Stobo Castle - A little bit of paradise! (Stobo Castle Health Spa)

Member Name: Nic25

Product:	Stobo Castle Health Spa
Date:	02/02/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pure luxury, fabulous treatments

Disadvantages: Very expensive

Stobo Castle Health Spa is, quite simply, stunning.
It is a beautiful, luxurious haven, situated in the countryside outside Peebles, in the south of Scotland.
We have been visiting Stobo Castle every year for about 6 years now, and every visit is just as fabulous as the last, each time I find something new to add to the uniqueness of this beautiful retreat.


The Castle
The building itself is stunning, and one of the best parts is when driving up the long entrance road, you turn a corner and get the first view of the Castle. It is just breath-taking, and is very majestic, sitting on top of the hill, looking down. It is very old, although they have fairly recently added a new wing in order to incorporate more guest rooms.
The grounds are hugely expansive, sprawling out around the Castle, from the hills at the back, to the lake at the bottom, and the gorgeous Japanese Gardens - well worth a wander round on a nice day, although I haven't done this myself, and have only seen these from afar!
The building is certainly just a hint at the things to come inside, and definately promises more luxury to come!


The Rooms
There are a number of levels of room, and we have had the good fortune to be able to stay in most of them. Each room has it's own name, and even the Standard and Classic rooms are beautifully presented, most are very spacious, with gorgeous decor.
The slightly more 'special' rooms are just that, and each is decorated individually, with different little finishing touches. Some have private balconies also, looking over the gardens, which was lovely.
Finally, there is the Cashmere Suite. This really is the epitome of luxury, and although I've never stayed there, did have the chance to look around. The suite is full of cashmere, and really does have the best in everything, from two huge beds, a full wall of books, to a stunning stand alone bath with flat screen tv and telephone in the bathroom! This is definately the best of the best, and although the prices for this room are astronomical, it would be perfect for a wedding night, or very special occasion.


The Service
From the minute you step in the huge doors of the castle and are greeted by a very helpful boy who immediately holds the doors and takes your bags from you, you are treated like royalty, and this remains throughut your stay. The receptionists are beyoond helpful, and on the one occasion they messed up our rooms and had double booked for one night of our stay, they immediately up-graded us, and offered us the option to stay in the higher-classed rooms for the duration, or move to our actual room after the first night.
The only place I felt the service could be slightly better was in the restuarant, where the a-la-carte menu is served to your table each night. However, I found the service to be fairly slow at times, and am never too impressed with the seating arrangements, where are breakfast, and sometimes dinner, you are expected to share a table with other diners. This might be nice if you are staying alone, but as a group of 2 or 4, we'd prefer to be left alone to get on with it! However, this certainly wasn't enough to complain about, and the meals were always lovely, especially the buffet lunch, a favourite of mine!


The Treatments
Being a Health Spa, one of the biggest things in Stobo are the range of Spa treatments available.
These again, are of top quality, although I found found them to be more expensive than many other spas.
You do have to book your treatments in advance of your stay, as they are very popular, and fill up quickly.
On arrival, you are given a little personalised booklet, with all the treatments you have chosen, and the times they have been booked for you. The girls on reception are very good at spreading the treatments out so you get a little space between each if you've booked a lot (which we tend to do!).
At the time given for each, you go down to the Atrium, the meeting place for the Spa, and are met by your therapist for that particular treatment. It's all very nice, he/she introduces themselves, shakes hands with you, and leads you up to one of the many treatment rooms. The therapists have always been wonderfully polite, happy to chat or leave you in peace depending on your preferences.
Now, Stobo offers a huge number of treatments, which are all listed on their website, so I won't list them all here, but, having experineced many of them, I'd like to point out a couple of my favourites, which are well worth trying!

