This past weekend, my husband and I enjoyed our first short getaway at The Grove since moving to the UK eight(!) months ago. It was long overdue and very relaxing — as relaxing as anything can be these days with social distancing, masks and temperature checks (all good things).
We chose The Grove for two reasons: location and activities. Located in Hertfordshire, it took only 45 minutes door to door by car from our West London flat. This was a nice way to get a change of scenery without spending hours on trains or planes. The activities included golf for my husband and a spa for me. Gotta get work done on my face whenever I can, right?
I’m not gonna talk about the golf because, I’ve got years to get into that before my husband and I retire (sorry, love). I’m told it was amazing.
What I can talk about are the treatment’s received at The Grove’s Sequoia Spa. Set a short walk from the main house, this beautiful facility includes an indoor pool covered in black tiles (a bit freaky to swim in), a gym with fitness classes, a juice bar and a range of treatment rooms. All of the facilities were supremely clean and the staff did an excellent job monitoring the volume of guests. The way they scheduled treatments, I was typically only around a few people at most, which put my mind at ease.
The two treatments I elected to try were the Couture Massage and the Couture Facial. The massage was one of the best I’ve had anywhere. Hands down. After a back scrub, my therapist massaged the backside of my body. Once I flipped over, she performed a mini facial, cleansing the skin and applying a mask. While the mask sunk in, she massaged the front side of my body. It was so relaxing and really felt like a great value. If you can only get one treatment done, I recommend this one.
The Couture Facial I enjoyed, but you have to remember it’s not going to be the same as one you might get at a regular esthetician’s office. I really enjoyed the deep cleanse, which was followed by a glycolic peel, a clarifying mask, a moisturizing mask and application of products appropriate for my skin tone (I’ll be sharing those on my Instagram starting tomorrow). There was also plenty of relaxing facial massage throughout. However, with skin as oily as mine, I was very much in need of some extractions or a physical exfoliant like microdermabrasion.
I didn’t take any photos of the spa, out of respect for the other guests. But I really enjoyed trying out the sauna, steam room and relaxation room, which featured memory foam beds and a variety of teas. The changing room (as well as the rest of the hotel) offered ESPA products while my facial involved treatments by Natura Bissé. I actually came down there to blow out my hair because they had Dryson hairdryers, haha.
We also got lucky that one day was warm and sunny enough to enjoy the outdoor pool, which nicely rounded out the spa experience. Wearing a hat after my facial and slathered in SPF, it felt so nice to take a dip and then sit under an umbrella with a book and a cocktail and breathe in the fresh country air. (And then the next day it was cold and rainy. Ah, British summers.)
All of the staff at The Grove. Everyone went out of their way to make us feel looked after. I know we’ll be back soon.
