I first went to Stobo about 4 years ago when him indoors won a voucher for a day including 4 treatments. He very kindly gave it to me (aaahhhh – wasn’t that kind of him?) Anyway, we decided that we would meet up and spend the night in a B&B about 5 miles away and make an evening of it, so I duly set off really early in the morning to be at Stobo for 9am (might as well get the most out of my day!). As soon as I set foot in the Spa Reception I could feel the relaxing vibes in the place and I was hooked. That first day was packed with treatments which did mean that I could not spend as much time in the pool as I would have liked, but that too was good because I then learnt that I didn’t need all the treatments to feel relaxed.
The following year I persuaded 3 of my friends to come with me and stay overnight for 2 nights – if you only stay one night I felt that you did not get as much benefit as you are not allowed to check in until 3pm and have to check out at 12 the next day (you do get lunch though!). We stayed in the castle lodge which is new and costs £99 pppn Mon- thur and an extra £15 pppn over the weekend, the only disadvantage is that you have to walk across the car park to the spa, but you do get a mini-bar & fridge in the room, plus 2 double beds in a twin room & lcd tv on the wall. Although this sounds expensive you do get 3 meals (and big ones!) a day plus the use of the spa facilities, well-being classes (yoga, tai chi, aqua-fit etc), gym, walks round the grounds and bikes(I think). What is nice is that everyone walks around in robes (supplied) all day, so there is no keeping up on fashion/style etc. (not that I do – clothes are just there to cover my body!).
The following year we could not get into the lodge, so we took standard rooms in the castle. This costs an extra £20pppn, but we were so desperate to go and my friend had arranged respite care for her husband, so we paid. The rooms were nice, but no mini-bar or fridge and the beds were singles. The advantage was that we did not have to cross the car park – esp good as it rained the whole time! This time we got upgraded to a classic room in the castle for no extra charge. The room was lovely and the beds were big, but again no fridge!
OK, so you might have got my drift with the fridge? It is common practice to take your own drink for your room, so as I thought we were going to be in the lodge I took white wine, and my pal took G&T (doesn’t drink wine!), so what to do – unchilled wine and G&T would not do!! My pal is so resourceful – in the Ladies Health suite there is an ice fountain which spews out crushed ice for you to rub over your body when you come out of the steam room (lovely), there is also a spin drier for your cossie and a roll of bags to put your cossie in. So what does she do? She fills a bag with crushed ice and hides it under her robe, unfortunately it becomes too cold against her skin, so she takes a towel (always on hand) and wraps it up in that and brings it to the room to fill the sink so we can chill our drinks! The next night she borrows my shoe bag style rucksack and fills that! She even had the cheek to ask for a lemon from the spa coffee shop - although the first night she did use her nail scissors to slice it!
What I really love about Stobo is the atmosphere. It is so calming. In the hydrotherapy bath there is a jaccuzi at one end, big water jets in the middle to massage your back and shoulders, and relaxing bed things at the other where you can lie and be gently massaged by water bubbles around you. If you lie there holding onto the bar (metal not drink) behind your head you can float looking up at the starry lit ceiling. There are 3 ladies steam rooms and one mixed by the pool side (there is a gents health suite, but I haven’t been in there so I don’t know what is in there), each steam room has different settings, the first is not really steam but more gentle warm heat – you could read a book in there, the next one is steamier, and the last is very steamy. There are also showers where you can have different settings – tropical rain for example. Then the pool – my favourite. Ozone treated, all one depth (which is good for the aqua fit) and one side of the pool area is glass which looks out over the grounds. Fantastic.
No, before you ask! I don’t get commission for Stobo, but I just thought I would share with you my experiences and explain that it really is good value for money and you feel so relaxed all the time. I can just lie on my back in the pool, eyes closed and I feel totally at one with myself – what is that worth?
