Mud Wrestling At The Lowry (Other Spas)

Member Name: jo1l

Product:	Other Spas
Date:	29/10/05 (1289 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wonderful feeling of well being

Disadvantages: The day Went So Fast

Nothing beat’s a bit of pampering does it? I’d always wanted to try out one of those health Spa’s set in old country houses where all I’d have to do is don a fluffy white dressing gown and slippers whilst others pampered me. Yes I wanted to be smeared in mud and salty stuff, have my aches and pains pummelled away whist smelling relaxing fragrances. I wanted to be scrubbed and smeared in oils and find out what this dry brushing was all about. The perfect excuse came along to blow some hard earn’t cash with my birthday last January. I decided that I’d have the ultimate pampering day. Being the (dis) organised person I am my quest for the ultimate day started about a week before I wanted to go. Being under the impression that these places would be half empty in January I thought I’d be in luck! After several fruitless phone calls and being told that I’d need to book at least a fortnight if not four weeks in advance for some places I gave up hope of ever being able to spend my birthday being smeared in rejuvenating mud. It was at this point I remember from a previous visit to the 5 star Lowry Hotel that they had a spa .


Location:

The Lowry Hotel Spa is within the 5 Star Rocco Forte Hotel on the boarders of Manchester and Salford. The Lowry opened in 2001 and was Manchester’s first 5 Star hotel. Having spent the day ( unfortunately not the night) I was very impressed by the place, with it’s modern fittings, spacious feel to it and rather nice food! Think upmarket Habitat with Jasper Conran thrown in for good measure, restaurant with a wine list to die for and food that really does deserve it’s Michelin starred status. And you’ve got the correct impression of the Lowry. It’s posh but not in a brocade curtain type of way!

The Hotel it’s self is fairly easy to find, it’s about 3 miles from the M602, unless you get lost like I did, a mile from Manchester Victoria Railway Station and about a 25 minute hike from Manchester Piccadilly. Directions via road can be found on the hotels website. Outside the hotel is a car park, which for patrons of the hotel was £7 per day or £10 per 24 hours. I was under the impression that I’d have to pay to use the car park but when asked if I’d been to the Spa was just given a token to enable me to exit the car park.


Facilities:

The Spa currently has a gym, 6 treatment rooms, sauna’s, single sex relaxation rooms and a health suite. Anyone staying at the Lowry is able to use the gym, relaxation rooms and sauna’s without any further payment. The gym is also open for members. Membership is currently £59 a month or £99 a month for couples, membership does have it’s bonuses such as a one night stay for free at the Lowry, a complementary spa treatment and discounts for further spa treatments as well as reduced prices in the hotels restaurant and bar. Given that I didn’t use the facilities offered in the gym I can’t comment on whether or not they are any good.


Spa treatments:

The spa offers a wide range of treatments and general pampering using the renowned Espa and Vincent Longo range of products. From a simple eye brow reshape to a full body rework you’ll find the spa has something to offer everyone with over 50 treatments to chose from. Some treatments are not suitable for pregnant woman and this is clearly stated on their menu of available treatments. All treatments available can be viewed on the hotel web site. What I found extremely useful was the fact that the prices were included, what each treatment entailed and for how long. Having looked at a fair few Spa websites it’s a shame that other companies don’t do this.


Spa Packages:

Since I was after a days pampering this was my first port of call on the hotels web site. The spa currently offers 3 Full day packages which include lunch from the Hotels River Room lunch, use of the Gym, relaxation rooms and sauna from 9am to 6pm. They also have 3 half day packages, all of which can be viewed on the Hotel website.


Booking:

You can make an enquiry, but not a booking via the web site, or you can ring the spa directly to book. Given that I was wanting to book something for a couple of days later I chose to ring them directly. The booking process was done with great ease, the date was confirmed, my credit card details were taken to reserve my booking and I was told to avoid alcohol and coffee for the 24 hours prior to my day of pampering due to the package I was having. I was also advised to turn up half an hour prior to my treatments beginning.


Opening hours:

Spa Hours
7:00 a.m. - 22:00 Monday to Friday
8:00 a.m. - 20:00 Saturday & Sunday

Treatments
9 a.m. - 21:00 Monday to Friday
9 a.m. - 18:30 Saturday and Sunday


Cancellations:

The Spa has the standard policy that most health spas have: They ask for 24 hours notice, if it’s less than 24 hours notice then you are charged 50% of the total, if it’s less than 12 hours notice you are charged the full amount.


My experience:

After a wonderful tour of Eccles, bits of Salford I pray never to see again and a quick tour of the building sites around the Lowry Outlet centre I finally arrived at the Lowry Hotel feeling well in need of being pampered and de stressed! After asking for directions from the main reception I soon found my way to the spa area. With it’s low key entrance door I did wonder what I’d let myself in for. I had visions of a few pokey rooms and crowds of people milling around. These thoughts were soon dispelled as I walked down the corridor. The first thing you notices is how spacious the place is with it’s clean white walls and wood veneer flooring. Even though it is only part of a hotel the whole spa gives you a feeling of space due to the minimalist approach to décor. The reception area was easy to find and I was greeted by a cheerful member of staff who asked me to sign in and then fill out a medical card. I was also given the menu for lunch, the package I booked included a two course lunch. The menu gave three choices of starters, main courses and puddings. Once this was done I was then shown around the Spa and taken to the changing area -these are single sex. The Changing area was light and airy. Unlike my gym, it was extremely clean! Lockers were provided to store clothing and valuables. To be honest all you really need to take for a day of pampering is yourself, a book and the means to pay for it. The Spa does ask that you turn all mobile phones off whilst there which wasn’t a hardship for me! I was then given the coveted fluffy white dressing gown and slippers to change into. The Changing area also had a shower, hairdryer, toiletries and plenty of mirrors!


