 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Loch Lomond Golf Club - The Spa in the Walled Garden, Luss - 5 bubbles
Single Spy and Spouse were impressed by the exclusive Spa in the Walled Garden -- you no longer need to be a member as the spa now welcomes Day Spa guests. For those wanting to join there is a waiting list. Most join primarily for the golf, of course, but the tranquil ESPA spa offers time out both for those who consider golf (as did Mark Twain) "a good walk spoiled", and those who want to improve their backswing with a golf-ball massage. It's a serene and sumptuous spa in a simply stunning setting.
First impressions?
How did they welcome you?
What happens next?
Which treatments did you have?
What were the treatments like?
How did you feel afterwards?
What happens afterwards?
Long-term effects
Was it worth it?
What else could you have?
What do you wish you'd known before you went?
Any special features?
Who do you think would like it?
Why did you give the spa this rating?
Would you go again?
First impressions?
As good as they can get when you're met by a Landrover at Glasgow airport. You can feel yourself beginning to relax already. Loch Lomond Golf Club is about a 30-minute drive from the airport and, as we drove into the countryside, the colours of the autumn trees had their own soothing effect. Once we were through the manned security entrance, we felt cares getting left behind on the far side of the gate.
How did they welcome you?
The name, "The Loch Lomond Golf Club" does not give a sense of the size or the opulence of what is on offer. The grounds are extensive and the setting impressive. We went up the stone steps of Rossdhu House, the ancestral country seat built by the Clan Colquhoun in 1773 (it's now also the golf clubhouse) to check in. Large oil paintings and mounted heads of stags on the oak-panelled walls, a welcoming fire in the stone grate: this was Scottish hospitality at its grandest.
A friendly member of staff took us to The Point, a stone building on the edge of the loch. The views are spectacular and the facilities equally so. The room was large, very comfortably furnished. There were enough pillows on our bed to supply a small army, and the bed itself was so high that they helpfully provided steps to climb into it. Lots of lovely Molton Brown products in the spotlessly clean and white-marble-tiled bathroom, which had underfloor heating for added luxury, and an internet connection to check emails. No need ever to leave, then.
There was also a separate shared sitting room and kitchen area. We barely had time to explore all that was on offer before I felt called to the spa.
The spa is a short walk (or drive) away, in the walled garden. It is an impressive building, sympathetically and beautifully designed to blend into the natural surroundings with lots of stone and glass to let in light. The entrance is built into the wall that surrounds the large walled garden, which gives a serene, secluded atmosphere.
They encourage you to arrive an hour before your treatment time to enjoy the heat experiences, so I did.
What happens next?
In the glass reception area, I filled in my health consultation form and had a quick peek into the gym. This is a light room, with a good choice of cardio-vascular equipment, each with its own screen, plus a Power Plate; there are headphones provided and water is freely available.
Once you go into the spa, there are separate "journeys" for men and women, starting at the changing rooms. From here, you go through into the heat and ice experiences, and into the relaxation rooms. If you plan to spa a deux, this may prove a challenge if you are different genders. However, we hear plans for more treatment areas for couples and a hot tub where you can enjoy champagne and Scottish scenery are on the drawing board. They would be most welcome.
The changing rooms: These are a good size and equipped with everything you might conceivably need in a changing room -- brushes, hair spray, deodorant, hair bands, dental kits... Your locker contains your robe, towels, and waterproof spa footwear. There are also plenty more towels around.
The pool and heat areas: You reach these through a glass door from the changing rooms, which provides a nice barrier between the real world and relaxation. The décor is black slate and twinkling gold mosaic tiles, all very minimal and tasteful. The vitality pool has glass walls and looks out onto gardens, which gives the pool area a calming, natural atmosphere. There are different stations of water jets for underwater massage, swan pipes, and a water wall at one side gives a gently trickling soundtrack to your relaxation.
The crystal steam room is large enough for several people and beautifully finished in black slate; it's also so hot that you have to wear your spa sandals, unless you want to hop about like a bunny. There is a cold hose should you wish to cool down your limbs and prevent overload. Perfect.
The sauna is also a good size and its wooden benches are comfortable in the dry heat. There is a welcome ice fountain and mitts between the experiences, and a "lifestyle shower" (tropical rain, complete with lights, or cold mist).
There is no actual swimming pool to do your laps in, but you can move from sauna to steam room to ice fountain and warm up and cool down at leisure.
Once I declared myself revitalised, I went to shower myself clean before my treatment. In the changing rooms, there are two loos, two private changing cubicles, and two showers, both of the large sort with a small area within the shower for disrobing and towelling dry. I like these. ESPA products are excellent for leaving you squeakily and fragrantly clean, and they are plentiful here. The brackets on the shower wall are high -- quite a challenge for dispensing conditioner if you're five-foot nothing.
There's also a spin-dryer for your wet swimsuit (so discreet, I missed it at first glance)
Before my treatment, I went to wait, as instructed, in the relaxation room. On the women's side of the spa, this has four loungers each with their own set of headphones for relaxing music (plus disco!) and reading lights. (We hear the men's relaxation room is slightly less Zen.) There was a small platter of fruit in the room, containing three plums and a pear, so I ate a plum and looked out onto the small garden.
When it was time for my treatment, my therapist, Tina, came into the relaxation room and took me through to the treatment room.
The treatment room was large, quiet, and had a window onto an individual garden, as all the treatment rooms do, which provided a welcome touch of sunshine.
