A Weekend with the Girls at Ramside Hall and Spa

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Whilst New Year can mean a fresh new start and positive vibes I can't be the only person that sometimes wakes up in January feeling a little frazzled and like I need a break to recover from Christmas? With our nearest and dearest spread across the country Simon and I spend a lot of our Festive break between families with very little time at home to recharge. So when the opportunity came along to spend a post-Christmas weekend with the girls at Ramside Hall I packed a case and kissed my husband goodbye without hesitation.  A luxury weekend escape with plenty of gossip and some relaxing in the spa was just what I needed to start my January in the right way.

With my addiction to luxury hotels in the North East you may be surprised to hear that I'm not really overly familiar with Ramside Hall and have only ever visited once before for an afternoon in the spa - this was going to be my first overnight stay at County Durham's most famous luxury hotel. A proper nose round with a room for the night was long overdue and I couldn't wait for my first proper Ramside Hall experience.

Staying at Ramside Hall

Ramside Hall is the only Silver Awarded AA Rated and 4 Star Spa in Durham, making it a pretty special place to spend time. A highly sought after wedding venue with championship golf courses, beautiful spa and home to perhaps the best steak in the North East, Ramside has a lot of accolades to its name and is a great spot to celebrate any occasion. Ideally located on the outskirts of Durham the hotel has 127 luxuriously furnished bedrooms and suites, 350 acres of grounds and a state of the art gym.

If all that wasn't enough to make you want to pay them a visit, their brand new luxury treehouses are set to become the best North East getaway with the luxury suites offering opulent decor, incredible views and the perfect escape. Their current offer has got me heavily hinting to my husband with a romantic night in a one bedroom luxury Treehouse including chocolate, champagne and breakfast for £499.00 (I really hope he's reading this!)  If you don't believe me then check them out for yourself here - aren't they dreamy?

The drive down to Ramside Hall from my home in Newcastle was simple and with a lot of free parking at the hotel, arrival was effortless. I couldn't believe my eyes once we'd unpacked the car and made our way to reception - the queue for 3:00 pm check in was out of the door, I'd never seen anything like it.  Seems a lot of other people were in need of a luxurious January break!

Check in was very efficient and speedy and before we knew it we were excitedly making our way to our rooms. Having never seen any of the bedrooms at Ramside Hall before I couldn't wait to see my home for the night.

My Room at Ramside Hall

With five of us visiting Ramside Hall for our girls weekend we booked rooms next door to each other which was perfect for our stay as it meant we could easily run back and forward to see each other and use one room for our gossip sessions. It has been so many years since I've been away with the girls and honestly if you get the chance to leave your husband, partner and kids at home and escape I highly recommend planning a weekend like this - it's good for the soul!

I was the one lucky enough to have a room all to myself which meant experiencing an incredible Premier Double bedroom for one. Based in the new wing of the hotel, the rooms are stunning and offer snuggly dressing gowns, ESPA products, huge luxury bathrooms with mammoth walk in showers and a Superking Bed.

Running about my new home like the Princess I was born to be I couldn't believe how huge the room was, definitely one of the largest double rooms I have ever stayed in and with so many fantastic extras. The complimentary fruit platter went down a treat and I was so taken with the cups and saucers I had to look them up to see where I could purchase some for myself.

It would have been all too easy to just spend an entire afternoon enjoying the luxuries of my bedroom, the room service menu serve lunch and dinner from 12 noon until 10:00 pm or if you really want to be pampered you can enjoy a blow dry from the comfort of your own room from £25.00.  Living the dream!

On this visit I had to avoid the urge to jump straight into my PJs and snuggle up in my giant bed - we had somewhere important to be, but believe me next time I visit Ramside Hall I am going to spend hours and hours hiding away in my room - it would be a truly amazing way to enjoy an afternoon.

Disco Party Nights at Ramside Hall

Wanting to let our hair down we planned our stay at Ramside Hall on a Disco Party Night, part of their amazing events schedule, we enjoyed a night of tunes from the 70's, 80's, 90's, Noughties and Now. Party Nights are held throughout the year at Ramside Hall and the Disco Nights cost £14.95 for a two course meal and disco.

Making our way to our allocated table we were delighted to find ourselves right next to the dance floor - the prime spot for people watching and DJ requests.  Before we could get our dancing shoes on it was time for the food and, we all tucked into a delicious chicken dish followed by a zingy lemon tart. Before our meals had arrived we'd been discussing how food at these type of events isn't always great, but we were soon made to eat our words - we honestly couldn't fault a thing. Service was super speedy, the food was hot and really great quality.

