Review: Vital Leisure & Beauty Spa, nr Manchester

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
Beauty Break Pamper Night £70.00
Beauty Day Programmes between £100-120
Luxury Pamper Days from £79.00
Vital Leisure Club Membership from £39.00 a month

Details and prices were correct at time of publication