Watergate Bay Hotel Cornwall

Now don’t get us wrong, we love the idea of a good spa weekend as much as the next person but the pure stress of organising childcare can be enough to put us off completely.

The notion of a child friendly spa weekend first came to fruition when chatting to friends who felt the same way we did about your typical spa weekend. Yes, they wanted the treatments and a chance to just chill but the pure effort of trying to find, ok who are we kidding, beg someone to look after the kids, just isn’t worth it. 

After chatting about our dilemma with the Editor’s Beauty team (I know first world problems right?), I made it my personal mission to unearth the ultimate family spa weekend escape. A place where not only my needs for an indulgent ‘mum pampering’ session could be met but the entire family would be entertained. Oh and it better be chic, because Butlins and indulgent spa escape simply do not mix.

After some intense research and reading many a great thing about the Watergate Bay Hotel, we got in touch to see if they could make our family spa weekend a reality.

Arrangements made, we packed our things and set off for our family adventure (Ok, relaxing spa weekend for me, family adventure time for everyone else).

Arriving late afternoon after an exhausting 4 and ½ hour drive from London, we were desperate to reenergise. So following a quick check-in and informative run through of the hotels many facilities including 5 restaurants (from the much loved beach hangout ‘The Beach Hut’ to Jamie Oliver’s famed ‘Fifteen’), we went straight to our rooms to recharge and put the little man down to sleep, before refuelling our bodies at Zarcy’s with a rather indulgent 3 course meal of scrumptious pork terrine, perfectly cooked lamb, yummy triple cooked chips and homemade biscotti with Ice Cream.

And in case you are about to call child services, don’t worry, we didn’t leave our son unattended. Watergate Bay provides all parents with a monitor in the room and an ipad to take around with you, so you can enjoy eating in any of the 5 restaurants, while keeping a watchful eye on your precious bundle. Keeping with the child friendly theme, Watergate Bay also offer a special early kids sitting at Zarcy’s (at no extra cost), so little ones can eat at time that’s more suited to their schedule. That’s two ticks to the family spa weekend right there! 

Set on one of Britain’s most stunning surf beaches in North Cornwall, the Watergate Bay Hotel is a very much your contemporary beachside boutique hotel. Complete with wooden cladding and seaside paraphernalia the hotel manages to maintain a coastal ‘theme’ with out loosing out in the style stakes, think beach retreat in the Hamptons.

Continuing with the stylish, coastal charm, each room comes complete with en-suit bathroom, flat screen TV, DVD Player, iPod docking station, bathrobe, tea and coffee facilities and most importantly free wifi.  While sea views, adjoining rooms, suits and family rooms are all available at request.

 Of course our weekend at the Watergate Bay Hotel, wasn’t just about the interiors. Keen to find out if a family spa weekend is real a reality, we went to search out all they have on offer.

Alongside the all important wooden adventure playground over looking the bay, the hotel wins another tick with it’s full range of child care facilities, including a full stocked playroom, crèche, arts and craft sessions and  even music classes.

While older children and adults looking for something a little more action packed can embrace the Cornish waves and sign up for a ‘must try’ surf lesson at the Extreme Academy; Watergate Bays specialist school for surfing, kitesurfing, waveski, stand-up paddle surf and handplanning.

Since my husband is already an experienced surfer, he went on ‘daddy daycare’ while I jumped (with two very cold feet) into my first ever surf session. Lasting a total of two hours, the group lesson (made up of six adults and two children) involved teaching on both land and in water, with the end aim being able to stand on your surfboard for a couple of second and not falling too spectacularly. And you know what, despite the wind, the rain and the cold, I loved the challenge.

Perhaps one of our most welcome surprises was coming in from the surf and turning on the hotels outside shower to discover hot water. A totally genius idea by the people at the Watergate Bay Hotel

Our afternoon was spent at the hotels Swim Club, enjoying a dreamy swim in the stunning ocean view infinity pool followed and a relaxing full body massage for myself: the ideal remedy following a hard morning surfing.

 Designed for kicking back, along with their 24-meter infinity pool the Swim Club has spa treatment rooms, manicure and pedicure rooms over looking the bay and a fully stocked café/bar (because relaxation isn’t relaxation with out a good cocktail). On the odd chance you have any energy left to expel after surfing, there is a fully equipped cardio room and studio, just in case you want to add a spinning or yoga class to your schedule! If that’s not enough the Swim Club also has an outdoor hot tub, surfboard storage, changing room/wet suit drying area and beach access.

Stylish rooms, great food, spa treatments, surf and most importantly, endless entertainment for the kids, the Watergate Bay Hotel really has created the perfect blend of action and zen to give us the fun, family spa weekend we’ve been looking for.

For further information on the Watergate Bay Hotel visit watergatebay.co.uk