Perhaps my favourite part of the night though was the bar, as a huge ginthusiast I was so impressed with the variety of gins they had on offer, a glass of Malfy Blood Orange Gin & Tonic only set me back £6.60 and the "help yourself" garnish shelf was my idea of heaven. I love being creative with my G &Ts so creating myself some perfect drinks during the night was so much fun.

Of course, if you don't fancy a Party Night and prefer a quieter evening at Ramside Hall there are also some amazing dining experiences at the hotel and I am very keen to visit the Rib Room Steakhouse and Grill on my next visit.  Serving up Premium Steaks from Durham Farms, Lobster, Halibut and some incredible looking Specials - I can't believe I'm yet to visit!

Ramside Spa

Despite a pretty late night we set alarms the following morning because we were so keen to get ourselves to the spa. As a hotel guest you can enjoy complimentary access to some of the facilities from check in until check out during your stay. The free for guest facilities are all fabulous and offer plenty of space to sit and chill.

However, if you want the very best Ramside Spa experience I highly recommend booking yourself on a spa residential or day package so that you can access the Thermal Suites, Hydrotherapy Pool, Spa Garden and Outdoor Heated Bubble Pool because these beautiful facilities really do make Ramside one of the very best spas in the North East (and are the reason I have become obsessed)

They say its the simple things in life that give you the most pleasure and there are two very simple things about Ramside that make it one of my favourite spas in the region - rather than handing you slippers when you arrive (soggy slippers in spas are one of my biggest pet peeves) you get flip flops which are so much more practical (honestly, why don't all spas have them?) and access in and out of the spa is with a wrist band that you use to open all the doors - hands free and no worry of losing any keys!  Bliss!

The part of Ramside Spa that I am beyond obsessed with is definitely the Outdoor Bubble Pool, on my very first visit last Summer I was very lucky to experience a really hot sunny day and we spent a blissful afternoon lounging in the sunshine - heaven!  The Bubble Pool is pretty big meaning that you don't often need to "wait your turn" and there's plenty of room for everyone to chill out.

When we weren't in the Spa Garden enjoying the Bubble Pool we were snoozing pool side, helping ourselves to the pile of magazines and loving life with the complimentary juice shots that were coming round.  There are some really amazing little extras at Ramside Spa and as well as trays of juice shots, you'll also be treated to some complimentary nibbles poolside if you're lucky.

With five pools to choose from at Ramside Spa, there's plenty of space for guests to spread out and I'd say that the spa has the most amount of loungers I have ever seen - despite visiting on a weekend there was plenty of room and available seats with everyone getting to enjoy the experience.  If you love to swim the 25 metre swimming pool will impress or if you prefer to just relax the Hydrotherapy Pool has swan necks and massage jets.

If all that wasn't enough, I have something amazing that I have to share with you, and it's what makes Ramside Spa truly unique in the North East.

They have a private balcony Infinity Pool!

Available for private hire only you can enjoy uninterrupted chill out time in your very own pool offering great views over the Ramside Hall Estate and the ultimate spa selfie opportunity (if, like me, you are a little Instagram obsessed).

I have never seen anything like this in any other spa in the North East and it is yet another thing that makes the spa at Ramside Hall so special, the private Infinity Pool is the ultimate luxury spa experience and available for only £15.00 per person for an hour it is well worth booking yourself in.

If you are feeling a little bit "extra" you can also arrange to have a selection of nibbles from Ramside Spa's tasty restaurant Fusion who serve traditional recipes from South East Asia - with our own private lounge area perfect for relaxing we had a great spread with a Deluxe Fusion Platter which included Honey Ribs, Thai Fish Cakes and Tempura of King Prawns.  Private hire of the Infinity Pool would be a great idea for a hen weekend or birthday and you can also order bottles of Prosecco or even a Gin Tree to enjoy poolside.

I enjoyed myself so much at the Infinity Pool I will definitely be booking it again for my next visit to Ramside Spa, it's such a great way to make your spa visit extra special.

We had such an amazing overnight stay at Ramside Hall and it was over far too fast. As you can imagine since returning home I have been chatting to Simon non stop about having a romantic break in a new treehouse, enjoying a meal at the Rib Room or booking ourselves a spa day.  I can't wait to return and introduce my husband to this incredible place!

 Find Ramside Hall at:

Carville
Durham
DH1 1TD

ramsidehallhotel.co.uk/

0191 386 5282

We received a complimentary overnight stay including Disco Party Night, Spa Access and Private Infinity Pool with Platter and Prosecco in exchange for this honest review.