Relaxing at Henlow Grange (Champneys)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Champneys
Date:	18/05/08 (287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very helpful and flexible staff, experiencing something different, the pool area is lovely

Disadvantages: Not very good disabled access, looks a little dated inside

When my daughter had her third baby last summer I decided to treat us to a day experience at Champneys Henlow resort in Bedfordshire because I thought she needed a break and her husband could get to know their new daughter with a day alone with her. I am not really a woman who enjoys being pampered and I even get bored in the hairdressers so this was more a treat for her than me, or so I thought.

In reality I loved every minute of my day. I had booked us in for a Top to Toe day which cost £280 for both of us, I chose this package because I knew my daughter would enjoy the manicure and pedicure. The day also included a body massage, facial and use of all the facilities plus we could book any other treatments which took our fancy so it seemed like the most flexible option.

The building itself is stunning. It is a beautiful Georgian Mansion surrounded by countryside. My daughter was very taken with the small fountain at the entrance of the building although I was so puffed out from the fairly lengthy walk from the visitors car park that I could not really concentrate on it. The lady at the reception told me there were limited disabled parking spaces available closer to the entrance but I thought it was a little late to tell me that as I was already looking for the nearest plug socket to have a puff of my nebuliser!

Booking in at reception was very straightforward. I had booked in advance and Champneys sent me and my daughter a voucher each which I gave in at reception, then it was simply a case of leaving my credit card details and signing in. We were taken down a flight of stairs to collect a robe and then shown to the Treatment Centre where we sat down and discussed our treatments with a very knowledgeable lady who talked us through the various aspects of our day and gave us a timetable of when we were booked in for our treatments. We were also given a small information pack which contained information about Champneys as a whole and a full list of additional treatments available, and a free pen with the Champneys logo which I have kept as a souvenir.

In the excitement of booking our trip I had completely forgotten that because of my diabetes I have to have my toe nails clipped by a chiropodist, when I realised this the lady was very sympathetic and went to see her superior to find out if there was anything they could do as obviously my pedicure was out. By rights Champneys did not have to do anything as I should have notified them of my condition at the time of booking but a few minutes later the lady returned and offered me an alternative treatment as they had had a last minute cancellation. The treatment I was offered was a Reviving Dry Flotation and I had never heard of it but it was better than nothing considering Champneys could have easily given me no alternative to my pedicure, which is what I had been expecting! The excellent customer services didn't end there either, because the pedicures were booked in for the morning and my flotation was not until late afternoon the lady said my daughter could swap her pedicure too so that we could spend our whole day together.

We went to the locker room and changed into our complimentary robes which were nice and fluffy with the Champneys logo on the breast, they were spotlessly clean and obviously had not been worn very often. The lockers are secure, so secure in fact that my daughter had to get a member of staff to open her locker for her because the key was so hard to turn! Our first treatment was a little over an hour away so we decided to get into our swimming costumes and go to the pool for a quick dip. It is a lovely pool, one of them where the water is so high that it laps on the floor at the top of the pool. The water is a lovely blue colour and is nice and warm, I think it is a lovely pool to swim in and I managed a couple of lengths even though I am not a strong swimmer. The whole pool area is lovely actually with beautiful palm trees and foliage dotted around, there are also massive windows overlooking the gorgeous countryside and I thought it was the most relaxing area in the spa.

Our first treatment was the manicure and it was nicer than expected. The lovely girl who did my treatment was chatty but not over friendly which I find annoying when I am having my hair or nails done in a salon. She was very professional and explained each part of my treatment as she did it. She gave my hands a short massage with an oil that had a beautiful orange scent, then filed my nails and trimmed away any small pieces of nail that was not cut to her very high standards. I then chose from a selection of nail polishes which included something for all tastes from a pearl colour to a rich dark brown. I picked a sparkly deep purple colour and I am sure I saw her raise her eye brows slightly as if to say at my age she thought I would have picked a rose or pale pink shade! She expertly painted my nails using no less than three coats and I was extremely happy with the results. My daughter was just as impressed as I was with her manicure and she emerged wearing a shocking orange polish which should have looked awful but was actually gorgeous and shone gold when the light hit it.

Our facial was only 25 minutes away so we decided to wait in the Treatment Centre, which is where you have to attend to be collected by the beauty therapists at the time of your treatment. There is an Elemis shop inside the Treatment Centre and the products available are the height of luxury with a price tag to match. I have never before held a face cream costing £80! The thing that made me laugh is that people were actually buying it, I overheard a lady paying for her purchases and she spent over £300 on Elemis products - I do not have an unending supply of money so I simply had a go of a couple of the tester products and made do with that. There's a Champneys shop elsewhere in the spa and this one was priced much more reasonably so I bought myself a few bits and pieces from there.