After getting change I was taken to the relaxation room. The view from the room wasn’t the view you’d get from say a country house health spa and why people pay extra for the river view in the hotel rooms I’m really not too sure but I wasn’t here to see the view of the River Irewell or the office block across the river I was here to be seriously pampered! Bring on the mud was my thoughts as I lounged on one of the reclining chairs with a copy of Tatler in my hands. My one gripe here would be the choice of magazines but again you aren’t here to just read a magazine are you?


Within 15 minutes the therapist who was to do all of my treatments that day came along and took me to the treatment room. Being a nurse the words treatment room always conjurers up something very clinical and functional. This is far from the case with the Spa’s treatment rooms. With subdued lighting, tea lights around the room, soothing music and a power shower cubicle in the corner this room was functional but relaxing. My therapist introduced herself, explained what was going to happen, what treatments I was having as part of my Detox package and put me at ease. After going throw my medical card and asking me various questions the treatment began!


The Detox package I booked includes: Dry brushing, a body polish, an aromatherapy massage, an algae wrap, head massage and an aromatherapy facial. Included with this is lunch. The Total price being £140.


With any kind of beauty treatment it does mean you have to stripe down to your underwear but to be honest I was momentary embarrassed about this and the fact that the room was semi lite I wasn’t too bothered. Also the fact that no one else apart from my therapist entered the room was good.My modest was preserved at all times with towels being placed over my boobs when I had to lie on my back.


First off was the dry brushing, this is done with you laid down on your stomach first of all, with a brush made I was later to find out of cactus tuff’s! The idea of dry brushing is to help relieve the body of dead skin cells and help promote lymphatic drainage. To do this at home you need to obviously have a suitable brush and you start brushing from your feet in the direction of your heart. My first impressions of dry brushing was it hurt, I had feelings of my leg Waxing horror coming to haunt me again! I did wonder if I’d paid good money to be tortured for the day. Next step up was the body polish or exfoliation, this was done using Espa’s body polish but they do, do Salt and oil scrubs as well.


After a quick shower, it was onto the aromatherapy massage. With an inhalation of detoxing oils going the room smelt wonderful. With the subdued lighting and having all my aches massaged away I can honestly say this was one hell of a relaxing experience, I nearly dropped off to sleep half way throw. The massage lasted about 45 minutes but it seemed a lot longer. The one good thing about it was my therapist didn’t make idle “hairdresser” chit chat which meant I could just become enveloped in the feeling of being totally pampered. The massage apparently helps to detox the body by speeding up the lymphatic system and helps rid the body of toxins. All I can say is it is one hell of a great way to detox yourself and much nice than a caffine fee week, sipping carrot juice and munching lettuce leaves!


Next up was the Algae wrap, ok so I’m rather strange but I’ve always wanted to know what it’d be like being covered in mud and wrapped up in tin foil - odd I know! The Algae wrap apparently helps rid the body of further toxins. After being smeared all over apart from my face in a pale green gunk I was then wrapped up like a basted chicken in tin foil, further towels were the applied over the foil to keep me warm. At this point I started to giggle and was grateful that no one had a camera handy! Along with the Algae wrap you have a scalp massage using Espa’s Pink hair and scalp mud, no my hair didn‘t turn pink!. All I can say is it was a wonderful sensation to be nice and warm with someone massaging my scalp. I soon floated off and felt extremely chilled out and relaxed.


Thankfully the treatment rooms do have a shower in them as I’d have hated to have had to hop down the corridor covered in green slime and an oil slick in my hair. At this point I was then taken back to the relaxation room and advised someone would come get me for lunch. After 10 minutes of just feeling totally and utterly chilled out I was taken down to the small partitioned area where lunch is served. A tiny bit of me would have liked to have had lunch in their River room restaurant but that would have meant giving up the coveted fluffy white dressing gown. After a rather yummy lunch I returned back to the relaxation room and chilled out thinking I could really get used to this!


The afternoon saw me again relaxing and being pampered in the tranquil settings of the treatment room, this time an aromatherapy facial was the order of the day. Again I soon floated off into a relaxing little world as my face was cleansed, toned, massaged and moisturised as a whole variety of Espa products were smeared onto my face. A most relaxing feeling is how I’d describe the sensation of just lying there without a care in the world. Suddenly it was all over as I was taken back to the relaxation room I decided there and then I was going to do this again some day soon. My therapist gave me some information to take home regarding detoxing along with a brochure listing all the Espa products used. There was no hard sell unlike other places to actually buy something from them. However after spending another half hour just relaxing I did decide to purchase a few items from the reception area. The fact that I was left after all the treatments were finished just to relax and not hussled out of the door was also rather nice and added to the feeling of relaxation and wellness I felt after a days pampering.


I paid £140 for my day which is a lot of money I realise, compared to other health spa’s this is on a par. For me it was worth every penny for the feeling of being totally relaxed, pampered and spoilt for the day! I’d recommend the Lowry Hotel Spa for anyone living in the area who fancies a bit of pampering without trailing miles to get it!



Contact Details:

The Lowry Hotel
50 Dearmans Place
Chapel Wharf
Manchester
M3 5LH

Direct Line to the Spa: 0161 827 4034
Email:thespa@thelowryhotel.com
Website: www.thelowryhotel.com

Summary: The ultimate pampering experience!