Revitalise, Rebuild &Relax @ Glass House Retreat, Essex

I am a huge fan of spa days and pamper sessions, but its taken me till now to be able to venture to a retreat on my own for a few days.

This was already quite a leap for me – to go somewhere on my own and remove myself from my comfort zone, but the benefits of these few days have had a profound effect on my outlook.

On arrival, this intimate retreat is set in an abundance of corn fields and nature’s beauty surrounds the buildings; I already felt I had arrived somewhere special.

The staff are the finesse to this retreat; within a few hours, the staff had remembered my name (which made me feel special) and I didn’t feel awkward at all about being on my own. They all go above and beyond to help you and accommodate any needs.

Mericia is the General Manager, and what stood out about her, is how involved she was everywhere - she helped me in the shop area (on that note, within 2 minutes of talking to Mericia about the “Image” skincare and the smell in the hotel, I had bought the SPA CANDLE they have burning every day and products!), she was also visibly in reception area and around the whole hotel, should you need her.

The facilities at this retreat are top quality - it has a fully equipped gym, inside pool/steam/sauna, a beautiful blue dome for meditation and relaxing and a natural pool with outside sauna.

I ventured for a walk that afternoon on my own and the sheer vastness of space you can see around you just reinforces this area of relaxation.

There is no sugar, salt or caffeine at this retreat - and all the food was plant-based. Being a foodie, I was interested in trying some new dishes and was not disappointed - the presentation of the food along with the beautiful flavours complimented every dish I tried. There was no unhealthy overindulgence, everything was just right.

I slept soundly and awoke the next morning ready for my walk with other guests and guided by one of the staff Shelley, (there is a daily timetable which you can go to any/all the classes provided) followed by morning mindfulness before a healthy pancake breakfast!

(As I said at the beginning, things kept going from strength to strength!)

By this point I might add I had talked with some other guests and was feeling more settled by the hour. It was nice speaking to others, hearing how we had all come here for the same reasons, to look after ourselves.

I tried some of the spa treatments - a cryo-chamber (which was hilarious because you have to choose a song to dance around to as its freezing - I chose Bohemian rhapsody, forgot how slow it was in the beginning and had to ask Shelley to fast forward!) I really felt great by this point, and it was only 11am! Not only did my muscles feel more relaxed (as I suffer with lower bk/tight hamstrings) and my skin was so soft!

I highly recommend Louise as a therapist. I had a deep tissue massage with her which was firm (finally found someone who understands FIRM) but relaxing also.

I used the pool, and the outdoor pond and sauna and had a well-deserved snooze out on the beds in the garden. Honestly, I couldn’t recommend this place enough, and I would be writing for pages to include everything that makes this place special.

The cherry on the cake for this trip was my first ever sound bath - due to only staying 2 nights, I was going to miss out on this - but after asking reception, the lady doing the sound bath said she would do a 1 on 1 with me this evening. Well, it all got a bit much - the staffs' overwhelming kindness and will to please their guests drew a few tears from my eyes.

I met one guest on my stay here who profoundly put Glass House into words – ‘we happily spend hundreds if not thousands on hotels abroad, overindulging in food, alcohol, late nights etc; it is about time I spent money on indulging in my health and inner peace’.

Hopefully this little blog is enough of a taster to make you think about investing in some me time.