I’m from Cheshire but my life bears very resemblances to the Real Housewives’. Every so often though, I do get the chance to live my ladies who lunch dream and, blimey, Carden Park is a gorgeous treat.
Carden Park Spa
Location, location, location is what sets the relatively recently built spa aside from any other I’ve been to. It’s set in acres of lush, green, land with views out to the Welsh hills, and the spa has been built to take full advantage of the setting.
If the weather is nice enough, there’s a garden to enjoy complete with firepit to live your Love Island fantasy. There’s a Bollinger bar in the centre, adding to the boujie feel, three outdoor pools, pods you can sit in if you need to get away from the sun / chill, and a warm, herbal garden lounge, in which my sister felt so relaxed she had a little kip. Praise indeed. There’s a button to press for drinks if you don’t fancy a trip to the bar, which was a fun touch.
The treats continue inside in the thermal suite, which includes a hydrotherapy pool, three saunas of varying warmth – which I really appreciated as I’m not great with the very hot ones - and an ice experience if you want to go full Wim Hof. The saunas have floor to ceiling windows so you can gaze out at the incredible views while getting your sweat on.
I was also treated to the view during my manicure in the Bollinger beauty bar. The room is truly glorious, with art deco style flourishes, pink and gold accents, and I genuinely had one of the best gel manicures of my life at a surprisingly reasonable price for such an opulent spa (£35).
I also went for an ultimate relax and rebalance treatment and it was very relaxing, although I didn’t fall asleep, I’m pleased to report. Relaxing moments are few and far between in my life, so I want to be awake to appreciate them. I liked that you could choose the background music you fancied during your treatment and the twinkling, night star like ceiling was a delight.
Carden Park hotel
I first visited the hotel four years ago and thought it was dignified but tired. Not anymore. The hotel’s had a facelift and so while the bones of the 17th century hall remain, the features are bang up to date.
We stayed in room in the main building with views out across the estate, so we felt like ladies of the manor, let alone ladies who lunch, when we opened the curtains.
Carden Park restaurant
We ate lunch at Elements, the spa café, and chose an Asian salad with added salmon as my sister is a protein head. It was incredibly tasty.
We had dinner at the Vines, a very swish restaurant: think sweeping breadcrumbs off the table between courses and you’ve got the vibe. The staff made the experience fun rather than stuffy, they’re all smiley, chatty and not snooty at all. And I ate a dish I’ve genuinely never had in my life before: artichoke custard – it’s not very often you can say that.
Breakfast is a buffet at Redmond’s. It felt set up for golfers who were filling up on hearty plates of bacon and eggs. I loved that they had takeaway coffee cups by the coffee machines so you could one with you to go. We went to…
Experiences at Carden park
…the segway experience. I’ve never been on a segway before and thought that there was a strong chance I’d hate it. I loved it! Our instructor was a hoot and the whole experience was a real joy. I’m sure we looked like wallys but wallys having a really good time. Strong recommend, would segway again.
In fact, the whole of Carden Park is a strong recommend. Anyone fancy a trip?
Book at stay, spa or adventure experience.
Georgina Terry is group digital editor of heat and Closer online and has been working with Bauer across titles including Mother & Baby since 2015. She’s a busy mum of two and would like to spend a lot more time at spas, please.