Which treatments did you have?
I had the Dosha Specific Advanced Ayurvedic Hot Stone Massage and Body Wrap (£130 for 1 hour and 50 minutes). I wasn't sure about having Indian-inspired treatments in such a resolutely Scottish setting, but I was prepared to be convinced.
What were the treatments like?
Lovely. Tina treated me to a welcoming foot ritual (lots of restorative oil in a footbath) then asked me to choose one of two oils for my treatment. I chose the energising, with peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary and didn't regret it. Tina made me some mango and ginger tea and, while I was drinking this, explained what the treatment would involve: exfoliation, massage (with a particular focus on my marma points) and a marine mud wrap. From some questions, Tina also diagnosed my dosha (my mix of energies), so she could choose the right oil for the massage. I wasn't convinced by the diagnosis but it didn't seem to exert a worryingly large effect on the treatment.
Tina also ascertained what massage pressure I liked: the aim of the treatment is mainly relaxation, but I did confide that I was very tense in my neck and shoulders and would love some stronger pressure there.
Tina started the treatment with me lying face down on the bed, and held a warm bowl of oil infusion for me to breathe deeply and settle in to the treatment. She brushed my skin, rubbed an aloe-based exfoliating body polish with apricot kernels all over me, then I washed this off in the large shower that forms part of the treatment room. Take care as the black slate is slippy when your feet have just been slathered with oil.
Pristine, we settled into the massage. We began with me lying face down and, in fact, I stayed that way throughout. Once Tina had massaged the backs of my arms and legs, expertly, she moved onto my neck and shoulders. After about five minutes, she said, "Look, shall we forget about the rest of you and just concentrate on this bit?" I knew things were bad, but not that bad! It was just the deeply therapeutic attention I wanted, and for the next twenty minutes my knotted muscles got the unravelling they needed. Bliss.
I could have happily stayed there all day, but there was a wrap! With blue marine mud! Once this was on, Tina wrapped me in warm linens and gave me a head massage. The only thing that kept me from actually thinking I was in Paradise was a persistently squeaky floorboard and the strange feeling of being wrapped up like a mummy.
Once I had showered off the mud, Tina's final touch was essential moisturising body lotion. I was sorry it was all over.
How did you feel afterwards?
Like my shoulders belonged to someone else; a lot of the familiar tension had disappeared. As an added bonus, my skin was velvety smooth. Plus, I didn't feel too sleepy: the energising oil was doing its job.
What happens afterwards?
I went back into the relaxation room and spent an extremely engaging hour reading a magazine while sipping peppermint tea. The only disappointing note in the whole experience was the small snack that accompanied it -- I was offered a blueberry muffin, which turned out to be chocolate, and its texture was suspiciously microwaved. It didn't feel like the right accompaniment to a dosha-specific afternoon.
Later that evening, we went for dinner in the Spike Bar, in the main house. All the food was freshly cooked and tasty (and I wanted to take a vat of the spiced olives home with me).
I wish I could tell you what breakfast in the main house was like, as I am sure it is excellent, but we did battle with the Nespresso machine and had coffee in our room. The view over Loch Lomond while sitting in bed drinking coffee was untearawayable-from. You can take cereals and juice from The Point's kitchen, too, and watch the wind rippling the tops of the trees -- acres of birches, firs, larches, pines and sturdy oaks -- as well as the top of the loch.
Long-term effects
My shoulders felt the benefit for days.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely. The relaxing ambience of the spa in the walled garden is worth paying top dollar for.
What else could you have?
A wide range of ESPA treatments is on offer, including massages, wraps and facials, with some using the divine hot stones. Before you go out onto the greens, the Pre-Golf warm-up massage uses hot golf balls to target your driving muscles. Afterwards, the Golfer's Tonic focuses on "dissolving the tension caused by your swing" and involves exfoliation, massage, and cooling peppermint and cypress.
There are treatments aimed specifically at combating jet lag, and there are some suitable if you're pregnant, too. A new addition is a massage using Pure Lochside organic oil, exclusively blended for The Spa in the Walled Garden by a local aromatherapist. The scents of peppermint and Scottish Highland pine are both uplifting and relaxing.
You can also have a fitness assessment, book some personal training, or do Pilates and yoga. Finishing touches are available, too: manicures, pedicures, waxing and tinting.
What do you wish you'd known before you went?
That I'd want to stay for a week.
Any special features?
The walled garden itself is quite special. The space was historically the kitchen garden for the family and contains a large palm house and extensive lawns; it's a fabulous focus for a spa. Mary Queen of Scots wrote her love letters in Rossdhu Castle -- the ruins of which overlook the 18th green. That won't necessarily affect your spa treatment, but it might make you feel impossibly romantic.
Who do you think would like it?
Serious golfers, obviously; the club hosts the Scottish Open. Members and their friends. If you're there for the golf, go for the spa.
Why did you give the spa this rating?
We gave the Spa at Loch Lomond Golf Club 5 bubbles because it presents itself beautifully and the treatments are top-notch. It would benefit from an area where you could relax more with your best beloved, but it's still a serene and soothing experience all round.
See more on how we rate the spas.
Would you go again?
Yes, I would. I'd particularly like to take tea on the terrace after a treatment and enjoy the walled garden in summer weather.
We visited Loch Lomond Golf Club in November 2008
See also:
 |
|
|