promptly taking our orders, to the manager circulating and checking all of his guests were happy to the way all of our food was brought out at the same time so there was none of that awkward waiting around. We really were made to feel like a guest and not an inconvenience.

The food was also delicious, we ordered popadoms and dips to start - lovely to see the dips were in plentiful supply and then I ordered chicken madras, pilau rice a garlic naan. Everything was perfectly cooked - the naans were nice and fresh, chicken very tender and the sauce was hot and full of warmth but not so hot that it makes your eyes water! 

Hubby ordered his new favourite dish - chicken dupiaza with mushroom pilau and garlic naan. He describes the dish as being full if flavour with a spicy kick (but not overpowering).

We also enjoyed a couple of large cobra's each to wash our meal down with. The bill was just short of £50 which is on the expensive side for what we had, however as it was a special occasion and the ambience, food and service were all faultless I think this price is absolutely worth it. There were lots of little touches at the end such as chocolate business cards, hot towels and free coffee refills at the end of the evening which are all lovely touches to end a special treat.

You just need to cross the carpark to find yourself at 'as u like it' which is a bar, restaurant, function room and terrace. We have been a few times and really like it here. There is a good mix of people and you don't feel out of place when you're nearly approaching the grand age of 30 like you might feel in some of the bars in town. On the night of our visit there was a live band playing a selection of soul and groove music mixed with a DJ playing disco hits from the 70s through to present day. The bar was busy, but we still managed to get a table and enjoy our night.

When I visit a cocktail bar, I have to order a cocktail! I think the menu could have a little more variation and I was disappointed to hear that the frozen cocktails were not being served that evening due to a problem with ice. There went my raspberry daiquiri! Instead I ordered a toblerone cocktail which was enjoyable, however there was no sign of a honey float and our waitress obviously did not attend charm school! We seemed to be greatly inconveniencing her by asking her to make us a cocktail!. 

Next, I decided to try a piña colada, which I was expecting to arrive in a pineapple as described on the menu! It appears I was short changed though as there was no pineapple in sight (well apart from a token pineapple leaf used to decorate my glass) This cocktail was delicious though and it is nice that it was freshly made rather than pre-made like many piña coladas are these days!

We only managed 2 drinks before it was time for our taxi to take us home. Overall we had a lovely night and will definitely be visiting this area of Jesmond again soon - think we'll stay away from the cocktails though and maybe opt for a bottle of wine at as u like it instead.

Some much needed me time

I am the first to admit that sometimes life just gets too much. Last night is a prime example of this. 7 year old had 2 lots of homework to do (as he didn't want to do it on Monday) plus reading. Then he had footy training at 6pm to get ready for (and we couldn't find his kit) 2 year old was getting to grips with potty training, 4 year old was dancing around and singing like a fairy. Tea needed to be made, packed lunches prepared and uniforms ironed. I was due to meet the girls at the pub later so needed a shower as I realised I hadn't washed my hair in a week. I had emails that needed to be sent that night and needed to scan a document only to find I couldn't work our new scanner. To top it off I had to read through our headteacher's report and school improvement plan in preparation for our Governor's meeting tonight. Ahhhh! Safe to say I was a little bit stressed! I ended up still sending emails from bed at midnight. That's not the work-life balance I'd hoped for!

So today, I decided to just have a few hours dedicated to just me! No emailing, no working and no running around after my children. My me-time started with a winter warmer spa special at our local beauty salon. It was so nice having a reason to put my phone away. My treatment was just amazing and the best value £18.50 I have spent in a while!

I enjoyed a hot stone massage and Thai dumpling facial which were both simply divine and left me feeling so relaxed.

My me- time didn't end there though! The only time I get to read a trashy magazine is when I'm on the train by myself so I bought one today and indulged myself! I now feel a lot better with the knowledge that Vicky from Geordie shore is now a size 6 and that David Beckham is feeling intimidated by his wife's success! All important stuff! 

So, those 2 hours in my busy little life that have been just for me have really made a difference. I feel a lot calmer and more able to cope with life now. I'm really interested to hear what you do when you need some me-time?

There's never anytime to straighten my hair

We have decided to return to some of the best holidays we've had and start camping again next year! I first posted this blog in 2009 - it' a good reminder of what to expect.......

Whilst camping last week, I was reminded on my pre-baby self. Every morning there would be a queue of girls in their teens and early twenties waiting to use the one available plug socket in the shower block to blowdry and straighten their hair and to fight over the mirrors to apply their make-up. Rewind 3 years, and I probably would have been standing in that queue but unfortunately now I don't have the luxury of having a spare hour to be able to do this and even if I did have the time there was absolutely no way I could squeeze a hairdryer or pair of straighteners in my car, what with the moses basket, steriliser, airbeds, mini fridge etcetc already threatening to burst the boot open. This left me with mixed feelings.

On one hand, I felt completely un-glamorous in my 4 year old reebok classic trainers, jeans rolled up to my knees (to stop the bottoms getting wet!), my hair scrapped back and no make-up to be seen. I would look at the child-less girls with envy as they looked fab with their made up faces and perfect hair and a new perfectly accessorised outfit every day. (Although some girls did go too far and made me laugh.......white jeans and high heels on a campsite anyone!)

On the other hand, it reminded me of how I dont have to get made up all of the time as my family love me the way I am anyway and it is much more important to me to spend an hour having fun with the family than an hour in front of the mirror now.

Also, I was quite smug as while all these girls girls were fighting over the one socket in the shower block, I knew that I had 3 spare plug sockets in my tent. It's just a shame I needed them to plug kettles (to heat Heidi's bottles), fridges (to store Harry and Heidi's milk) and toasters (for Harry's breakfast) in! Otherwise I'm sure I would've plugged my straighteners in and looked as glamorous as these girls ;-)

Saying goodbye to the toddler years

My middle child Heidi started full-time school today (September 2013). She is happy, confident and ready for it. I had no sad feelings about this transition at all (other than the fact that summer was over!)

Fast forward to September 2015 however and the mood in the Rickelton house will be completely different. My last baby will be off to school!

In the 10 years before this moment, all I will have known is being pregnant or having a toddler by my side! I worry how I will cope when this is no longer the case and it's just me......

I am the person that organises toddler get-togethers, I am the person who meets up with other mums in the park and I am the person my friends ask for advice as usually I have been there and done that. I have made some lovely new friends through my children. I worry that once I no longer have a toddler by my side this will all change and I will have some sort of identity crisis!

I will miss how much a toddler makes you laugh and how much fun they are to be around. Jack doesn't just make me laugh every day, he makes me laugh every hour! 

These feelings have really made me want to make the most of these precious 4 months I have just me and Jacky-boy before he starts nursery in January. Time to start planning some fun!