Serailbad Mud Room
This is exactly what it says - a room, with mud in! It can be done alone, or with another person. My sister and I went together, and what a laugh it was! You go in just in a pair of paper pants, and rub the mud all over yourselves (or in our case, throw it at one another!) until you are completely covered. You then sit in the room, and heaters come on, making the mud dry to your body, and then showers come on from above and the sides, allowing you to wash the mud back off, leaving your skin so soft it's unbelievable.
Our therapist for this was great, and actually came in halfway and took a photo for us when we were both covered in mud! The only bad points about it was that the mud smells AWFUL, and we were left trying to get it out from under our nails for days after!
However, a fab treatment, one of my favourites, and definately better with two!

Reflexology
This was another favourite of mine, which I had always wanted to try, but went into slightly apprehensively, as I am very ticklish, and imagined squirming as soon as the therapist touched my feet!
However, the girl was very professional, and to my surprise did not tickle me at all. The therapy itself was brilliant, and she was able to point out problems that I had with my back etc, just going by my feet.
I came out of the treatment room feeling very refreshed, even more so than one of the massages! Well recommended.

The range of treatments is huge, and there are also some provided for pregnant women, and a range solely for men. Along with the traditional treatments, there are also a selection of waxing and hair removal items, and traditional sunbeds, or the choice of fake tan application.


The Spa Facilities
As well as all the treatments on offer, by staying at the Castle, you also gain free use of the many facilities within the Spa. These include a state of the art gym, full of top of the range fitness machines. This is a great room, but one I must admit to staying away from during my visits - just too much like hard work!
There is also the most beautiful swimming pool, with wall completely windowed, so you can swim while looking out at the beautiful view of the hillside. This was especially stunning when we went in February, and had a good few inches of snow sitting outside, while we swam!
The pool is complimented by a jacuzzi, multiple sauna and steam rooms, and an 'experience shower' which gives you a variety of water pressures, and is lovely to finish off your swim.

There is also a huge number of exercise classes available, another of my favourite things aboyt the Spa. These are all free, and range from X-biking (horribly hard work!), to gentle yoga classes, and many in between. Some of the classes you have to sign up for, due to a limited number of equipment etc, but lists for these are put up in the morning, and very few times have I missed out on a place.
There is also an after dinner class each night, which can range from Salsa dancing (great fun after a few drinks with dinner!) to Jewellery making and other crafts. These are a nice way to spend the evening after the spa has closed. The hotel also put on a film each night, if you'd prefer to spend the evening in your bedroom.


The Best Of The Rest
Having went through the main points of the hotel, I'd like to also add a couple more of my favourite parts, that didn't really fit in elsewhere!
The biggest of these is namely the ability to walk around in your dressing gown and slippers all day! This is the strangest thing, and I certainly felt weird doing it the first time, although it is just the done thing, and you'd actually stand out more if you were fully clothed! The robes are provided for you by the Spa, and although you are expected to return these at the end of your stay, the robes and slippers are available to buy in the Spa Shop.

This leads me on to the next point - the spa shop. This is a nice little idea, and although very expensive, allows you the chance to buy many of the items used in the Spa, and also little gifts and cards to take home.

The shop also hold a huge range of the toiletries provided in the rooms and showers in the hotel. Depending on the level of room you're staying in, you may get Stobo's own shower gel/shampoo etc, or sometimes the Molton Brown range, which is just beautiful. They are very generous with the toiletries in the rooms, and in the pool showers, there is everything you'd need to get ready, from shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, to cleanser, toner and little cotton pads.


Prices
Unfortunately, this little bit of heaven does come at a price. A large one at that. To spend a weekend at Stobo Castle, you are looking at probably spending what you would on a week away in the sun. However, I know what I'd pick, and it's totally worth it to be completely pampered, even if only for a little while!


Overall, Stobo Castle Health Spa is one of, if not the best. Pure luxury from the moment you walk in the door, leaving your troubles outside. Totally worth the money spent, and I will continue to visit as much as possible for years to come!

Summary: Well worth the money, perfect to get away from it all