Formby Hall Spa & Hotel // review

If there's one thing I probably need to do more of, it's relaxing - between both of my jobs, trying to run a somewhat decent blog, socialising and doing all the boring life stuff you have to do, I don't end up with a lot of time where I'm not doing anything. So when my mum suggested we go for a little spa day at Formby Hall during my birthday month, it sounded perfect. We found a deal on Buyagift and got a 25% off code, so it came to £150 for a hotel stay with unlimited spa use, a 25-minute treatment each, dinner and breakfast and a glass of wine each.

I'd never been to Formby Hall before and really, you wouldn't guess it's just outside of Liverpool. The surroundings are idyllic and it looks so grand - while we were checking in we were surrounded by posh middle-aged men wearing moccasins and tight shorts carrying golf clubs and spare polo shirts, who all had those posh people laughs. We found our room, which was absolutely beautiful - all grey velvet and copper accents and marble in the bathroom, with a view over the golf course which was complete with ducks and a blue sky.

After chucking our stuff down, Mum and I made our way across the car park to the spa where we were greeted with smiles and cold glasses of juice, as well as fluffy robes and those slippers that are too thin to wear on any normal occasion but at a spa are completely fine. We were given a little tour and then we got whisked off for our treatments. Mum had opted for a facial/eye lift, which she loved, and I had a head, neck & shoulder massage which was absolutely amazing. It was done by a girl with the longest braids ever called Lydia who was lovely and made me feel completely at ease; the treatment room was small but perfectly formed, and not too hot which was a blessing. The ESPA products smelt and felt amazing, and I genuinely felt so chilled after and my neck/shoulder muscles were all relaxed.

We spent a couple of hours in the spa, using the laconium (a sauna but not as hot? a dry sweating room? I'm not too sure) and the jacuzzi, as well as the thermal suite where we just lay and read our books and felt completely and utterly chilled out. The spa is beautiful and well equipped, and the staff are lovely - so it was a winner for me!

After getting ready (the showers in the rooms are incredible by the way) we went down to the Fairway Grill for dinner; tragically we were sat mere feet away from the most brash group of women I've ever come across, shouting and swearing and shrieking the whole time, but that's not the fault of the hotel - it was just so annoying and they were so rude to the staff, who were all absolutely lovely and so polite. I had leek and potato soup, a burger and chips, and a woo woo cocktail; the soup was lush, the burger was massive but really nicely cooked, and the woo woo was spot on. The service wasn't the fastest, but it didn't really matter to us and it was genuinely really busy - and like I say, the staff were lovely.

I slept well and woke up early feeling good; the room was such a nice temperature, considering the heatwave we're having, and we headed down for breakfast at around 9.30ish. It was jam packed, but hotel breakfasts are probably in my top 15 favourite things and I was queuing for hash browns about 7 seconds after we picked a table. The coffee machines were both out of order, which didn't matter to me but did bother my mum, but other than that the breakfast was amazing. The hot food tasted gorgeous and there was plenty of it, and the cold selection was really varied too.

All in all, I absolutely loved Formby Hall and came away feeling like I'd had the most blissful time - I must have looked like I had, too, because I went into work the following night with no make up on and was told I was GLOWING. What a dream.