Secret Escapes has a great deal on Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa in Bagshot, Surrey. You can book one night in a Junior Suite for £225 plus a £10 booking fee. For those unfamiliar with Secret Escapes, it is a members only website with hand-picked hotels, holidays and exclusive offers. They guarantee to offer the best rates online during a sale. Every week they run up to 140 short ‘flash sales’ lasting around ten days each. It is free to join and if you use this link to sign up you will receive £15 credit off your first booking.
Pennyhill Park is a former manor house that dates back to the mid 1800s and is set in 123 acres of parkland. It is situated just outside Ascot and a 20-minute drive from Windsor. There is plenty to do nearby or you may just be like me and never want to leave the grounds! The Hotel has a nine-hole golf course, an outdoor tennis court and a range of other activities such as archery and clay pigeon shooting.
Pennyhill Park is part of the Exclusive Hotels group which also includes Lainston House near Winchester and the Manor House in the Cotswolds which I reviewed here.
In this post:
Spa
The attraction for me is definitely the spa. This is simply the best hotel spa I have been to in the UK other than purpose built spa hotels such as Ragdale Hall. The range of facilities is huge with both indoor and outdoor pools – including the 25m indoor Ballroom Pool, with underwater music. There is also an outdoor hydrotherapy pool which is reached from inside the building so great for winter time too. During warmer months the outdoor bar and kitchen is open and they will even bring you your drink in the hot tub or hydrotherapy pool!
Outside is also another jacuzzi with double bubble beds to lie on as well as the more traditional seats. Indoors is yet another hot tub, foot spas, heated stone beds, herbal steam rooms, laconium, plunge pool, ice cave, experience showers, sauna and steam rooms. Now you can see why I never left!
For those that are rugby fans, England train on grounds which are part of the Pennyhill estate and they can be seen in the spa occasionally. I spent a very enjoyable time in the hydrotherapy pool one summer evening with a G&T and most of the England Rugby team!
Note: The outdoor swimming pool will be closed until April.
Dining
The Latymer is the fine dining restaurant which formerly held 2 Michelin stars under previous chef Michael Wignall. He has been replaced by award-winning chef, Matt Worswick. Matt gained his first Michelin star at the age of 26 and has also held numerous AA rosettes. He has appeared on BBC1’s MasterChefs: The Professionals in 2010 and most recently BBC2’s Great British Menu in 2015.
I ate at the restaurant before the change of chef and loved the food and the relaxed, charming service. Although the restaurant looks quite formal the staff were full of character and not the least bit stuffy. One of the more memorable moments was when they asked if we would like our water still, sparking or ‘Eau de Bagshot’!
If you don’t fancy anything quite so fancy, there is also the Brasserie that does simpler dishes such as steak or macaroni cheese with crayfish.
You can also book a dinner package for an extra £80 but it is not worth it as it just gives you an £80 dining credit.
Rooms
The accommodation is possibly the only drawback with this deal depending on your taste. Pennyhill are gradually refurbishing their rooms but this deal includes the Classic Junior suite which is an older style room. Having in stayed in one I personally didn’t like the decor as it reminded me of a very posh old people’s home but if you like quaint English decor it may be to your taste.
Each room is individual and looking at the pictures some look a lot nicer than others. Some rooms feature four poster beds. However on the plus side the rooms are large, with very comfortable beds and high quality bed linen. The bathrooms are also a good size with feature baths as well as heated mirrors and floors. Given the amount of time you are actually in your room I wouldn’t let it put you off. If it helps, I have just booked this deal for myself despite the decor!
Offer
The offer includes:
- Accommodation in a Classic Junior suite
- Full English breakfast
- Use of the spa facilities from 3pm on your day of arrival until 2pm on your day of departure
This price is an absolute bargain as the most basic room alone is normally £315 so even with cashback it would still be more expensive. A Classic Junior Suite would normally cost £485 so you are saving £250 a night even including the booking fee of £10. If you are interested don’t hang around as the offer end on Sunday. The offer page is here.
