February Life Update: Spa Weekend Away!

Hi readers,

I've just got back from a really nice weekend away with my boyfriend. We went to a little village called Ramsbottom in Bury which is just up the motorway from me. A few months back, I saw on Wowcher this deal for a two night weekend spa there at the Old Mill Hotel and we decided it would be a nice Valentine's weekend away.

Unfortunately, even though I tried to book two months before hand, the hotel was booked for a wedding that weekend and the week after they only had rooms on Saturday night. The weekend after that- the last in February they were also fully booked due to the Chocolate festival. So, we had to go with this past weekend as there was a time limit on the deal.

We still had a great time though. We arrived Friday afternoon and just chilled out the room. I wanted to go swimming but my boyfriend wasn't feeling that great- something he'd eaten the day before- so we had a nap and just enjoyed having alone time together. The room we got was really nice and the bed comfy.  Later, we had tea in the hotel restaurant which was okay but could have been better. We were both really hungry though. Then we spent the evening and early night watching movies and chilling.

On Saturday, we got up had breakfast which had been included, then went out to see the village. There are only like two main streets which are lined with interesting shops. There's also a train station which also has steam trains running on it. We did look at going on one but it was expensive and we had other things we wanted to do.

After walking around the village, we went to The Chocolate Cafe and had some lunch. Even though it had only just gone lunch time it was worth getting early because minutes after we sat down it got so busy people were having to queue for tables! The food and drinks were really good. I had a jacket potato which was one of the best I'd ever had and also a hot chocolate that was butterscotch and banana flavour. My boyfriend had a cheese toasty and a chocolate milkshake which he said was the best he'd ever drunk.

We were too full to stay for cake and the cafe had got super busy, so we went back downstairs into the shop and brought some chocolate for later. we've not eaten the bars yet but we shared the buttons which were awesome! They were so melt in the mouth and thicker then normal chocolate buttons. I so will be buying them again as you can order online; http://www.chocolate-cafe.co.uk

We were then going to walk up to Peel Tower which was about half an hour and said to have good views of Ramsbottom and the surrounding area. However, I had a bad asthma attack and I really wanted to go swimming. So we went back to the hotel room for a bit and when I was feeling better, we went down to the spa. The pool was really small and you couldn't fit more then 6 or 8 people in it. However, when I was alone in the pool, it felt like this was my private swimming pool because it has that feel to it!

We couldn't use the Jacuzzi because a sign said it was too cold outside and so it wasn't working. I don't get that but we went in the sauna and steam room. I do love steam rooms because they are good for my asthma and I try to stay as long as possible. Saunas though with their dry heat, I can only go in for a little while. I really enjoyed it thought it was nice to swim after walking.

For tea, we had decided to go out and we picked a Chinese restaurant that we had walked past in the morning and checked the online reviews of. However when we arrived less then hour after they had opened, we were told it would be an hour and half wait as they were fully booked! I couldn't wait that long, so we went to a Chinese and English takeaway which seemed really good. We ordered and as we sat down to wait the place filled up with like twelve people coming into order or collected food. So it was really popular. The food was really nice, but we got far too much! I had bbq ribs to start with and there was like 10 good size meaty ribs in the box. That meant I couldn't eat my chow mein which was really big too!

We went to bed early, stuffed and tried. Then though we realised we could hear the music and people from the wedding party which was happening in the bar/restaurant area which was opposite our room. We got through that only then at about 1am we were awoken by a drunken arguing couple in our corridor. They were slamming, knocking and kicking their door and shouting at each other. It seemed to be mostly the man doing all of this as he seemed to be locked out by her. Whatever was going on, they kept us awake for an hour and a half or so. We watched a movie on TV and did thing about phoning reception to complain.

We didn't phone in the end and just went back to bed. We slept through breakfast even though we did get up to go but we both decided we were too tried. We went to checkout and I did complain then. The receptionist said other people had phoned the night porter and he had been up a few times but nothing has been resolved and there was little they could do. She then give us the receipts and tried to charge us for drinks we'd not had! We had already paid for the drinks we'd had with the meal and we'd not brought anything else. She did try hard to make us pay but when we really refused, she tried to find the bar receipt. Of course, she never found it so she didn't charge us.

Overall, it was a good weekend though and it was nice to spend alone time with my boyfriend. Ramsbottom is a good place to escape for a weekend away and if we do visit again I'd like to go on the steam train and walk to Peel Tower.  

That's all for today. Next week it's back to book reviews.

(All photos belong to me)