The Mulberry Bar at the Celtic Manor Resort

Have you heard about the fabulous new bar in the Celtic Manor?

The new Mulberry Bar opened recently and we were invited to go and check it out. Having visited Celtic Manor previously for afternoon tea and spa weekends we couldn't wait to see the new bar and see what it had to offer.

Image from the Celtic Manor

The Celtic Manor Resort Summer Berry Afternoon Tea

Hey all!

Happy National Afternoon Tea Week! I mean, this week is only second best to Christmas in my opinion. A week dedicated to afternoon tea?? How British and how delightful!

We were super lucky and were invited back to the Celtic Manor Resort to try their new Summer Berry afternoon tea - we were obviously never going to say no but especially not when the treats looked this beautiful!

The Celtic Manor Resort Champagne and Beauty Bar

Hey all!

Hope you're all having a fabulous week. We were super lucky last week and were invited to Celtic Manor Resort for a sneak peek of their new Champagne and Beauty bar -  it's as fabulous as you are imagining!

We were so excited when the invite came through and just knew we had to go, not only was the event going to be amazing but we were hoping we'd have a chance to catch up with some of our blogger friends so couldn't wait.

Celtic Manor Spa Weekend

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Before Christmas I was lucky enough to win a weekend break at The Celtic Manor with spa treatments. To say I was excited was an understatement and of course I took L with me. I've stayed in Coldra Court before (review here) but never the main resort so couldn't wait to see the difference.

We decided to book for the middle of January so we could relax after the Christmas rush. We headed down on Friday night after work to the resort.

We got settled into our room which had the most amazing marble bathroom! Of course we took selfies. The photos I took of the room didn't come out well and show it off to it's best. I think The Celtic Manor is a thing of preference with regards for decor, for me I love it, it's old fashioned but looks good and reminds me of the hotel I stayed in when I was in Disney.

Coldra Court by Celtic Manor

Hey All

Travel posts are some of my favourite to write lately. I love going away and exploring somewhere whether it be for a night or longer! Recently C and I decided we deserved so me time so when he got back from one of his four week trips abroad we booked in to stay at Coldra Court.

We booked one of the dinner, bed and breakfast deals online and went for Coldra Court as it was much cheaper than the resort, still looked lovely and if we wanted to we could have headed up to Celtic Manor for beauty treatments!

Coldra Court is Celtic Manors newest addition to the chain and is only 10 minutes away from the main resort hotel. They also run a shuttle service so you can make use of it all. As I was away for some us time I do have to apologise as our food was amazing but I didn't snap away during dinner!

We stayed in a standard room and everything was decorated beautifully. The space in them was amazing too. I love the nudes and the classic furniture. It all just feels luxurious. The only thing I would say is the rooms didn't have air conditioning. I do think even though it doesn't get massively hot in the UK it's nice to be able to control the temperature of the room. You could open the windows (which we did) but there was road noise this didn't bother us though.

One thing I thought was great was that the plug sockets had USB ports. This meant that there wasn't a fight for the sockets and they were positioned well within the rooms layout. The bathroom was lovely with Elemis toiletries. I do love that Celtic Manor has these throughout the resort. 

As part of the rate we booked we also had a three course meal in the restaurant. There was a wide variety of choice and also the option to have a buffet starter, carvery and buffet desert. We both opted for the al la carte menu and it didn't disappoint. The pork belly was amazing! Breakfast in Seasons restaurant was also great, there was a wide selection of hot and cold food and service for tea and coffee to the table was quick.

We popped in for a quick dip in the pool and hot tub. It is smaller than Celtic Manor Resort but still has Sauna, Hot Tub and Steam Room as well as the pool and was clean and tidy. 

Overall we loved the stay there and would definitely go back. I still want to stay at the main resort so think we'll do that next time. They do great deals on stays that include dinner and breakfast so I'd recommend signing up to their offers. We stayed on a Friday as it was cheaper and I'd definitely do it again. It was nice to finish work head there and just chill.

Have you stayed at the Celtic Manor?

Love M

xxx 

Celtic Manor Resort: Chocolate Afternoon Tea

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A few weeks ago we decided to visit Celtic Manor for Afternoon tea to celebrate L's birthday. L had been previously and I'd been looking for a reason to try it out. We both love The Celtic Manor spa and are always looking for reasons to visit. 

On at the moment (until the 19th June) is the Chocolate Afternoon Tea. You can see the afternoon tea options here. I was excited to try this as I've only been for traditional and gin afternoon teas before.

Above you can see the menu selection. This is placed on each place setting so you can easily identify what you are eating as it comes out and it also states the allergy information of each item on it. Firstly we were asked what tea we would like and both went for English Breakfast. It was a tough choice as we are both big tea drinkers but wanted to start traditional.

