An earthly blissful paradise of a day - Lime Wood House spa

Imagine lying on a bed of bubbles. In front of you the bubbles roll forward and off the edge of an infinity pool. The water is warm, the lighting is low, the walls are covered in dark slate and outside the trees are sprouting bright green in springtime.

~ outdoor hot pool at the Herb House spa ~

~ April sunshine ~

I'm in the New Forest at the Herb House spa in the grounds of Lime Wood Hotel and I'm with the sis and our mother on a girl's day treat. 

~ hydro pool with a view ~

Starting early-ish we chose to have massages before taking our time to explore the other facilities.

During my massage, I was impressed by the high-tech heated massage bed that smoothly brought me back into an upright position after the treatment had ended.

~ entrance to the changing room ~

My senses had been stimulated by the smell of rosemary and my muscles un-knotted using Bamford essential oils.

~ herbiary ~

~ stone pestle and mortar ~

Relaxed and a little crumpled looking we three were reunited and invited to enjoy the facilities. Everywhere there were baskets of towels and flip flops in case you needed replacements.

Beside each other were the options of a steam room and sauna, while in a corner was a heated stone semi-circular seating area with a heated stone for your feet. It felt lush.

The indoor pool was serene and empty with a skylight flooding the space with light and calm. Outside connected by floor length glass doors was another heated pool.

~ Indoor swimming pool at Herb House spa ~

We ordered raspberry smoothies and sat lounging, enjoying the late April sunshine and smiling a lot. (That was me doing the smiling).

Up a flight of stairs was more seating in amongst a roof herbiary. On one side a yoga class was in full leg-up progress surrounded by four gnarled old Olive trees and fifteen varieties of mint – ranging from chocolate, banana, pineapple, apple and coconut to better known spearmint and peppermint.

Mingled in with the mint were other fragrant herbs including bergamot and cotton lavender, lemon verbena and catmint, purple sage and rosemary as well as white lavender and variegated sage.

It was soon time for lunch so with regret we left this peaceful retreat for some refreshment. We ordered platters to share, choosing the Forest Board of home-cured charcuterie, smoked in their Smokehouse, with local award-winning cheese, herb house olives, tomatoes, house-baked bread and apple chutney. The other platter we ordered was the Raw Picnic Board with a small mix of salads, a variety of root dips, dehydrated flaxseed vegetables crisps, crudités and mini kitchen tortilla, which all came beautifully presented and tasted great too.

~ cheese and ham platter ~

~ salads and dips platter ~

Once lunch was over we had a wander round the grounds where I found a giant silver fish, a pond with tadpoles and an oak leaf swing.

~ silver fish at Lime Wood House ~

~ tadpoles in the pond ~

~ oak leaf swing ~

It was an earthly blissful paradise of a day. 

~ Lime Wood House ~

~ spring blossom ~

To find out more click on Lime Wood Hotel spa packages

Lime Wood, Beaulieu Rd, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7FZ England

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