Bannatyne's 2 For 1 Pamper Day!

I'm on the right - ha!

Yesterday, my sister and I visted the Bannatyne Spa in Manchester (Quay Street) for a pamper day organised through Buyagift.co.uk*, for a 2 for 1 pamper day - something we were both very much in need of. I will apologise right now for the lack of photographs, and the quality of the ones I did take as I only had my phone and tab with me, and it just wasn't possible to go and take photographs everywhere that I'd have liked to.

The day started off with a bit of form filling, with general questions about health and contact details (I hope we don't get spammed by them after leaving our details), followed by a quick tour of the venue and confirming our treatment time slots. The venue we went to in Manchester was a bit of a tardis, lots of stairs, and doors leading into different rooms and areas here and there,so it took a bit of getting used to, to get around without feeling a bit lost. I think it would be nice if things were a bit easier to navigate, but it's not a deal breaker by any means.

Once settled, we headed straight for the pool area, which was fairly nice - a big pool (so thankfully no pool rage), a nice sauna and steam room, and 2 lovely jacuzzis that were lovely and hot - bliss.

The only issues I had were that there were only a total of 6 loungers for people to use/put their stuff on which would really ruin my experience if I arrived and found them all taken already. Luckily we got there early so managed to bag the 2 beds that were by themselves, near the jacuzzis. Also, the jaccuzzi bubbles only worked in short bursts - so like a minute on and then a minute off, done automatically. Personally, I think that this would work better if you could press a button to get the bubbles going when needed and would probably save energy in the long run too.

Bubbles (with sister beauty scoop) - now you see them!

Now you don't.

We swam, lounged and used the jacuzzis until 10 minutes before our appointments, before heading to the spa area to be called in. The pamper day allows you to choose one of 2 treatments from either a Swedish back, shoulder and neck massage or a Bannatyne's Energising Facial (using Bannatyne branded products) - with both treatments lasting around 45 minutes.

You can pay an extra £5 to have an Elemis facial of you would prefer, and you are also able to add on an extra treatment (so you can have both the facial and the massage) for an extra £15 - or £20 if you wanted the Elemis facial as the extra, which is what I went for (subject to appointment availability).

My treatment started off with my back, shoulder and neck massage which was very relaxing, whilst still managing to work out a few knots in the process. The fragrance of the massage oil was divine, and the therapist wasn't overly chatty - which is a GOOD thing when you're relaxing. I do need to own the oil though, and will have to ring up to see if they sell it as it also left my skin lovely and soft to boot.

I then turned straight over for my 25 minute facial, which was bliss - I love having my products applied by a therapist as I can never manipulate my hands/fingers to do the same to my own face, which usually just ends up in me slathering product on willy nilly, which isn't half as enjoyable and probably a little less effective, to some degree.

Image from Buyagift website.

After our treatments, we headed to the pool area where we indulged in a little sauna time, before swimming back to our loungers to relax. I must say, I really didn't want to use the pool much after having these lovely products applied to my skin, so I would recommend booking in treatments for when you're finished with swimming and such like to get the most benefit to your skin.

We didn't visit the gym area (or do any classes), as we were there purely for the relaxation and pampering, but the gym looked great for those of you who would be interested in using those facilities (which you can, in this package).

No food is served/available in the venue, however there's a couple of small supermarkets close by that you can go out to get some food from, and eat within the venue. Drinks can be bought via vending machines (tea, coffee, isotonic drinks and water from what i I could tell) that can be taken into the relaxation room - which is a lovely room with beds for chilling out - I loved this, so simple but so effective.

All in all, it was a lovely day, I'm not sure I'd pay the full, normal price that Bannatyne's Spa charge, but would happily pay the price that is currently being offered from Buyagift.co.uk with options of £75 for a visit anytime, or £65 for a midweek visit.

I'm tempted to buy one for my mum and I to go together for Mother's day as I think this would be the perfect experience for her - although there are other options available here: Gifts for Mother's Day!


*The visit was provided free of charge from Buyagift, but my views are, and always will be unchanged by this.

This post originated at www.thebeautyscoop.co.uk