Then our tower of treats were delivered (scone come out later!). It really was visually impressive and for ease the plates lift out so you can move them towards you to save from constantly leaning over. At first I was concerned by the large amount of cakes so got stuck straight in. The first one I tried was the triple chocolate cube which wasn't at all what I expected but really delicious, I wasn't expecting the soft jelly like texture but it was a nice surprise. My favourite was definitely the chocolate raspberry and almond tart. The raspberry made it so fresh and gave it a lift!

I like to wash cake down with sandwiches so that I don't end up feeling too sick. The cheese and plum chutney was especially delicious. If we're honest though we were both disappointed with the size of the sandwiches. They were tiny!! Much smaller than normal afternoon tea and with such a sweet afternoon tea a little more sandwich would be nice. The fillings were lovely though. 

The little chocolate coffee cups were a great touch! I love the attention to detail that really goes into making each dessert look amazing!

Once you're done with the stack above a warm chocolate chip scone gets delivered to the table!! These were so tasty!! I love the edition of chocolate in a scone and the rum and raisin stop it being overly sweet!

The chocolate afternoon tea is definitely worth a visit and makes a tasty change! It's costs £19 Monday to Friday, and £27 on the weekends.

Are you a fan of afternoon tea? Have you tried afternoon tea at Celtic Manor?

Love L and M

xxx

Celtic Manor Festive Afternoon Tea

Hey all!

Today's post is from a wonderful event that we were lucky enough to attend last weekend. Unfortunately M was still in the process of moving so she couldn't attend but I couldn't turn the opportunity down - afternoon tea with a festive twist at the fabulous Celtic Manor.

So now you know the order of the event, how does the menu size up to the occasion?

Check out the multiple courses below - so droolworthy!



Wooaaaah there, I certainly needed to do a fair few laps around the block to work off these treats!

Don't feel too overwhelmed though, I'll take you through each course and it will feel just like you were there with me. First of all, take a look at this table decoration, so classic and beautiful. The flowers are so perfect:







The first part of the event was a talk through how Celtic Manor make their mulled wine. They normally use a red wine such as Claret and Port and then warm through the wine with some orange and cloves, and spice the wine with cinnamon. We had a demonstration of this and were allowed to taste the first batch for this year.

So for someone who normally doesn't drink wine I tend to not have any issues with mulled wine (for some reason after 1 glass I get quite ill for a few days - and no this isn't because I'm instantly drunk and hungover!). Maybe it's the heating but it doesn't seem to affect me so I gladly tried some of this.

Not only was it lovely and warm, it was like Christmas in a cup! Soothing and spiced to perfection I would highly recommend this if you are going to Celtic Manor for absolutely anything over the festive period.

Before long Carl the Head Pastry chef arrived to tell us all about the treats on the menu.

Above shows the first basket of the day - the savoury treats. The crayfish, mango and chilli blini is probably my favourite of the four, with the Welsh rarebit with Y-Fenni cheese and tomato chutney coming in a close second. The other two were also great but my love of cheese and crayfish wins out this time!

Just as a refresher, here's the full menu. so far we have have the mulled wine and the Festive Savoury Treats. Next arrived the 'Tower of Wonder' as I will now affectionately be calling it. Take a look



So many beautiful treats!!! Where on earth do you start?!





I'm pretty set on my routine, I have to eat the sandwiches first and then proceed to the sweet things. It's just ingrained in me that sweet follows savoury, but I'm getting more open to mixing things up for multiple courses next time as there were so many sweet treats to choose from!

I'd say that the smoked salmon and lemon mayonnaise were my favourite, but the surprise favourite was the egg mayo with shallots and chives - surprisingly good and I'd take a whole plate of them next time.

After I'd polished those off it was time to start on the Hand Made Cakes and Pastries.



They are quite honestly afternoon tea perfection - small and perfectly formed but each one packing a punch. These were hands down the most exciting part of the meal and so I'll briefly talk through each one in a clockwise direction.

The mince pie has a little twist with a shortbread top and dustings of sugar, I've not eaten mince pies for a few years after overdosing on them in 2012. This was a gorgeous start to my plate and has put mince pies back onto my menu - although I'm not sure they will measure up to this one again.

Next is the Florentine slice which has a thick cake base instead of a biscuit. I really liked this as I'm a fan of almonds and the cake base was a lovely twist.

The Carrot Cake cupcake had an apricot jam centre and a huge dollop of cinnamon buttercream. This was very yummy and might have been my favourite of the cakes and pastries. Carrot cake is my favourite type of cake and in cupcake form like this it's almost possible to put it in your mouth in one bite - it's gorgeous!



So from left to right:

The waffle cone with pistachio and marzipan cream was super sweet, this was again gorgeous but for someone who doesn't eat much cream nowadays this was a little too sweet for me personally.

