My first time at Fletcher’s Cottage Spa at Archerfield House was with my old work. We had been taken there for the day by a large newspaper group and it was on that day that my love of this spa began. Of the 3 treatments that I was to enjoy that day, the one that took me by surprise was my VOYA Seaweed Bath Hut. This also was the treatment that I was least excited about.
Funny how as I returned to the Fletcher’s Cottage Spa at Archerfield this week, the Bath Hut was first on my to do list! I was also not going to let my gorgeous friend, MS, experience Fletcher’s Cottage for the first time sans Seaweed Bath. I am not saying my friend was giving me a judging look when I first suggested it, but she was soon sold when she saw some pictures of what was ahead.
Fluffy robes on and good to go
We donned our fluffy robes and headed out to the Bath Huts in the stunning walled garden of the Spa. As a mother of two children, having the bathroom let alone bath to yourself is very rare. In fact baths are rarely as tranquil an experience as they should be. The two Bath Huts at Fletcher’s Cottage Spa are an exquisite treat and simply a must!
What is not to love about your own bath, in a private hut, with a wood burning stove, comfy chairs, sheepskin rugs and chilled out music? The decor is generally amazing and is very Instagram ready? There are no children to ask to share the bath. No phones ringing. No distractions. Just you and a bath full of Seaweed!
Seaweed – the benefits
I always find it funny that given my fear of the dark masses of seaweed in the sea, I am OK to get in a hand harvested Organic Seaweed bath. Yes it smells of seaweed and feels totally strange to sit in, but you get used to it and the benefits out way any initial weirdness. If you think about what seaweed actually does in its natural habitat, imagine what it can do for the body
- great for eczema, psoriasis, arthritis and dry skin
- anti- ageing
- cleanses, tones and detoxifies skin (helps release toxins)
- good for the circulation
- purifies and plumps the skin
- helps diminish cellulite
- hormonally balancing
- thyroid enhancing …. hello metabolism!
- can help with sleep issues
- minerals from the seaweed are absorbed through the skin – including iodine and potassium
- therapeutic and de-stressing
- pH balancing
- leaves your skin feeling so amazingly soft
Interestingly while I was is the Bath Hut I actually read an article in Instyle Magazine that said in 2016 Kelp is the new Kale. #bangontrend. To find out more about the benefits have a look on VOYA’s website here.
Slipping into chilled out mode
I love that there are pictures of VOYA’s founders, the Walton family, on the wall of the Bath Huts. All these little touches add to the experience. After soaking for a good 30 minutes and coming too, my good friend and I reconvened when we were both poured into some armchairs in one of the huts.. It is fair to say that the relaxation effects of Fletcher’s Cottage were well underway. Clearly it was too much of an effort to take the 15 steps to the main building. Yes …. we were slipping in to lazy mode. Amazing.
I love that within an hour or entering Fletcher’s Cottage Spa I feel like I am 2 weeks into a relaxing holiday.Where earlier today our talks had been at good speed, we were now talking so much slower and talk very quickly turned to me wanting one of those roll top baths at home. So, to keep you in the loop I want a Bath Hut in my garden …. of my house I will live in when I win the lottery. I want a little treasure of tranquillity like this each day/week/month to make life so much more …… ahhhh.
Relaxation Room
Much as we wanted to stay in our hut, the call of the Relaxation Room was fairly strong and I had also followed the “make sure you drink lots of water” to the letter and was now needing to let the detoxification continue! The relaxation room was one of the first pictures that Sorcha saw on Archerfield’s website. “Is that a bed?” she asked me …. pretty much! A couple of lie out sofa chairs with plumped cushions and massive Egyptian cotton duvets to nuzzle under. We managed to make ourselves at home and sat and stared out the doors to the garden. This is heaven.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a wonderful main area of Fletcher’s Cottage to convene and relax in ….. but the Relaxation Room had duvets and was awesome. It was a duvet day in a box. I very rarely find myself wanting to sleep during the day, but that could easily have happened. An hour of relaxation later, drinking more water and herbal tea, having great chats and then drinking some more water, we realised that we only had 25 minutes before our next treatment and headed to the thermal area. More on that to come in my next post.
We both felt we had experienced a good number of hectic days prior to our arrival, but they were long gone. Fletcher’s Cottage allows you to re-energise, re-vitalise and re-connect with yourself and also friends. It is so lovely to catch up with a friend in these surroundings.
For the eco-conscious readers out there, all seaweed from the bath is re-cycled and used in the garden for mulch. Or, like us, you can ask to have your seaweed bagged up for you to take home and re-use. Massive disclaimer alert. Yes the organic, hand harvested seaweed is good to use again However, the surroundings will not feel the same …. how could they! For me, my kids tried to take over my bath situation.
Seaweed in the shower?
It only took a short while to reassure her that there were no crabs in the seaweed. It then took a couple of minutes in the bath until she squealed with delight. “When I am six I want to go to Archiefield for a bath”. Terribly clever little thing to have her sights set on Fletcher’s Cottage or “Archiefield” at such a young age! Not wanting to be left out, my son grabbed a piece of seaweed to add to his shower.
Head on over to www.archerfieldhouse.com/spa to get yourself on the road to relaxation.
Also to find out more about the impressive Green Commitment of VOYA then click here.
