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I am a huge lover of a spa day! A day to dip in the pool, and lounge on a day bed until your heart’s content (or until it’s school run time!) With Mother’s Day round the corner, and with a fair amount of stress going on, what better way to spend the day then with your mum catching up and feeling fully pampered.
I live in between Bournemouth & Southampton so have the luxury of having a Hilton hotel either side of me, and I have been to the Bournemouth Hilton Many a time for some cocktails and Afternoon tea. So when the opportunity arose to experience the eforea spa at the Southampton Hilton I couldn’t wait!
So, on Tuesday I picked my mum up, and we got to the Hilton around 10 eager to find out what they had in store.
The lovely lady at reception gave us a tour around the spa and explained where everything was, before supplying us with a towel, slippers and a cosy white robe.
Everywhere I looked was pristine and beautiful. The changing rooms were huge, with showers, lockers, vanity tables and hairdryers (perfect for getting ready if you have a reservation at their restaurant Beefy’s later that night!)
We made our way to the day beds by the hydrotherapy pool, and spent an hour catching up on those and the hot stone beds. Now I have to say these were one of my favourite parts of the day! I could have nodded off, perfect after a dip in the pool to dry off and warm up. The room smelt incredible (some had essential oils in!) and looking up to a ceiling of twinkly lights just felt dreamy! I felt very spoilt as a normal Tuesday morning consists of the school run, and then heading into the office for the day! So this was a right treat!
We booked an afternoon tea in for 1pm, but by 11am we fancied a little tipple of something (when in Rome right!?) so we made our way to the spa kitchen. Again beautifully laid out, white chairs, grey sofas, light wood floors and a pretty leaf pattern on the windows which overlooked the golf course.
The cafe have a great range of drinks, alcoholic, mock-tails, hot drinks, juices and some lunch options including Caesar salads and sandwiches, and of course afternoon tea!
We still had a couple of hours until our food, so we drank our fizz and headed back to the spa. Next stop was the outdoor hot tub! We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day too! The sun was shining, and the hot tub overlooks the golf course and the lake!
I can imagine it’s perfect in the summer, as they had plenty of outdoor seating too.
I decided to try out the steam rooms next which both smelt amazing, and then had a little sit down in the sauna. I tend not to spend too long as I just can’t cope getting so hot, but there is something great about sweating out all the toxins in your body – they also have an ice fountain situated in between the steam rooms, so you can cool down after. Meanwhile mum was using the foot spa which was infused by essential oils.
Now let’s talk food! We headed back up and ordered a couple more drinks (the strawberry and passion fruit mock-tail is absolutely divine by the way!)
We were brought a tower of goodies, 3 brioche rolls each with egg, tuna, and cheese and onion in! I loved the brioche and felt they were a great size to not fill up on and for me (being a huge sweet tooth) the scones and cakes feel like the main event!
Next is the cake tier, 3 beautiful looking cakes each – a mini Victoria sponge, a carrot cake and a cream horn! All so sweet, fluffy and delicious.
And lastly but definitely not least the top tier with a plain scone and a fruit scone each, a jar of Jam and some clotted cream. The scones were incredible melt in the mouth scones, and writing this now I definitely wish I had some now!
All In all a beautiful and delicious afternoon tea, and one I would definitely recommend trying!
After lunch, both feeling very full we decided to try out the transition room – filled with teal sofas, mood lighting, light music, and a counter to help yourself to fruit tea and citrus infused water. We sat there for a while reading our books and just taking it all in. It felt very luxurious, and a place where you could very easily nod off!
Situated next to the transition room is the deep relax room. A room which is a lot darker and had 3 pods hanging from the ceiling with blankets and pillows, a place you could truly have some time out.
We headed back to the main pool area again, and I had a little float in their hydrotherapy pool, which had 2 built in loungers with jets that felt amazing, two fountains in the middle and a built in jacuzzi.
We lulled for the rest of the afternoon swapping between the hot stone beds and the sauna. They also have a few feature showers situated around the room, one including an ice shower, and wall jets! Although I can’t say I was brave enough for the artic cold I imagine it’s very refreshing after the steam rooms and sauna.
It got to 4pm before we decided to head back to the changing rooms and get dressed, however the spa is open until 8pm if you wish to stay later. They also have 8 treatment rooms if you wanted to book in for a massage, facial, manicure etc. Alternatively if you’d prefer not to have treatments like us you can still come for the day to enjoy the spa for £25 mon-thurs or £35 for the weekend.
I honestly can not fault our time at the Hilton. The staff are all exceptionally friendly, and nothing seems to be too much trouble. Everywhere is beautiful and clean, and I could not recommend it enough – whether your treating your mum for Mother’s Day, going for your birthday, celebrating an anniversary with your other half, or just for a treat me day with your girlfriends it’s absolutely perfect!
You can find more out about what treatments they have to offer and their packages Here.
I want to say a huge thank you for The Hilton, and eforea spa for having us for the day. I came away feeling so relaxed and in my own little bliss bubble.
We were very kindly gifted our spa day and afternoon tea for the purpose of this post, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own, and I cannot recommend it enough! I cannot wait to visit again – and stay tuned for my next post on Friday where I talk about their restaurant Beefy’s!
See you then xo
