Beating the January blues!

Instead of Christmas prezzies to each other, two of my besties and I decided to book ourselves a girlie spa break as our presents to each other. It couldn’t have come at a better time - last wet, cold and stormy Friday lunchtime at the end of a stressful week – it was exactly what I needed.

We opted for a ‘Winter Warmer’ package at the Berystede in Ascot, Surrey. Pulling up it’s a charming looking old building, complete with ‘tower’.

Walking in you’re greeted by a lovely large open space, all decorated very in-keeping with the old building – even featuring an impressive chandelier.

We settled in with a bottle of wine in the bar to begin our relaxation before checking-in and heading into the spa for some serious downtime...

We started in a steam room, passing through the ‘waterfall’ shower on the way. Then into a room that sprayed salt water mist at you! Then we headed into the swimming pool area to soak in the Jacuzzi. This was outdoors, which was fab in the stormy rain and the overhead jets massaged my aching back and neck perfectly (pic acquired from traveladvisor).

Next up was our treatments...I’d opted for a ‘Decleor Aroma Body Silk Glistener’ which they describe as “radiant, bright and petal soft – your skin will glisten with health and vitality after this natural exfoliation treatment. This is the ultimate skin enhancer.” And it lived up to the description! It started with my therapist rubbing exfoliant into all of my body, felt very rough and sand-like, then I rinsed off in the shower before she rubbed and massaged warm oil into my skin...pure heaven! I practically floated out the room.

To let the oil soak in to do its magic we drank bubbles in our room whilst wrapped in towels. Next we showered, which is tricky when your oily skin forms a water-repelling barrier(!) and got dressed up to enjoy our evening.

We started with a different champagne cocktail each to continue our bubbles theme.

Next we headed into the Hyperion Resturant, where we salivated over the menu and quality ingredients. Unfortunately the menu isn’t online so I can’t recall exactly what I ate but was delicious and beautifully presented! Starter was a poached egg and crispy bacon piece on mashed potato.

Followed by 12-hour stewed beef with carrots, pea puree and red wine jus.

Finishing with an amazing dessert of warm chocolate cake with an melting inside, accompanied by pistachio ice-cream and some strange foam and popping candy style ‘crumbs’.