I often get invited on spa days that I literally never take up (unless they are incredibly local and convenient to access) because I can never bring myself to dedicate a whole day to hanging around in a spa. Then the guys at The Park Spa at Warbrook House got in touch to invite me along, and after having a look at the pictures online, I decided to give it a go. The Park Spa at Warbook House has recently opened and is located in a small village called Eversley in Hampshire, which is about an hour and a half drive outside of London, if you’re like me and you like to take it slow and mooch on down. The drive is nice and easy and actually very pleasant, so you can do what my best friend and I did and make the whole thing an experience, stopping for breakfast on the way.
Warbrook House is a Grade I listed building and the Park Spa is on the same grounds, but not actually attached to the house (from what I could tell) which is a huge plus for me as I like the intimacy and privacy of being away from the main areas as it allowed me to feel comfortable trotting around in the (provided) robes and slippers with no make-up on and wet hair. Parking is plentiful and right outside, and of course you can book a night’s stay if you’d prefer to extend your experience.
The spa itself is about as close to perfect as you can get: it’s quite small, which again I like as it means it’s never going to be unpleasantly overcrowded, but yet there are three levels that really do cover all elements that you’d expect to find at a top spa. On entry, there’s a small reception area, behind which is the product area. Directly in front of the entrance is the Gin and Bubbles bar, which is where you can stop for a drink (soft drinks, coffees, teas, as well as the expected gin and bubble offerings) and this is also where you would have any meals.
The level down is where the changing areas can be found, alongside the sauna and steam room. The changing area is very small – at one point there were three people in there and it felt cramped already, but it’s a small price to pay and that’s pretty much the only negative thing I have to say about the whole experience. On the main level you have a gym, a small studio for classes and a chillout room, then the top level is where the treatments happen. There are your standard single treatment rooms, or the double for couples which my friend and I were treated to – more on that in a bit. The pedicure stations look awesome, as you can see, and I will definitely be adding a pedicure to my treatment list on my next visit.
My friend and I were greeted warmly on arrival, before being given a quick tour of the whole vicinity. We were then given our towels, robes, slippers and locker keys and told we were free to do as we pleased until our allocated treatment slot. What’s great about this is that we were left to it, but there was also someone at reception which is centrally located, so you always felt safe and aware that you could request assistance at a moment’s notice without feeling harassed. We started our day with a visit to the sauna. I lasted about five minutes as I was too impatient to visit the hot tub, so that’s where we went to next.
The hot tubs are absolutely brilliant and what a fantastic selling point for visiting the Park Spa. There are two hot tubs and they are both positioned at the rear of the premises, so it’s secluded but not so much so that you feel cut off. The view is of the main grounds at the back, so lots of gorgeous greenery, beautiful trees and fantastic wildlife. We were extremely lucky as we had some lovely sunshine on the day, although it was still very cold. We plonked ourselves in to the incredibly inviting hot tub, sipped on our welcome glass of bubbles and this was really when the experience started, especially when we were looking up at the sky and watching Birds of Prey fly above – definitely worth leaving London for these elements alone!
It has been so long since I felt quite so relaxed and I could’ve stayed in that hot tub forever. The temperature and the gentle bubbles made it feel like a really cleansing experience for the soul – you know how when you go on holiday and after a few days you suddenly become aware of how relaxed you are? It was exactly like that with all the elements of the experience coming together to completely chill me out. We stayed in the hot tub for well over an hour (definitely pruned-by the time we left) before it was time to head in for our treatment.
We were each treated to an ESPA Back, Face and Scalp Treatment which is the perfect compliment to a visit to The Park Spa as it’s a relaxing, indulgent and luxurious treatment that lasts 85 minutes and pretty much does exactly as it sounds, starting with a back exfoliation and massage, then the face is taken care of with deep cleansing, massage and mask, before the treatment finishes with a rich and oily scalp massage – absolute bliss and I highly recommend! The treatment room is brilliant and I LOVE the fact that all the small details have been considered to ensure a close-to-perfect experience. Firstly, once you’re settled in, the lights go off and everything is done by candlelight, plus the therapists wear socks (or soft shoes) so you can’t hear them moving around, and I also love the fact that you’re given a choice of what oils to use on your face and body with a smelling test at the start of your treatment – all these little things come together to ensure you feel really taken care of.
After the treatment, we were taken to the relaxation room, which is a soft focus area designed for comfort, with blankets, cushions and soft furnishings. It’s a great place to wind down whilst you recover from your treatment, although by this point, my friend and I were eager to eat, so we didn’t hang around for long, instead heading back to the Gin & Bubbles room for our Afternoon Tea, which was pretty good, with a decent selection of sandwiches, lovely scones and various different cakes to finish off with. The Gin and Bubbles Room is well designed with various different types of seating depending on what you fancy – we tended to gravitate towards the sofas but there are more formal seats for eating lunch etc. Plus, you have another great view of the grounds to remind you that you’re definitely not in London.
After our food, we hit the hot tub again, because we couldn’t resist. It was dark by this point, but the tub area is well lit and I believe there’s a fire pit nearby too, although I didn’t visit it. We stayed in the tub for quite some time before we could no longer avoid the fact that we needed to get ready and head home, especially as I like to be home before Teddy goes to sleep. After each hot tub visit, we would head into the sauna to quickly warm up, which worked brilliantly, as whilst the hot tub itself is lovely and warm, stepping out of it into the bleak and chilly January air is a whole other story, but the sauna took care of that beautifully.
I could not have loved my visit to the Park Spa more; the staff were attentive and enthusiastic, the venue is lovely and inviting and the whole experience is just so relaxing and indulgent, I genuinely cannot stop thinking about it and my friend and I are meeting up tomorrow to plan our next visit. An experience like a spa day at Park Spa is so good for the soul, leaving you feeling relaxed, recharged and so much better in every way. The experience we had would be £150 per person, which includes the 85 minute ESPA treatment, afternoon tea, glass of bubbles on arrival and unlimited use of the spa for the day. Find out more here – link.
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