Spa Day at Cottons Hotel & Spa featuring Espa & Ytsara Review

After the hectic year that has just passed, I was very much ready for a bit of a pampering session.  Luckily, being a beauty blogger has it’s perks, and I was booked into Cottons Hotel & Spa based in Knutsford for a pampering day. 

The pampering day included a light lunch, use of the facilities and an hour long treatment.  Cottons Hotel is based in the North West and is a rather scenic, full of green fields and er, footballers. The hotel itself is just off a winding road, and looks smaller than it actually is inside. 

First things first – arriving at the spa (a separate entrance to the hotel) you are first confronted with the gym area.  Take a left, and the quieter, sleek spa is tucked away in it’s own area.  I had chose my lunch (choices listed below) over the phone in the morning so when I arrived, all I had to do was fill in a form, get changed, and then I was shown around the facilities. 

I was given a towel and locker of my own to use. The pool staff and spa staff were very welcoming and friendly indeed, and guided me well (some spas I find, can sort of leave you to your own devices and you end up a bit lost). 

The pool area consisted of; pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, and a corner of deck chairs (kinda) where people can relax. There was also an outdoor hot tub which was broken.

Thoughts on this area; the pool was fine but quite busy because it’s a members club, there were a lot of people there working off their Christmas dinners.  It was generally quite noisy and busy – I hid in the jacuzzi until a couple came in and started chatting to me. To be fair, they seem to have very friendly customers. 

Then I scooted off to lunch, getting out of the jacuzzi and thinking, please don’t look at me bum whilst I climb out. 

In a small cafe area near the pool, I had my lunch which was brought over to me from the proper kitchens, I am guessing.  

Lunch options were;

Starter – I really can’t remember what the options were but I went for a Pomegrante juice 

Mains – Chicken Caesar Salad, Smoked Salmon, Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad or Meat Anti Pasti. 

Dessers – Lemon Posset, Fruit Salad and Mascarpone and Cheeses (there might’ve been one more, I can’t remember). 

I didn’t choose the salads, because I had a bad salad experience recently, however, in hindsight meat anti pasti is not the best thing for me as I am still quite selective about what meats I am currently eating. Plus I hate liver…I hate it so so so much.  Since the first course was a drink and there’s no other drink offered it’s really more 2 courses

The cafe area wasn’t really cafe area, I think it was more of a ‘meeting up’ area so it did feel strange to eat a meal in the corner by myself whilst other visitors were there chatting away and kids were running in and out. 

Anyway, after this I went to the sauna and steam room which were small but very good, clean areas that weren’t too busy. 

I went back to the relaxation room:

Made myself a drink:

The relaxation room is quite nice, although you can hear noises and things going on outside as reception is quite close.

Anyway, the treatment!

I had a mixture, 30 mins of a Espa facial and 30 mins of a Ytsara (a Thai brand) back massage.  It felt longer than 1 hour in total, and was very relaxing. The treatment began with a foot bath and some oil sniffing in order to choose the right oils. As I am breastfeeding, the therapist Natalie, who is lovely lovely, choose a plain base oil.

The treatment itself was lovely – the back massage included a poultice which was very relaxing and Natalie really worked on my shoulders which still feels good now.  The facial was also quite nice, with various masks and scrubs.  I swear they should invent massage beds where your boobs can sit comfortably because I had a bit of boob pain afterwards (TMI). 

I was really happy with the treatment though – very relaxing, and Natalie and the girls in the spa were very nice.  After the treatment I had a shower in the changing rooms (which was private, I could lock the door and use it as my own bathroom!). And then we were done!

Verdict:

Overall I had a nice experience – the facilities are ok although the pool got very busy. Food wise, I ordered the wrong thing I think, but I think the lunch would be better in the actual dining area.  The treatment and spa part of the day I can’t complain about at all. 

Cottons Hotel Pamperday deals can be found here.  My spa day was booked via Spa Seekers, which is a free to use online booking service that offers offers the best value spa deals and unbiased advice.