Review of Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa, York

Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa, York – 5 bubbles

York's historic Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa exudes classic opulence and contemporary grandeur. Fantastic customer service, exotic and effective treatments, and finishing touches to inspire all the senses made this a special spa experience. We loved our Germaine de Capuccini candle massage and oxygen facial.

First impressions?

What's on offer?

Which treatments did you have?

What were the treatments like?

What else could you have?

Food facts

Was it worth it?

We loved

We didn't love

Who do you think would like it?

Why did you give the spa this rating?

Would you go again?

First impressions?

The five-star Cedar Court Grand stands proudly alongside York's city wall. Designers have sympathetically refurbished the grand Edwardian building, once the extravagant headquarters of the North Eastern Railway. It reopened as a chic hotel with a subterranean spa in 2010.

A sweeping staircase and a lengthy corridor lead you to the spa, which is stationed within a vault where millions of pounds were once stowed. My friend and I checked in for our treatment with the friendly receptionists, who gave us a health consultation form, and offered us a seat. They then gave us our locker keys and showed us around the spa facilities.

What's on offer?

A gym: An adequately sized, brightly-lit cream room with parquet flooring, filled with state-of-the-art Cybex machinery.

A relaxation room: Just past the reception area, this fragrant room had four towelling-covered loungers, chill-out music playing, and a host of up-to-date magazines to browse.

To find the changing area and the treatment rooms, you must walk through a small maze of doors, some still the original vault doors. There are six pretty treatment rooms, including a double room and a manicure and pedicure room. A sign guides you to the changing rooms.

Changing rooms: Inside, there's a long wooden bench and a wall of lockers filled with weighty robes, fluffy towels and slippers. There are three showers, but only one toilet, which could be an issue if the spa was busy. There is a private changing cubicle, plus a large changing room for disabled spa-goers. Molton Brown products were available for use.

Wet and thermal facilities: The wet spa includes a 12-metre swimming pool, with a constant depth of 1.2metres. The pool is lit by colour-change mood-lighting up in the arches of the ceiling. The room décor is fairly plain, so the rapidly changing colours weren't overwhelming, but a slightly slower setting might have been more relaxing.

The unusual pool is an elongated hexagon shape. The press of a pool-edge button causes jets along the side of the pool to spurt out a strong current, to make swimming much more of a challenge - perfect for those wanting more than just a leisurely length.

There were no poolside loungers, but the perfectly hot, aromatic steam room and Nordic dry sauna are alongside the pool. The Jacuzzi, under a large feature mosaic of a Grecian face, was warm and powerfully bubbly.

Luxury hotel rooms: According to our porter, our open-plan bedroom suite was Russian style. The room was in the eaves of the building, but still had a high ceiling and feature windows with sweeping views over the historic city of York.

I loved the king-size bed, the option of a roll-top bath or double walk-in shower, and under floor heating in the bathroom.

Which treatments did you have?

My spa pal and I both enjoyed the Mediterranean Light Massage (75 minutes - £80) and Oxygen Facial (75 minutes, £75).

What were the treatments like?

The massage:

Once in the treatment room, my therapist Hannah explained the candle massage treatment. She said that I'd feel the heat of the melted wax on my skin, but that it would cool down very quickly as she smoothed her hand over it, and it became more of a massage oil. Refreshingly, she checked if I minded having my tummy massaged, if I have ticklish feet, what my preferred pressure was, and asked me to highlight any particular areas of concern.

Hannah left the room as I changed into the paper pants provided. The room was warm and dimly lit, and with quirky music playing (more contemporary than the usual panpipes!) Hannah returned and quickly mixed up a warm paste, which she then moulded into pebble shapes (these were Germaine de Capuccini "Harmony Sublime Stones"). The pebbles solidified and retained their soothing heat. Hannah pressed one into each of my palms, and positioned some on each chakra down my back, with the intention of creating a sense of harmony and relaxation.

Hannah cleansed my feet with warm flannels. She then uncovered one of my limbs at a time, drizzling the hot, oily wax on my skin, then massaged it in. When Hannah reached my back she removed the pebbles and continued to drizzle, followed by firm massage strokes. I had told Hannah about my knotty shoulders at the start of the treatment. On reaching my upper back, Hannah produced a polished goat horn for working deeply, which was very welcome. I turned over and Hannah continued by massaging both my legs, my stomach and my upper chest, protecting my modesty at all times.

In my post-massage haze, Hannah told me to come round in my own time, and fetched me a cool glass of water.

The facial:

Faye, my therapist, told me that this anti-ageing facial gives skin a big blast of oxygen to produce revitalised, radiant and detoxified skin. Faye began the treatment by patting warm, herbal compresses along my limbs. Faye left the warm poultices in the arches of my feet to keep them toasty.

Faye gently removed my eye make-up and then applied a cool, silky cleanser all over my face, neck and décolleté with a delicate touch. Next, Faye applied a grainy exfoliator, followed by a cooling toner. Faye massaged a serum into my skin and gave me a calming light-touch facial massage. Fay then applied a massage cream and gave me a face and shoulder massage which made me drift away to a very serene place.

I enjoyed the cold mask which Faye applied next. Fay advised that this was an age-guard mask to encourage oxygen to be pushed in to the deepest layers of my skin. This included a forehead and eye patch (with eye-holes cut out), a nose and mouth cover (with a mouth hole), and a neck patch. Whilst the mask was in place, Faye gave me a fabulous head massage along with some much-needed neck stretches, before peeling off the mask in one go. Finally, Fay applied a moisturising "emulsion".

My friend and I met up in the relaxation room post-treatments, and our therapists brought us pots of freshly brewed tea on a tray. We both commented on how fantastic we felt. I felt rested and happy, my skin hydrated and glowing.

What else could you have?

An enticing array of holistic, bespoke and exotic treatments using Germaine de Capuccini products. There's a host of facial therapies designed specifically for men and women, as well as "Timexpert" anti-aging treatments. Body therapies include a range of exfoliations, wraps and massages. Exotic spa rituals have been designed to tickle all of your senses.

Spa day packages cater for all, including mums-to-be, men and small groups. Signature packages are named with a railway theme, including "Full Steam Ahead" and "Orient Express Overnight Sleeper".

Food facts

If you are at Cedar Court for a spa day, you can choose your food from the light spa menu and have it brought to the relaxation room, or you can head upstairs to one of the restaurants.

In the evening, we ate in the classy Grill Room which serves classic European cuisine. We feasted upon delights such as roast guinea fowl, pesto-crusted sea bream, and a trio of rhubarb souffle, compote and ice-cream. If only there was room for an extra morsel from the vast cheese trolley.

You can also relax outside with a G 'n' T on the pretty Ruinart terrace or in the Garden lounge, or even have afternoon tea in the private HQ restaurant. Another time!

Was it worth it?

As the Cedar Court Grand is a five-star hotel, a residential spa experience may not fit everyone's budget, although the spa days and treatments are very reasonably priced.

We loved

The fantastic, professional staff.

The well-delivered and effective treatments.

The thoughtful sensory touches, such as the underfloor heating around the pool and in the changing rooms.

We didn't love

The relaxation room's noisy fire-door.

Who do you think would like it?

Business guests, well-to-do locals and tourists alike will feel very well looked after here. The spa offers membership as well as corporate membership.

Why did you give the spa this rating?

We gave Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa 5 bubbles. The amiable customer service was spot-on, we felt well catered for at all times, and the treatments were fab.