Bannatyne's Darlington Deluxe Spa Break Review

A couple of weekends ago now, myself and Ted went on a spa weekend break using vouchers for Bannatyne's Spa that we had received for Christmas. We'd never been to a spa before, and, having a dodgeball-free weekend for once, we decided to choose one of their weekend packages.

For me, the first spa treatments that come to mind are facials and massages, so they are the two that I wanted to give a try. We immediately saw that the "Deluxe Spa Break" included a facial and a Swedish back massage, along with a dinner, bottle of champagne, and stay at "The Bannatyne Hotel". For £299 for both of us, this seemed like fairly good value, particularly if we could stay on a Saturday night, so we called up the spa and booked everything no problem.

We tried to pack lightly and without too much thought or stress, because that would go against the concept of a spa weekend right? I didn't end up taking my camera, so all of the photos below are from the Bannatynes website.

We chose Darlington as our spa location, and headed to the "Health Club" for around midday on the Saturday. We arrived and were given robes and slippers (to return at the end of the day), and were shown around the facilities. The "Spa" was actually just a few separate rooms attached to a standard gym and swimming pool, open to the public- some people might find it a bit strange wandering around in dressing gowns when most others are just there for their morning gym/ swim, but we weren't too bothered.

The first thing we did was used the pool, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. As I mentioned, these were open to the general public, so whilst it was nice to go for a swim, it wasn't exactly "luxurious"... there were a few small kids and the swimming pool itself has windows floor to ceiling looking onto (and thus on from!) the car park.

We then had a cheap and cheerful lunch in the Health Club cafe (£3 omelette, bargain), before it was time for our massage. I still don't know what's the best time for each treatment, but we didn't get much choice as the spa was pretty booked up, and unfortunately we didn't get to be in the same treatment room (this would have been nice for a first ever treatment!). Because we both have quite tight calves from jumping around playing dodgeball, we decided to upgrade to the Full Body massage, which was I think around £10 extra each. My masseuse made me feel very comfortable, and the music and treatment rooms were pretty relaxing. The massage itself was pretty good, and definitely melted away my aches and tightness- it was 50 minutes long, which I thought was really going to drag, but I definitely wanted more! The only negative for me was that whilst in the spa waiting room, I'd filled in a medical form mentioning that I get migraines, and as a result they had refused to give me a scalp massage, though Ted got one.

Feeling relaxed- and a little oily- we drove 5 minutes to the hotel. Some might think it's a bit of a pain that the hotel is separate to the Health Club, but Bannatyne's Hotel Darlington is really worth it. The room was the nicest hotel room I think I've ever stayed in, absolutely huge, with old grand features and a giant bed and sofa. On the coffee table on our arrival there was a bottle of champagne, and a gorgeous fruit bowl, that we snacked on whilst we got ready to go down to dinner. Dinner was really, really good- we paid £4 for a third course, and I had brie, a chicken and sweet potato dish that was absolutely divine, and panacotta. It was nice to be able to go straight upstairs to our huge, comfy bed afterwards!

We were booked in for facials at 11am the next day- and again we upgraded the "Bannatyne Expert Facial" to use Elemis products instead for £6 each. I told the lady at the start of my treatment about how oily and red my skin was, but I was disappointed that there was no exfoliation or blackhead removal etc as part of the treatment, and that the products she used seemed excessively moisturising. The treatment actually started with a back and shoulder massage, which made me wonder what the point of the separate massage yesterday was! At the end of the facial, I was recommended the following Elemis products- I'm glad I didn't buy them though because my skin has never been so oily as it was the week following the facial!

Pictured is the balancing lime blossom cleanser, balancing lavender toner; she also recommended maximum moisture day cream.

All in all, I had a great weekend, but it is mainly the hotel and meal that I'd recommend; I don't think the spa, or treatments, were anything special, though I still enjoyed them. We also noticed that there wasn't much communication between the spa, the health club, and the hotel... so paying for our stay as a package, and with a voucher, was a bit of a pain!

Have you ever been to Bannatyne's?