Relaxing at Stoke by Nayland Resort

It was my birthday in February, so Dann and I decided to spend the night at Stoke by Nayland Resort, experiencing their spa, restaurant and spending the night there! This location is a little out in the countryside, with not much around it (we didn’t even have cell service!) but there was plenty of relaxing to be done in the building itself! The main reason we picked Stoke by Nayland Resort was due to their spa package, of which they have a really amazing looking spa that we just had to go and take advantage of.

Stoke by Nayland Spa

There are tons of spa packages that you can get when booking up Stoke by Nayland, which include different treatments. On the day, you can also book up individual treatments and just generally use the various spa features. We booked up the risul mud treatment, while having little to no idea on what it would be. When arriving to use the spa, you can check in at the front desk and then are given a waver to sign, which just states you are well enough for treatments. You also get a goodie bag which contains your locker number and code, and then a bunch of gift vouchers and money off if you want to buy any of their products. The changing rooms contain towels and your locker has a robe which you can purchase for £25 as well as flipflops that you can keep. The lockers are unlocked using a code, so you don’t need to carry around a key.

We got changed into our swim gear and robes, then waited for our mud treatment. This treatment was really interesting actually! Dann and I went into a room with an instructor. This seemed like one of those old fashion, sweat room type things. This instructor then brought out various plates of mud, telling us where we should put the mud. It’s like a giant face mask for your whole body, with specialty clay and mud for your legs, back, front, face, and arms. Each of the muds were different colors and textures as well. Once we had been covered in mud, we were left to wait for ten minutes in special chairs in a room, before the ceiling opened up, pouring water all over us! We scrubbed the clay and mud off using a sugar scrub that smelled amazing, before leaving. Our skin was really refreshed and amazing after this!

The rest of the spa is pretty straight forward and you do not need to book anything special for them. Stoke by Nayland spa has a large swimming pool divided into lanes, a beautiful Jacuzzi that we spent a lot of time in, a steam room which was out of order, and a dry sauna which was well maintained. There were various showers for cooling off after saunas trips, as well as a really cold ice shower which Dann tried a few times! Behind a curtain, there are some seating areas that are meant to be more silent or relaxing, but there is also a massive ice shower on one wall, which feels odd in the room. Over all, it was a smaller spa then we have previously been too, but it was nice. You can also hop over road trip in Berkshire as that can assure the greatest experience of all.

We also got an afternoon tea as apart of our package, which had a really decent spread of stuff! This was severed in the spa area’s cafe, which was nice, overlooking the pool and people hanging out in the spa. Our meal was delicious, with a lot of great bites that felt like elevated British classics that I enjoyed very much for the first time. We also had a glass of prosecco each, to top it off.

Lakes Restaurant

Like most spa and hotel combinations, there is an attached restaurant at Stoke by Nayland, called Lakes Restaurant. This restaurant is a really fancy feeling place, with an amazing menu. There are not many options, but everything was so well done. Dann and I got an Asian inspired mushroom dish which was really, really delicious. Easily one of the best starters I have ever had. I had the duck for a main, which was super well cooked. It came with this potato side which was crispy and soft at the same time, making for a delicious way to eat potato. For dessert, Dann and I had the same honeycomb cheesecake, which was a textural journey with so many different toppings and textures on it!

We also had the full breakfast each day in the Lakes Restaurant, which included anything you could have ever wanted – and if not you could easily ask one of the servers for it! I ended up ordered some poached eggs, eating bacon, sausage, fruit, jams on breads, and pastries. It was a delicious breakfast, with so many options, and a beautiful view of the golf course!

Room and Golf Course

Speaking of the golf course, Stoke by Nayland is on a massive golf course, if that’s your thing, and has a lot of golf course users around. It’s a beautiful looking course, though we didn’t take part in it. When it came to our room, we had a massive bed, that was the softest I have ever slept in. Honestly, we could have fit two more people in this bed – it was just so big. There was also a desk, TV, you know, the normal hotel room things. The bathroom was big, with a nice sized bath too. We enjoyed our time in the room, though it wasn’t the biggest focus of our time at the location, it was an acceptation room.

Stoke by Naylands feels like a really upper class place to stay, but unlike other golf clubs, you do not need to be a member to relax there. The spa is lovely, the staff is very nice, and everything you need for a nice little getaway is all in one place.

You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!