Babington House
Northeast Somerset, United Kingdom[view map]
Comments from members who've stayed at Babington House
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Babington House
We had a delicious dinner at the Moody Goose at the Old Priory Hotel, Midsomer Norton (+44 (0)1761 416784). The food, service and wine were all excellent and the 15th-century priory were gorgeous – we highly recommend it.
Babington House
I was enjoying a honeymoon night with my husband and we wanted to make the most of it - the first night away together without our one year old daughter - and we didn't really have any plans as it was a last minute thing (wedding planned for a year but he didn't get around it...!)
My husband was a bit reluctant to have a spa treatment as it's not his 'thing' - "boring, pointless and waste of money". But the couples' mud treatment sounded like fun - and was something we could do together. Also "sensibly priced" compared to the rest of the spa menu, at £80 for two, for one hour.
Spa surroundings felt relaxed and comfortable and the attendant was friendly and not too in your face and talked through everything very clearly. She first showed us to our personal lockers and changing rooms (generously stocked, like all the hotel facilities, with free 'cowshed' goodies and teddy-bear like robes and towels). Then she took us to a tiled room with two seats, about the same size as a typical spa steam bath; also with a small ante room. There were 4 pots of mud - different colours and consistencies for face, torso, bum and legs and back. We had loads of fun plastering each other in the stuff, so we looked like some undiscovered tribe. The thinner muds dried quickly and cracked, but the back stuff stayed thick and cool - so you could draw on it with fingers! forget about naughty stuff though because this stuff got everywhere even without it.
We chose when to activate the steam... the lights dimmed, and we were engulfed in a cloud of damp heat. A lot nicer than it sounded, very relaxing in fact with twinkly lights and soothing (not annoying) music.
After the steam, we'd been warned that cold 'rainshower' showers would come on automatically - this added a certain frisson! but we managed to avoid being engulfed and used the controllable shower instead. We got all the mud off and exfoliated with the salt they provided (this would have been spearmint scented but on request they left this plain, simply because i hate the smell). Could have done with a couple of extra flannels at this point, and a mirror in the anteroom.
It's worth mentioning as an example of how helpful the staff are that normally the steam would have been lavender scented - since I'd mentioned that I'm allergic to creams containing this, the staff removed the lavender and on their own intiative, ran the steam twice before our treatment to ensure it was lavender-free)
Generally, at Babington House we really enjoyed the grown-up atmosphere and the feeling that nothing was too much trouble for the staff. Also delighted not just by the fabulous room, food and surroundings but also by the quirky touches like the knitted tea cosy on the teapot in our room.
My husband was a bit reluctant to have a spa treatment as it's not his 'thing' - "boring, pointless and waste of money". But the couples' mud treatment sounded like fun - and was something we could do together. Also "sensibly priced" compared to the rest of the spa menu, at £80 for two, for one hour.
Spa surroundings felt relaxed and comfortable and the attendant was friendly and not too in your face and talked through everything very clearly. She first showed us to our personal lockers and changing rooms (generously stocked, like all the hotel facilities, with free 'cowshed' goodies and teddy-bear like robes and towels). Then she took us to a tiled room with two seats, about the same size as a typical spa steam bath; also with a small ante room. There were 4 pots of mud - different colours and consistencies for face, torso, bum and legs and back. We had loads of fun plastering each other in the stuff, so we looked like some undiscovered tribe. The thinner muds dried quickly and cracked, but the back stuff stayed thick and cool - so you could draw on it with fingers! forget about naughty stuff though because this stuff got everywhere even without it.
We chose when to activate the steam... the lights dimmed, and we were engulfed in a cloud of damp heat. A lot nicer than it sounded, very relaxing in fact with twinkly lights and soothing (not annoying) music.
After the steam, we'd been warned that cold 'rainshower' showers would come on automatically - this added a certain frisson! but we managed to avoid being engulfed and used the controllable shower instead. We got all the mud off and exfoliated with the salt they provided (this would have been spearmint scented but on request they left this plain, simply because i hate the smell). Could have done with a couple of extra flannels at this point, and a mirror in the anteroom.
It's worth mentioning as an example of how helpful the staff are that normally the steam would have been lavender scented - since I'd mentioned that I'm allergic to creams containing this, the staff removed the lavender and on their own intiative, ran the steam twice before our treatment to ensure it was lavender-free)
Generally, at Babington House we really enjoyed the grown-up atmosphere and the feeling that nothing was too much trouble for the staff. Also delighted not just by the fabulous room, food and surroundings but also by the quirky touches like the knitted tea cosy on the teapot in our room.
