For my birthday in January Lee bought me an overnight stay at Coniston Hotel near Skipton, including breakfast and spa access for us both. He had booked it for the beginning of April which was fine by me. It was the first day off Lee had had since Christmas, except for the Easter bank holidays, and he had been working so hard so he really needed it. So we were both really looking forward to it!
We left our house just after 10am and drove to Scrap in Leeds first of all. I've heard of it loads as a lot of my friends have been, but I've never been myself. It's all repurposed art and craft supplies and I really wanted to go and I ended up loving it and I'll definitely go again! I spent eighteen pounds which wasn't bad at all. There's lots of bits I would have liked to pick up but I did restrain myself a little! Apparently there are other shops and restaurants in the same complex but we didn't see them as we wanted to get to Skipton. So we just set off.
We got there about 1pm and parked the car, and then went into a cafe to get some lunch. In fact it was the second cafe we tried because the first was incredibly rude, but there we are. Lee had a jacket potato and I had Greek salad, and we both had delicious hot chocolate with cream and a flake. Then we went into a few shops - I bought some books in charity shops, like I do - and looked at the market, where we bought a fitted sheet and a Johnny Cash t shirt that we will probably end up sharing. We went into the little shopping arcade where we went last time we went to Skipton (in summer 2022, I think) and looked in the shops there, and then went into The Cake'Ole for coffee and cake. Lee had a ridiculous Oreo milkshake and I had a coffee and we shared a piece of chocolate cake.
By this time it was getting on towards 3pm which is what time we could check in so we drove up to the hotel. We checked in and had to walk miles to our room, but it was a suite so it was really nice. It had a balcony which was also lovely. We had a spa booking at 3.30 though so we got changed into our swimming stuff and walked up to the spa at about 3.40.
It is an absolutely beautiful spa and I would definitely go again just for that. There's a lovely pool inside, three different saunas, a steam room, a jacuzzi, a bar, and outside there are two infinity pools with bubbles too. We headed out there and the water was so warm! It wasn't a warm day really but there was a nice breeze which kept us from overheating in the pool. We got some drinks from the bar and sipped them while in the pool which felt so fancy and decadent!
We did move around and I tried two of the saunas and the steam room. The jacuzzi inside was really hot so we didn't spend long in there. We left around 5.40pm, as we got two hours in our booking.
We went back to the room where I had a bath! I never have a bath because ours is tiny, but this one was big enough for me. If I had known there would be a bath I would have taken a bath bomb, but I didn't really think about it. But I used some of the stuff the hotel provided, which was lovely. Then I got in the shower to wash my hair, and finally I got ready. Lee had a shower after me.
We headed down to the dining room for 7.15. I was wearing my red leopard print dress from Yours, which is nice but not too fancy. The restaurant does feel really upmarket but not everyone was dressed up so it was fine. I had already checked the menu to make sure there was stuff we would both eat, because if not we would have gone elsewhere. But there were a few vegetarian options. In fact I think mine were both vegan. I had mushrooms on toast, which were delicious, and Lee had mushroom soup which was really good too. Then he had a margherita pizza and I had roasted cauliflower with spring vegetables and a herb puree, and fries. It was nice food, a bit fancy but delicious.
After we had eaten we went into the bar for another drink. We went back to the room at about 9pm and watched some TV before bed. I've been having problems sleeping so wanted to get a good night; I've had some Nytol and it has helped. The bed was huge and very comfy.
We got up early, at 8am, because we had breakfast included and then we had another visit to the spa, so we had to eat before that! There were a few choices from the hot menu, so Lee went for eggs florentine and I had a vegetarian breakfast. There was a buffet too, so Lee had some coco pops and I had a pain au chocolat which was lovely. We had plenty of decaf coffee, too.
We went back to the room, got changed quickly, and headed back to the spa for about 9am. It was much emptier than it had been on the Friday, so it was really lovely! We swam for a bit first, then I tried the other sauna and then we went outside again. It was so, so lovely and relaxing. We left at 11am and we had been given a late check out which was great, so we went back to the room where I had a quick shower and got dressed before we checked out. That meant I didn't have to worry for the rest of the day! We got home about 1pm. It was a lovely present and so nice for us to spend some time together.
Here's like a zillion photos... sorry!
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