A Spa day at Stoke Park

Stoke Park is one of the most spectacular buildings that I have ever seen.  Approaching the main house down the long drive, with the sunlight bringing the creamy coloured building to life, I would defy any one not to feel a frisson of excitement for what lay ahead.

The main building houses part of the hotel, the tea room and the dining room.  As it is members only, to use any of these facilities, vouchers have to be bought ahead of visiting.  These are not easy to find on the website, there is no 'afternoon tea' option you find it by clicking on to 'gift vouchers' and searching from there.  

The dining room is also open to non members for dinner.  Memberships start from about £600 annually, but this is only to use the amenities in the main building, it does not include the spa, tennis or golf.

The spa and indoor tennis are housed in a separate new building at the side of the main house.  It is very luxurious and beautifully built combining modern and old style seamlessly.  The car park illustrates the clientele, lots of golfing chaps in Bentleys and Aston Martins and spa-ing ladies in Range Rovers and Minis.

I used the gym, which was empty and really well appointed, the pool was quite busy with mainly Russian families.  On a warm summer day it could be fantastic as the floor to ceiling windows all open fully on to the most glorious lawns.

The spa definitely caters for the Russian taste, every thing is perfect and luxurious, no part of it is shabby or indeed tries to embrace the 'shabby chic' look.  The carpets are all 3 inches thick and cover every floor, even the family changing area, where they must need to be changed monthly to keep the wet dog smell at bay which inevitably comes with prolonged damp.

I couldn't take any photos in the treatment and rest area, these areas are behind the pool and are joined by a huge two way aquarium.

I had a Caci facial which cost £110 and lasted nearly an hour and a half, it included  Microdermabrasion and the microcurrent treatment and my skin certainly glowed afterwards.  The therapist was excellent and did not spend the entire session trying to sell me products. 

There is a range of Stoke Park Club products, but I am not sure that they quite live up to the quality of Stoke Park.

There is complimentary tea, coffee, mineral water and biscuits in the relaxation area, but I wanted to have the full Stoke Park experience and so asked the spa reception to organise an afternoon tea voucher for me.  They were incredibly helpful and the tea was £20, good value for the experience. 

This is not a place to wear traditional work out wear when not in the spa area, I wore cream Sportmax trousers, a Zara top and Sergio Rossi boots and blended perfectly with the blonde surroundings.

The famous golf match in Goldfinger filmed at Stoke Park.