Katie Innes

I was lucky enough to accompany a friend on a relaxing one night break Grayshott – after she won it in the wahanda advent calender comp. We managed to fit it into our schedules just in time, we were both in dire need of a break and really needed to get out of muggy, grey London.
Grayshott met all of our needs as it couldn’t be further away from the capital (even though in reality it is only an hour’s train ride to get there) From the moment we arrived to the moment we left we felt as though we were wrapped in cotton wool, in a blissful world where life was just for relaxing and pampering.
Grayshott’s grounds are magnificent, the house feels like you are in a romantic novel and the views from our window (overlooking the heated outdoor swimming pool no less) were astounding. I could happily have stayed in our room for the entire visit – the bath tub was huge, the shower had two heads and we even had our own little living area with not one, but two flat screen TVs. However, with the extension of facilities at Grayshott it would have been a complete waste for us to spend our two days indoors and we immediately rushed down to the pool for a swim. I was a bit disappointed to discover that the female spa area, with sauna, steam and relaxation room, was a small distance away from the pool as I do like to alternate my swimming with some time in the steam. It also meant many a dripping wet trip along the corridors back and forth.
All food is included in the price of your stay so on arrival we enjoyed a delicious (albeit small) 3-course meal which was delicious but so tiny we both felt we could have eaten it again. Grayshott recently won an award for ‘Best For Weight loss’ and if I wanted to lose some weight I definitely would book myself in for a couple of weeks but on this occasion my friend and I just fancied a girlie break away and didn’t appreciate being put on an enforced diet.
Luckily, the breakfast and lunch are buffet style eating and I am not ashamed to say we embarrassed ourselves by going up a couple of times!
As part of the prize we were booked in for a full body massage – just the ticket for aching, office shoulders – but we were both a little bit annoyed that our masseuses were men and we hadn’t been given an option to choose. However, half an hour into the massage I didn’t care who was massaging me – it was so blissful!
We both left with glowing skin and an immense feeling of relaxation – though we were very scared to face London and it’s tubes again! If I could afford it, I would definitely book myself in for a long stay as there was so much to do and we didn’t manage to fit it all in. Either that or I’ll manically enter all wahanda competitions from now on… and I suggest you all do the same!

I go here once a week for trampoline classes as they hold drop in sessions for adults on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It is a really friendly centre with a real family feel about it. And I absolutely love the trampolines there. I’ve been to quite a few trampoline classes and normally you have a lot of standing about and not a lot of time actually bouncing but at Sobell they limit the number of places each session and each time I’ve been I’ve never had to share my trampoline with more than two people. Each session lasts an hour and half and costs six pounds which is really cheap considering how long you get on the trampoline. The tutor is really nice but most importantly lets you do your own thing (it’s quite hard to teach someone how to jump in the correct way: you just have to watch and practice) You also have the privilege of being in the same room as the climbing wall so there’s some good eye candy to ogle whilst waiting for your turn!
There are loads of other classes at the centre which I’m interested in trying out: reggae aerobics is definitely next on my list!

There are three things I want from my hairdresser: a nice haircut (obviously), a good selection of magazines and a no tolerance policy to judging customers. The latter is surprisingly more important to me than coming out with my hair intact: a bad haircut can grow out- hair shame can last a lifetime. Every time I visit a hair salon, eager for some well deserved pampering I always get the same thing: “oh… do you swim a lot?” which is always followed by a sigh of disapproval, a lecture on the dangers my innocent hobby is doing to my hair followed by the hard sell for whatever new shampoo they’ve got in store. There’s that and of course the lecture of how long it has been since my last haircut and how the shampoo I use is ultimately killing my hair (my friend was once actually told her hair was ‘dead inside’ simply because she admitted to using shampoo from Boots.)Now, I feel guilty about many things in my life (indulging in a chocolate brownie, catching the bus two stops and going over my daily unit allowance with far too much gin) but I most certainly do not deserve to be made to feel guilty about what I do with my own hair.
Hair By Fairy was refreshing as it provided me with a completely guilt free haircut. It did, however, also provide me with a completely chat free haircut. On arrival at the salon I was left in a confusing position when after telling the receptionist what I wanted I was instructed to ‘sit’ in the waiting area, I did as I was told only to remember that I’d left my purse in my jacket so I quickly stood up to get it. But then whilst retrieving it I heard the receptionist shout ‘sit!’ again. Thinking I was being told off like an errant child I scuttled back to my seat, at which point the receptionist shouted ‘sit’ again (by this point I was completely bewildered, I was already sitting!) but it turns out he meant I was to go sit on a different chair to get my hair washed (instructed by a pointed finger.) I sat down expecting the regular hair wash chat but wasn’t even greeted with a ‘hello’ or even a ‘place your head here.’ Of course I knew where to place my head, but a little reassuring chat would have been nice. She began to wash my hair with shampoo that smelled of almonds (which I loved so much I wouldn’t have minded the hard sell) and then instructed me to another place to ‘sit.’ I was beginning to feel like I was on a production line.
It was time for my haircut and I was getting nervous, I had no idea whether the receptionist had my hairdresser what I wanted and feared leaving the salon with soaking wet hair or even worse dreadlocks. Noticing the picture in my white knuckled fist my stylist took it off me, glanced, said ‘very nice’ (finally some real conversation) and began to chop. Looking at the dirty towel of filthy scissors in front of me and smelling the reek of smoke which surrounded my stylist, I did not have high hopes for the cut. Sensing my discomfort and my darting eyes trying hard to stare at anything but myself in the mirror my stylist offered me a selection of magazines to read, feeling cheered by my second wish fulfilled I settled into an old copy of Cosmopolitan only to glance up occasionally to make sure my hair was still there.
Within no time my hair was done and guess what? I’m utterly and completely delighted with it. It’s just the right length, got a lot of layers and I don’t think it will take too long to style in the morning. And all for a very reasonable £13, except it wasn’t £13 but £33- with twenty quid being added on simply because I wanted a blow dry. I coughed up the cash of course and am still very pleased with my style but a pampering experience this certainly was not and for that I’m not sure if it was worth the money. I’m also intrigued to see how much other wahanda customers have been charged for a cut and blow dry as with no definite price list they could have just plucked the cost from thin (h)air.
Overall though, I’m very pleased with the cut and now I know to expect a no frill service I will certainly be back (but this time I might dry my hair at home.)

