A few weeks ago, I got an email from Groupon asking if I wanted to review their service and being the affable gal that I am, I said “ooh, yes please!”. They offered me an amount to spend on the site and off I went to look for a product or experience that I’d like to try. I browsed for a while before happening upon a spa experience for two that was in my local area. Trouble was, it was more expensive than the amount that Groupon had offered, so I went back and told them and they said “That’s fine!”, which was a lovely thing for them to do! I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of a spa day than my best friend, Jamillah, who as well as starting her new blog, Bare Beginnings this week, is a mum to three boys of three and under (who are just the scrummiest creatures) is studying for a degree and starting her own business!
The whole process was seriously simple. Groupon emailed me a voucher code, I went onto the site, purchased the deal I wanted with the voucher and waited for an email. Once the email arrived, I called the spa, set up the appointment and that was it! I didn’t even need to print the voucher off as I have the Groupon App on my iPhone, which shows ‘Your Groupons’ and allows you to extract the codes you need to give to the participating retailer.
This is actually the second time I’ve used Groupon, the first was a voucher that Husband bought for me for a massively reduced cut and colour at a local salon and I have to say, in terms of savings these vouchers work out really well. This package for the spa should have cost £170 but we got it for £46, which I think works out at 74% off. The vouchers would make a brilliant gift for Christmas as you could even book the appointment for the person and then just present them with an appointment card for their treatment.
The spa we chose is called Destination and is in the heart of Leigh Broadway, which is full of shops, cafes, bistros and bars, so there’s plenty of places in the close vicinity to make a real day of it. We handed in our coats and shoes and were given some cosy slippers to don, then walked through to the waiting area where we were sat down in comfy recliners with low lighting and gentle music while we filled in our treatment cards.
The treatment room itself, which we were then led through to, was beautiful; the ceiling was draped with purple fabric and the carpet was about a mile deep. There was a small fireplace which kept the room really toasty and even the treatment stations were in keeping with the relaxing atmosphere of the room, which earthy wooden bowls and interesting-looking brushes! We laid down and waited for the treatment to begin.
Our therapists came in and started the treatments, a facial and massage, and both Jamillah and I were virgins on that front before this day. It’s hard to know what to say here without using the words ‘rubbing’, ‘oils’ and ‘OH MY WOW!’ but basically, the most relaxing 45 minutes of our lives ensued. One thing we both commented on was that the music in the rooms wasn’t your usual wishy-washy whale song type thing which just starts to sound awful after a while. It was calm and relaxing but in a contemporary kind of way and there was something a but autumnal about it too which was very nice.
Once our time was up, it took us both a while to come back into the land of the living – I don’t think I’ve ever actually been that relaxed before without being asleep and the feeling was just incredible. The oils smelled so rich and delightful and my skin looked better than it has in years. In fact, it still looks pretty good, a few weeks on.
All in all, I think I can recommend both Groupon and Destination wholeheartedly. Jamillah and I have vowed that we’re going to make a more regular thing of taking the time to pamper ourselves so we’ll be keeping a close eye on all of the Groupon deals on offer in the future. Being able to spend time with my best friend in a truly relaxing environment like that was a true gift and I can’t thank Groupon enough for the opportunity to do it.
We were given a £50 voucher to spend on Groupon for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are my own and it no way influenced by any products or services offered.
