Shire Hotel and Spa Review

Hello lovelies!

How are you? 

Today I'm going to tell you guys more about the spa break I mentioned on Sunday. Before I start gushing about how gosh darn relaxing it was, I want to say this isn't a paid/requested review- I just had an awesome time and wanted to share it with y'all! 

Last weekend my two oldest girlfriends and I went on a road-trip to the Solent Hotel and Spa in Hampshire, for a well-deserved hen do/mini break with their Girls' Night Out package. Before we arrived, my inner cynic was expecting the offer to turn out to be a scam. It seemed far too good to be true, so I prepared myself for being told something like "Yes, the offer included use of the facilities, but only between 2 and 4am". How wrong I was!

The break surpassed our wildest dreams, and we spent the whole time feeling like PRINCESSES. In my case, a very, very drunk Princess. Unfortunately, due to leaving my phone in our room all weekend to escape technology, I didn't take any photos; so I've pinched the ones below from the bride-to-be (thanks, Lu!) 

We were treated to free drinks while our suite (fancy, eh?) was set up, and settled ourselves very happily in the plush lounge area which vaguely resembled an Italian castle, with an added all-glass wine storage room lit with pink neon, like the world's booziest disco. In our suite we found goodies bags filled with treats including face masks, nail polish, and bags of Malteasers, along with pairs of slippers and freshly-laundered dressing gowns that were so fluffy they felt like being hugged by a bunny. 

We spent the afternoon turning ourselves into smiley, clean-pored prunes thanks to the pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room, before settling down on the seriously comfortable loungers in the Treatment Centre with big mugs of delicious (and complimentary!) fruit tea. 

When booking the hotel, we'd opted to pay another £30 between us for one hour's use of a private outdoor hot tub, which we all agreed afterwards was an excellent decision. The hot tub overlooks a miniature meadow of wild flowers, and we made the most of the privacy by giggling to our hearts' content; fuelled by free flutes of orange juice, which transformed into several cheeky glasses of Bucks Fizz after we discovered my co-bridesmaid had sneakily ordered a bottle of Prosecco!

After getting dressed up for dinner, we headed down to the reception desk to choose which DVDs to borrow for later that night (also included in the deal). The incredibly sweet receptionist helped us to narrow down our choices, and even told us the top-secret information that they'd recently procured a copy of Frozen, which was yet to be added to the list. She also gave us the cocktail list so we could choose our pre-dinner cocktails. Naturally, we'd assumed that the inclusive pre-dinner cocktail would be one glass each. Fair to say our jaws dropped when we saw the waiter approaching our table with these:

If you look very closely at my eyes, you can see the fear

Given that I was already rather merry totally smashed from the prosecco in the hot tub, being presented with a whole jug of spiced apple cocktail to myself was terrifying! I only managed one glass but it was utterly incredible, due to the awesome combination of apple juice, elderflower cordial, and spiced rum. And then, when I was already expecting my liver to pack its bags and run at any moment, we were approached by the sommelier to take our orders for the half bottle of wine we were owed. EACH. 

Thankfully, we also had £35 each to spend on anything we wanted from the menu. With mains coming in at around £15, and starters/desserts at £5-8, we had more than enough credit for sufficient carbs to counteract all the booze. And my fellow hens had main courses of HALF-LOBSTERS(!), so it's not exactly MacDonald's. I opted for some handmade veggie tortellini, followed by a mushroom and goats' cheese burger which turned out to be the size of my face:

Once we'd eaten so much we thought we might burst, the restaurant staff took our dessert order to be brought up to our room later on. This meant that, by 9.30pm, we were in our pyjamas and working our way through 1/3 of each of these while watching 27 Dresses:

Sticky Toffee Pudding, Raspberry and White Chocolate Crème brûlée, and Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart with Chocolate Sorbet. It was all as disgusting as it sounds...

After an amazing night's sleep, possibly thanks to all the wine, we spent a lazy morning sprawled on our beds and chatting before heading down for a huge, hangover-fighting, two-course breakfast, and setting off home. 

Sorry for waffling on so much, but I honestly can't recommend this deal enough. At £117 each it's not exactly cheap, but for the amount of goodies and food/drink you get, it's an absolute BARGAIN. Oh, and you also get a £20 voucher to spend on ESPA products online, with no "minimal spend" nonsense :)

Have you ever been on a spa break? Would you recommend it? 

Katie xxx