The Waterfront Hotel and Y Spa – Wyboston Lakes Review

Last week I took a trip to meet up with my two blogging buddies; Erica – The Incidental Parent – and Nikki – Yorkshire Wonders.
We have been trying to arrange a date and location for a catch up for months now so when we were invited to review the Sunrise Hideaway package Y Spa at The Waterfront Hotel – Wyboston Lakes Resort we had the perfect opportunity to catch up and relax.

Based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire The Waterfront Hotel is located down a blink and you’ll miss it junction off the A1. Easy to reach by car and a 10 minute taxi ride from the train station. Given that we’re based at opposite ends of the country, The Waterfront Hotel provided a good middle meeting point for us all.

The Waterfront Hotel and Y Spa – Wyboston Lakes

Despite being so close to the main road, it really does feel like a haven of tranquillity set alongside a beautiful lake. As the weather was so nice and we had a lot to talk about, we grabbed a bottle of wine and parked ourselves lakeside for a good catch up. We also sat outside after dinner – despite lights being scattered about, they weren’t turned on during the evening which is a real shame as the lake is the most beautiful feature of the hotel.

The Waterfront Hotel Rooms

We were each given a superior room for our stay, despite these being the ‘cheaper’ rooms they were a really decent size. With a super king bed, walk in shower, 42 inch TV and a tablet with internet access and all the hotel information you could require. There was a dressing table big enough to put all my hair and make up things on and I was really pleased to find that the tea & coffee tray actually had coffee brew bags rather than sachets of bad tasting coffee – this room is perfect for a short stay.

The Waterfront Hotel Brasserie

A three course meal was included in our stay so we headed to the Brasserie to see what was on offer. The Brasserie is lovely, spacious and overlooked the lake. It wasn’t busy in the restaurant but an attached room had a function on so it was a bit loud. Luckily, we weren’t there for a romantic meal.

With the three course menu you can choose either two dishes from the ‘while you wait’ section or one starter. Erica and I both ordered Brie Bites and artisan bread – both were lovely, in fact, I’d argue that maybe there was a little too much bread (things I never thought I’d say).

Nikki ordered the chorizo sausage and I did find myself with a little sausage envy.

For our main course, Erica and I copied again – Potato Gnocchi with wild mushroom, spinach, cream and Parmesan it was really tasty but a little rich and claggy so I couldn’t finish the meal.

Nikki chose the confit of pork (sans ‘green stuff) with mustard mash and carrots – I once again wished I’d chosen that.

Due to the function in the restaurant, there was a long delay between collecting our plates and taking our dessert order so we decided to take our dessert outside to enjoy the balmy evening by the lake.

 

The cheesecake I ordered was beautiful and Erica’s sticky toffee pudding looked amazing but the long wait between courses meant I wasn’t really up for dessert in the end. Besides we are parents spending a night away without our kids, we want to do the important stuff like have an early night!

The Waterfront Hotel Breakfast

Breakfast is served until 11am, it’s always nice not to have to rush for a breakfast. We headed down to the restaurant where we were seated. The breakfast offerings are both continental and cooked – served buffet style, you can request certain ‘cooked to order’ items like veggie sausages, poached eggs and omelettes. I am not a big breakfast fan so I opted for a croissant and some melon. The cooked breakfast did look beautiful though.

The Waterfront Hotel Y Spa Review

Now, here’s an interesting fact – I have never spa-d before. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous.
We were greeted at the Y Spa by lovely staff who made us feel really welcome, gave us out locker numbers, fancy wrist bands and a personalised goody bag each. I LOVE A GOODY BAG.

We headed through to the spa, the changing room was lovely, decorated in neutral tones and with plenty of mirrors and hair driers. We found our lockers, retrieved our robes and went to get changed. I must confess, I was a little perplexed by the changing cubicle situation.

Firstly the changing cubicle to locker ratio was well off – there are maybe eight changing rooms. This wasn’t an issue as it was quiet as we arrived but when we left there were a lot more people milling about. Secondly, the cubicles are divided by a curtain, this is a particularly risky business when me and my nana hip are trying to get into a swimming costume, I’ll grab out at anything if I start to fall – luckily for Erica, this didn’t happen.

 

As I said, I’ve never been to a spa and so wasn’t sure what to expect, I did think it would be a quite sedate and quiet affair so I was quite surprised to see about 50 people in and around the thermal pool area. I would much rather have been prepared for that as it made feel a little anxious, I’m not a people person. We took a look around Y Spa to get the lay of the land.

Y Spa has 11 treatment rooms as well as a variety of different, relaxing areas. A very hot sauna, a softer sauna, a steam room, a salty steam room and a chill out room. There is also a quiet area with water beds to sleep on and fancy pods to get stuck chill out in. Outside is a hydrotherapy pool, a fire pit and comfortable seating areas.

As I mentioned earlier, there were a lot of people at the spa – probably because they have a really good offer on a Monday at the minute. This meant the pool was full but we spied a little empty space we could get into. We had a bob about and were blasted by relaxing hydrotherapy jets while we chatted – over animation had to be kept to a minimum in case of accidentally touching another spa goer or floating away on the jets.

We gave the saunas a miss, the softy one was often busy and the hot one felt like it might be a bit too hot for us sensitive little flowers. I quite fancied the Chill Out room, a narrow room with a giant slab of ice on the wall – we all know it would have probably ended a bit Dumb and Dumber! Instead, we headed into the Steamy room – with low, ambient lighting and mosaic floor and seating it really was special. The steam was scented and the lighting really helped the relaxation.

We then hit Salty. As with the previous room it was virtually dark, we sat under the blue/purple ever changing lights and it was glorious. Every now and then the lights would go off and a salt spray falls from the ceiling, it’s a curious feeling but my skin felt amazing afterwards. Each room had a scented shower outside too which was entirely decadent. Honestly, I have never sweated so much but smelt so fabulous after!

The Waterfront Hotel Lunch

After a morning of chatting and relaxing, we showered with fancy products dressed and went for lunch, included in the Hideaway Package. The lunch set up was buffet style, like breakfast, with hot and cold options. I started with Pea & Mint soup and followed that with Goat Cheese and Caramelised Onion tart and vegetables. Unfortunately, the desserts had mostly gone by the time we go to that.

Though the meal is included in the package, drinks are purchased separately. Lunch was a lovely affair, a chance for us to tie up conversations and attempt to make future plans – I was a little surprised that some people decided to have lunch in their soggy swimsuits and robes – each to their own I guess!

Despite feeling a little apprehensive at first, given the amount of people at the Spa, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Y Spa and I wouldn’t be averse to Spa-ing again in the near future! The Sunrise Hideaway package that we enjoyed would usually cost £109 and includes dinner, bed and breakfast and four hours spa use. From our experience it feels like really good value for money to me.

We were invited to experience the Sunrise Hideaway package at The Waterfront Hotel and Y Spa for free in return for an honest review. This is an honest review – I would be more than happy to go back again in the future!