| Review: Vital Leisure & Beauty Spa, nr Manchester
By Diana Clarke This revamped spa, just north of Manchester, left our reviewer slippery-limbed and loose The Dunkenhalgh
Accrington isn't the first place you think of when you imagine a spa weekend. It's probably not the fourth or fifth, either. I personally can't see the footballers' wives falling over their Manolos to desert the spas of Cheshire to prowl this suburb north of Manchester. But the haunted four-star Dunkenhalgh Hotel and its 'rejuvenated' spa and leisure complex Vital are aiming to put Accrington on the spa map. The revitalised Vital, which debuted late 2004, has always had a loyal local crowd packing the busy gym. But the new spa facilities now focus on pampering packages with a host of new facilities. The additions include a large suite of treatment rooms, a 12-metre heated pool, an aroma grotto and steam bath, two saunas, an ice fountain and a laconium. For spa-goers like me - without any idea of how to use the various rooms and services - friendly and patient staff are on hand to explain. The real relevation for me was the laconium. Invented by the Romans to ease the muscles of its finest warriors, it's a tiled, heated room which is cooler than a steamroom or sauna. It isn't a sweatbox that leaves you dripping. Instead, its warmth seeped into my bones as I relaxed inside for 20 minutes. The azure and white tiles radiated heat: I felt like I was sitting on a sun-baked wall in the Mediterranean. I could have stayed there all day. But I had other fish to fry (or stones to bake, really) as I headed down to the treatment rooms, through a maze of corridors, past the gym and the tanning salon and then the gym again...I got well and truly lost. Once I'd found my way past the Stairmaster my stress levels were high and I was well in need of the Hot Stone Massage. The brochure shows a woman serenely lying on a couch with huge stones down her spine. Once you're having the treatment though, you realise that's not possible - we're talking really hot stones! They basically become an extension of the therapist's hands, who utilises their warmth and pressure to induce incredible relaxation. Post-treatment, I sat in a state of bliss for over half an hour before I could tackle the journey through the gym back to my clothes. Unfortunately the planning of the spa facilities - squeezed into an everyday gym - means you can bump into sweaty post-gym businessmen as move from sauna to treatment room. It detracted from the four-star pampering feeling. The spa is a friendly, warm place but a separate entrance would amp up the relaxation factor. The spa's Beauty Days provide four treatments plus use of the spa. For birthday or hen night treats, a Beauty Break Pamper Night lets you hole up with friends and enjoy bed and breakfast, one treatment and use of the spa. And the 700-year-old hotel is definitely worth a visit. It's set in 17 acres of parkland and retains striking details such as exterior turrets, a wooden staircase dating from the 18th century and oak panelling. The rooms are decorated with English prints and have amenities like radios, tea- and coffee-making facilities and newspapers upon request. There's even purportedly a ghost of a young woman, ruined and deserted by her lover, who appears on Christmas Eve. The staff at the Dunkenhalgh were all keen to tell the story of the ghost who wanders the corridors looking for her long lost soul mate. So just bear in mind that the figure you see drifting silently down the hall might be a blissed-out guest swaddled in her post-treatment robe, or the lovelorn Lucette. Prices
Details and prices were correct at time of publication |