Our actual reason for this trip was to see a friend who lives down in Brighton, but as she wasn't there and Laura was only in the UK for a few days we booked anyway and decided to have a bit of a spa break.
We drove off in her cute Fiat 500 into the rain (typical English weather).
After an hour and a half we were there!
We booked a room at Queens Hotel Brighton, a spa and hotel that lies opposite the sea by Brighton Pier.
After circling the place 5 times trying to find a way into the car park (the main entrance to it was shut!) we finally found a space and got out. We then had a traumatic 2 minute walk to the hotel as the wind was so strong it ripped one of Laura's bags in two (only a Hollister paper bag) and the contents started blowing away in the wind whilst she was battling with her skirt that was up to her chin. We arrived looking windswept and, well, like we had just been in a vacuum cleaner. I sadly didn't take a photo of us afterwards so here's a painting I've done so you get the idea.
Anyway moving on!
Queens Hotel has a spa inside run by Pretty People Ltd, this was actually the first time I've been to a spa so I can't compare but I have to say they were amazing. We both booked the "Holistic Heaven" package which is 2 hours long and costs £100 (you can find their website here), here is the description of what we had:
Indulge yourself and treat your skin! With a therapeutic back, neck and shoulder massage followed by an aromatherapy sea salt scrub and hot towels to finish. Brighten your complexion with a deep cleansing facial to help hydrate and firm your skin. Finally, your finger nails will be filed and painted with a glossy O.P.I. polish. True bliss!
We had to have the package one after the other, so as Laura went first I popped downstairs to their gym, pool and sauna. The gym is small but great if you want to do cardio as there are a lot of treadmills and cross trainers, and also a good selection of free weights. It sadly lacks on the in between so if you like using the weight machines rather than the free weights it's not that great!
Next I tried the swimming pool, it's a very pretty pool with some seating around and when I first went in I was completely alone! It's also not deep at all so good for families. It is fairly small but for a hotel I would say it's okay.
Lastly I went to the Sauna - again completely on my own and it was soooo good. I just love saunas as they are so relaxing - especially when you have one all to yourself! The sauna is hidden away round a corner which is also great and lets you really relax.
2 hours went quickly and it was my turn for the spa! I was too busy relaxing to take any photos but everything was so amazing and the spa people are so lovely. Afterwards I headed upstairs to meet Laura in our room.
We actually got a double and a single bed which is more than we asked for but we weren't complaining! We didn't get a sea view room but they are available.
Our nails done at the spa - it's been four days and my nails still aren't chipped! That's a record for me!
We phoned down to say that the wifi kept cutting out and within a minute someone was by our door knocking to check our wifi box. I just assumed they had really bad wifi but it turns out it's because someone had stolen a cable! In less than 5 minutes the wifi was on and working.
Mountains of pillows
We also got the usual complimentary water, coffee, tea and biscuits
Just ignore all of our mess on the floor...
The hotel room and bathroom was clean and spacey and provided a lot of towels!
We popped out for dinner at an Indian place that was so bad I deleted all the photos of it afterwards to erase it from my memory; it was called "Masala". My food was actually okay but Laura's chicken was uncooked, and when it came back it was cooked but there was a massive black hair poking out of it - enough to put me off my food too! The waiter we had didn't even seem to know what was happening and instead of apologizing he just looked a bit confused. Anywho we will never ever go there again and I certainly don't recommend it.
We returned to the hotel to relax and get ready for a night out.
The photo above is Laura thinking "who the hell is this weirdo behind me" and me behind like HEYYYYYY
Laura looking a bit hairy ^^
We went to a bar called Be At One which was recommended by a friend and it was Happy Hour all night long. We didn't expect it to be very busy but with the overly happy bar staff it soon filled up! It has a really great atmosphere and if you get a song the bar staff like there will be ice thrown everywhere when the chorus comes on!
After a very long night we headed back to the hotel and slept in our bouncy beds with five hundred pillows, ready to wake up the next day for breakfast.
Again, all the staff were really great. Breakfast is in "No1 Bar and Bistro" and was included in our overnight stay price (£100 for the night, so £50 each!). It was just a normal breakfast with cereal, toast, croissants, eggs, bacon, sausages and baked beans. I was hoping to see a little bit more fruit but apart from that it was great.
We planned to go for a dip in the pool and the sauna before we left but we got up too late! It was already time to leave.
The sun was shining as we drove back home. It was such a great mini break and I would really recommend Brighton as a place to go out and Queens Hotel if you want a spa break!
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