The Coniston Hotel Country Estate and Spa (Review)

For a Christmas present, my mum treated my sister and I to a spa weekend stay at one of their favourite hotels, The Coniston Hotel Country Estate and Spa. I hadn't been before, but they have raved about it over and over again, so I was quite excited to go myself. 

When we arrived, we went on a lovely long walk around the grounds. It was 1C so pretty cold, but enjoyable nevertheless. There are lots of routes and different paths to go down, so defintely a walk you could do over and over again. There was a beautiful lake set in the middle, alongside a stately country home and a boat house, set in the middle of the countryside. 

I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed with the room itself. The outside of the building is incredible and the rest of the property is beautiful, so when I walked into the bedroom, it just felt dated. The bathroom and bedroom were nice enough, but just not the luxury feel I had expected. To top it off, the walls were very thin and we could hear next door talking and laughing all night, keeping us awake in the evening and then waking us up in the morning too. 

The hotel boasts a number of eating places and we had our first evening meal in The View, which is their main restaurant. They catered to our dietary requirements and even let people order from the bar menu also, for slightly less fancy meals too. The food was delicious, but the room was freezing cold. We had to go back to the room to get our coats and we ended up moving to the less formal pub-like restaurant in the end for dessert and coffees, which was much warmer. In there, they also had lots of board games so we played alongside lots of laughter until almost midnight!

We later learnt at breakfast the next day, that the heating wasn't working, but it would have been nice to have that explained at the dinner. Breakfast was another delicious meal and the staff were faultless. We had a delicious continental buffet to start and then from there we could order cooked breakfasts, to which I got a full English. I was surprised you were allowed to order multiple hot meals, so really it was unlimited! 

The highlight of the stay was of course the spa. My two small complaints was how busy it was, because it meant that there weren't enough beds for everyone, but also I really wanted some food because whilst we'd stopped for lunch on the way to the hotel, I'd only had breakfast two hours earlier so I wasn't hungry. Unfortunately, despite saying the kitchen was open, apparently the chef was no longer cooking, which was very odd. Nevertheless, the spa saunas and steam rooms were lovely. The pool was nice but ice cold and the hot tubs were beautiful. There was both one inside and 2 outside, overlooking the lovely view. 

Overall, the majority of the staff were lovely, the location was perfect and the food was amazing. However, I think it is quite overpriced, unless you get a special offer. I'm glad I've managed to go, but I'm not rushing to go back any time soon.