I recently spent my first weekend at a spa, in fact it was my first time ever at a spa, and it was absolutely amazing.
The trip was my 21st birthday present that my mum and I had planned together. It was originally booked for April 2020, but due to our good friend covid, we’ve had to rebook twice and settled on July 2021.
We spent two nights at Ragdale Hall on their Two Night Weekend Escape and it was the best thing ever, so I thought I’d share it with you on my blog.
About Ragdale Hall
Ragdale Hall opened as a spa in 1973 and has since won numerous awards for its amazing facilities, customer care and all-round fantastic experience.
At Ragdale, you can enjoy a range of activities including making the most of six pools, a gym, exercise classes, a treatment centre, three shops, a cocktail bar, verandah bar and terrace, and a restaurant. So there’s a lot to make the most of, but it’s all so laid back that you could do just one thing all weekend and feel refreshed.
All of the staff were so lovely and welcoming too, so this – paired with the beautiful location and interior – built a really strong foundation for an amazing weekend.
The Treatments
We booked onto the Two Night Weekend Escape which included either a 50 minute treatment or two 25 minute treatments. Mum and I both went for the 50 minute massage and facial which was absolutely amazing.
I’ve never had a facial before but now I am sold on them and my bank account will not be happy.
We also decided to have an extra treatment – the Elemis Full Body Salt Scrub – which was so relaxing. It used a really lovely scrub to get rid of any dead skin (I assume – I am no expert) and then used such a nice moisturiser and oil to really soak it into my skin.
All of the treatments used Elemis products so I was trying my best to not wash them straight off in the pools and enjoy the oils and moisturisers for as long as I could.
The treatment rooms were really soothing too which made the whole experience incredibly lovely. I’d definitely recommend getting an extra treatment on top of the one included in the stay but I was so impressed with just the 50 minute massage and facial anyway.
The Food and Drink
When we arrived on the Friday at 3pm, we were able to enjoy a ‘welcome hot drink’ in the garden terrace or verandah. We treated ourselves to a slice of cake too – and we were doing all of this in our towel robes and flip flops. I could definitely get used to that lifestyle!
Our dinner was scheduled at 7:40pm on the Friday, and we enjoyed bread and dip followed by three courses. Alcohol wasn’t included in the cost but we treated ourselves to a glass of Prosecco (for me) and wine (for mum) to celebrate finally being able to get away for our spa trip. After dinner, we headed to Twilight – their recently opened cocktail bar – for another drink.
The following day we had breakfast in our rooms, choosing from either 7:30am to 8am, or 8am to 8:30am which was a bit early for a weekend away but the food was delicious so it didn’t matter too much.
We had lunch at 1:10pm, which was a menu of bread, starter, whatever we wanted from the buffet and a dessert. It’s fair to say that we were not short of food here!
Our dinner was at 7:40pm again on the Saturday and as it was mum’s birthday, we enjoyed a glass of Prosecco in Twilight again before our meal.
On the Sunday we had our breakfast in the verandah bar at a later time than the Saturday breakfast in bed, and another amazing lunch at 1:10pm before we had to leave (I’m still sad that we had to leave).
Overall, I thought the food was incredible and it was quite nice to have those set times so you didn’t have to even think about when to eat.
The Pools and Spa
It was amazing to have six pools to make the most of while we were there. We went in five of six pools, avoiding the cold outdoor one, of course. The pools available to us were: an infinity pool looking out over the Leicestershire countryside, an indoor pool with lanes for swimming and a fountain feature, an outdoor thermal pool, a candle lit pool with classical music playing, an exercise pool and the outdoor one too.
In the thermal spa, the area was decorated with warming orange tiles and plants everywhere. There were seven different rooms to experience with various benefits such as muscle relaxation, calming your thoughts and inspiring creativity. The rooms in the spa range from a typical sauna to a volcanic salt bath to a lavender scent room. My favourite of these thermal spa rooms was the candle pool, combining being in warm water in a cave filled with candles, dancing lights on the ceiling and classical music, it was where I wanted to spend my whole weekend.
I was so impressed by the thermal spa and pools overall, and wish I had constant access to such amazing facilities.
Overall Thoughts
If you couldn’t tell throughout this blog, I was definitely blown away by Ragdale Hall and how fantastic their Two Night Weekend Escape was. Having never been to a spa before, I had no idea what to expect but I was very pleasantly surprised by how perfect the whole thing was.
Every day since being there, I’ve been sad to not be enjoying my time in a candlelit pool or wandering around in a robe all day. I’ve also been recommending it to every person I’ve spoken to so – yes – I really would recommend Ragdale Hall!
Have you ever been to a spa?
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What do you think?