I've recently been experiencing pain in my stomach after eating and mystified by what it is I've been to see the doctor about it time and time again. After countless trips I realised that I was always given conflicting advice and never properly listened to. I decided to try something new. I've always been interested in herbal medicine as when I was a child my bruises were treated with arnica and my mum always kept me topped up with echinacea. Napiers seemed the obvious choice as family and friends had been going there for years and it is something of an Edinburgh institution.
I was lucky enough to be seen by Dee Atkinson, who runs Napiers. She listened to me carefully and asked me a lot of questions about my lifestyle, diet and past history. She appreciated that I had been under a lot of stress lately and took this into account (unlike the doctors I'd seen!) After an hour long session of mapping out my lifestyle Dee fellt that all the stress I was under was producing excess acid in my stomach which was what was causing the pain. She gave me a prescription for two types of herbal medicine which she and I hoped would work. At Napiers they mix different herbal medicines to match your symptoms so you're prescription is entirely unique to you. Dee was very helpful and explained everything she had put into my prescriptive medicine and it ranged from marshmallow to aloe vera. She also explained why these ingrediants would work. I was prescribed liquid medicine to take daily, diluted with water and a capsule to be taken twice daily which contained the same friendly bacteria that is found in pro-biotic drinks.
The session, however, did amount to a huge bill which I was reluctant to pay considering I had no clue whether this medicine would work. Luckily it did! My pain reduced dramatically whilst I was taking the medicine and has since gone away as I am under less stress (something Dee predicted). I am, however, grateful that I don't have to take the medicine anymore as I could not afford to keep paying the amount of money charged (around 40 pounds) each month that they were asking.
Ulitmately I found the experience very helpful and I really appreciated being listened to and sympathised with about my symptoms, that in itself helped my stress levels lower. It was also lovely how everything was well explained as venturing into alternative medicines can sometimes seem tricky.

I was a member of this spa and gym whilst I was studying at Sheffield University. I chose it, as although a lot more expensive than the University gym, I liked the idea of exercising somewhere quiet (as I was feeling quite insecure about my body at the time). This was certainly one of the plusses of being a member as the pool and gym were rarely busy. Regarding swimming this was quite lucky as the pool was very small so with three people in it it became far too crowded. The gym was lovely though, with machines for all types of exercise and a free personal trainer session with your membership. I was asked about how often I liked to exercise and what my diet was like and was devised a shorter and longer exercise regime depending on what I felt like. I liked the fact that each machine was connected to a cable television so I often did my work out whilst watching Friends!
Relaxation wise the sauna and steam rooms were wonderful (so wonderful I spent more time in them than working out) although walking in between them was a bit chilly. I even once had the privilige of sharing my steam with Shayne Ward!
Overall, I don't think my time at the Mercure was worth the money. I found little benefits of being a member (when my Dad came to stay I couldn't offer him a discount on his hotel room, I wasn't allowed any guest passes etc) and I found the staff didn't work hard enough to get to know the regulars.

A friend received free day passes to this spa through the accomodation she was staying at in Edinburgh. It was one of those roasting hot days where you can't bear to be outdoors but feel too guilty to stay indoors so we decided to treat ourselves to the ultimate relaxing cool down: a swim in their stainless steel swimming pool. And it certainly delivered! We spent such a nice relaxing afternoon alternating trips in the sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, tropical showers and pool before heading off and using all the lovely Cow body lotions they offer you complimentary whilst drying off. Didn't get a chance to get a treatment but saw plenty I fancied, and would love one day to treat me and my friends to a Sex and They City pampering day where you watch the much loved series whilst pampering yourself Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha style!

I was recommened to come here by my Dad after my family went through a period of great stress and sadness. I hadn't wanted to try councelling as I didn't feel ready to talk about it, but Cindy (who was my Dad's masseuse) recommended me receiving a massage as I was probably holding a lot of stress in my back and shoulders. It was the first time I'd ever received a massage and I was quite nervous about it. Straight away the homely enviroment and comfy chairs and friendly receptionist eased my worries, it wasn't at all clinical and I didn't feel guilty about not having manicured nails and neat hair! Cindy immediatly made me feel at ease, asked me how I was feeling but didn't probe too deep. The massage was an hour long (I can't remember how much it cost as my Dad paid for it!) but it did me the world of good. I was indeed holding so much stress in my back and shoulders and Cindy kneaded all this out without causing me too much pain. Afterwards, I felt light and refreshed and more positive about the future. My worries at home were still there but no longer did I show them with a slump! I try to go back whenever I am in Edinburgh and can afford it and would recommend going along to anyone wanting to clear their mind of stress.