My facial was very relaxing. I had to lie on a couch while the lady doing the treatment stroked and kneaded my face using a range of oils and creams, she used a beautiful smelling mild exfoliator which I could feel opening my pores and cleaning every trace of grime from my skin. I had already informed her about my excema and she checked each product before using it that it was not likely to irritate my skin, she was careful to use only the gentlest products and my facial skin has never felt so soft and well maintained. She wrote me a prescription at the end of my session which detailed the products she had used and personal advice about how to improve my skin care routine, I was so impressed with the results that I bought the items she suggested from the Champneys shop and have continued her good work.

I didn't want my body massage and my daughter was very cheeky and went back to the lady who had changed my pedicure and cited my ill health as a reason I could not have the massage. I don't know what she said but she came back grinning like a Cheshire cat and said she had arranged for me to have a half session fragrance consultation while she went for her massage. The full length consultation is about an hour so I was happy enough with half an hour designing my perfect perfume. I had fun and because there were no appointments booked in I had almost the full hour anyway and came away with a small bottle of perfume where I myself had chosen all the fragrance combinations. My daughter enjoyed her massage too and said she felt very relaxed afterwards, she looked more relaxed than she had in the six months since my grandaughter was born too!

The lunch at Champneys is lovely. It is in the form of a hot and cold buffet and the restaurant looks very posh with blue bottles of water on the tables and portion control plates showing how much of your meal should be carbs, fat, sugar and protein. Of course I took no notice at all of this and ate whatever I liked. I can recommend the jacket potatoes and a tasty vegetable curry that was as good as any I've eaten from an Indian take-away and contained much less fat. Everything I tried was lovely and the best thing was it was all cooked fresh by a proper chef and was of the highest quality. There was salad, of course, and a selection of salmon squares, fresh crusty bread, cheeses, pickles, olives and all sorts of interesting foods.

Next stop was the dry floatation and I was not at all sure what to expect but it was out of this world. I was taken into a small room where I stripped to my underwear and climbed onto a couch which was draped with what looked like a rubber dinghy with all the air taken out. The lady then came in and covered my body with the rubber which filled with water, raising me slightly off the bed and cocooning me. It got warm quickly and I relaxed in the dimly lit room while listening to new age music and sounds of nature. To be completely honest with you I got bored quite quickly and couldn't wait to get up and start doing something else! My daughter really enjoyed her treatment and said she felt "chilled out" and I must admit it did start to relax me a little bit before the frustration of boredom took all the relaxation away.

We didn't have to leave until 6pm so we decided to make full use of our day and have another dip in the pool before we departed. On the way down I found a little store tucked away in the corner which sold a range of Champneys branded souvenirs and clothing. If you visit do be sure to look in this shop as I found some surprising bargains, although the clothing is overpriced and not particularly nice with even sale items costing upwards of £40. I bought us both a keyring featuring a teddy bear wearing a Champneys robe, the bear is too big for it to be used as a keyring but it only cost £2 so I have hung him up in my kitchen.

I had a lovely day as I think you can probably tell if you have read this far. I was a little bit surprised at the decoration inside Champneys as I thought it was a little bit shabby compared to the gorgeous outside of the mansion. It was the little things I noticed like paint peeling in the corner of the corridor and stains on some of the chairs. Don't get me wrong, the spa was spotlessly clean but I felt some of the charm of the building was lost when I saw the lack of attention to detail. Still, it had a nice homely feel and when I poked my head into one of the bedrooms it looked spacious and very comfortable. All of the staff were great and they were all extremely knowledgeable about their surroundings and treatments, they were all beautifully groomed and not overly made up like some beauty therapists I have seen.

I do have a complaint about Henlow Grange and that is it is not the most accessible places for disabled people. I was lucky in that I was feeling well at the time of my visit because if my asthma had been bad I think I would have struggled with the stairs inside the spa and also the fact that the floors along the corridors tend to slope in one direction or another as if you are walking up little hills. It is such a sprawling building too that there is an awful lot of walking involved in a day at Champneys, especially as they have situated the locker room as far away from the Treatment Centre as possible which meant a lot of walking backwards and forwards for my inhaler and medication.

I would love to go to Champneys again, me and both of my daughters are hoping to stay for at least one night before Christmas so that will be fun. I had a fantastic time at Henlow Grange but would like to stay at one of the other resorts and I particularly like the look of their Forest Mere spa in Hampshire.

Summary: A lovely day out and a chance to spend time with my daughter,