The Christmas pudding is actually a truffle. They make over 3500 Christmas puddings at Celtic Manor each year, containing 56L of Guinness and unknown amounts of rum. They decided this year to create a little more and add it to a white chocolate ganache and then roll it in chocolate to create the exterior seen above. I have to say this was a surprising addition to the afternoon tea, no one really expects a truffle as part of their afternoon tea do they?!
It was hard to break through the chocolate as I didn't want to ruin it but the truffle inside was really nice and tasted sweet but not overly so and tasted just like Christmas pudding. Definitely worth a try.

Last but not least was the Bara Brith with Penderyn Whiskey and marmalade, topped with marzipan and icing and a lovely Christmas tree. I could taste the whiskey and marmalade as soon as I put it into my mouth and I thought it was really good.

Super full? I was totally overwhelmed with goodies by this point - and then the scones arrived!

A basket was delivered with a Cranberry and mixed spice scone and a Vanilla and Chestnut scone, both warm with pots of jam and cream for you to help yourself.

The Vanilla and Chestnut scone was a lovely change and the chestnut was a great festive addition. However the Cranberry and spice scone was by far my favourite and tasted of Christmas as soon as I could get near it! It was so fruity and smelt so amazing.

All of this was also supplied with a wealth of freshly brewed tea, 6 varieties were available including English Breakfast tea and Peppermint which is what I ordered. I think I had 7 cups in total as it was all so refreshing.

The afternoon was absolutely amazing and it was such a privilege to be invited, here we were altogether for a group photo. It was great to meet some bloggers I have met before and heard of from twitter, and also some new faces.





So what do you think of the utterly fabulous Festive Afternoon tea???

How much do you want to tuck into it and try all of the treats?

You can book yourself in for this Festive Afternoon tea from the 1st of December until mid January, midweek will cost you £26, and Saturday and Sunday will cost £36.

L xxx

Elemis Skincare Essentials Travel Collection

Hey All

Last month we were lucky enough to attend a spa day at Celtic Manor, you can read our thoughts on that here. Whilst there we were spoilt with some Elemis goodies. As a big fan of spa days I've used a few Elemis products already so was pleased to some some of my favourites in the set.

We were given the skincare essentials travel collection which contains everything you need for a break away. It costs £39 and can be purchased from the Elemis website.

With no product being over 100ml is perfect for breaks away when flying as well. I think when people go away they tend to skip on skincare products where as this kit have everything you need. 

The Pro-Radiance Cream Cleanser and the Soothing Apricot Toner are two products I'm actually using the full size of at the moment. The cleanser just melts away make up and leaves the skin feeling so soft. As it bonus it's anti ageing too. I'm a big toner fan, they make a big difference to my skin and I find when I don't use them I get spotty. This has an amazing smell to and feels so refreshing on the skin. I'm actually saving these skincare bits for when I go away hopefully in September so I've not used the exfoliater and day cream yet.

The Elemis Frangipani range was one I'd heard so much about so was so glad to get to use it. This smells amazing and sinks into the skin leaving it feeling so soft. They shower cream and scrub are also great but for me are a great luxury treat but not something I'd repurchase as full size.

This is the third of the hand cream I've had and I love it. I'm a firm hand cream promoter as I think hands age a person and are probably one of the neglected body areas. I also work in a laboratory environment so my hands end up feeling really dry.

This is a great gift, a pre holiday treat or a way to test out products. I love it when companies do a great range of decent sized minis so you can get a real feel of the product.

Have you tried any Elemis products? What's your favourite? I do also fully recommend the Pro-collagen Marine Cream.

Love M

xxx

Polo At The Manor

Hey all!

Today we've got a really exciting event to tell you about - Celtic Manor's Polo At The Manor.

On Saturday 13th of June the annual event takes place with the most glamorous of affairs - champagne, ponies and picnics, what's not to love?!

Tickets cost only £18 and for a day of glamour and indulgence the only thing you need to worry about is what to wear! 

This is where Lydia Rose Bright has come to your rescue and created a video to help you choose!

You can watch the video below or check out the original using this link HERE.

I don't know about you but I think the skirt above is absolutely beautiful, I love the high waist and the pastel blue colour and the lace top is so dainty.

I love the neckline of the dress below too, very pretty but not too revealing either and the fitted waist is perfect for giving you an hourglass figure.

Lastly how beautiful is this lacy white dress?! It's very fitted but the longer length complements this.

If I was going to the Polo I would choose the blue dress and definitely invest in a comfortable pair of nude wedges - the ones in Lydia's video are perfect! Pretty and also comfortable and much better for a long day of eating and drinking and watching the Polo.

The only thing I can recommend in addition to these gorgeous outfit choices is a blazer! There's no trusting the weather in South Wales and a blazer is a must for the potential showers and breezy evenings....as optimistic as I'd like to be there's nothing worse than getting chilly and a blazer is a chic way to cover up.

Lydia has also helpfully created another video to help with your hair and make up choices:

If I was going to the Polo I'd go for dewy skin and pick a nude smokey eye and a coral lip - I love coral lipstick! As for hair, I'm a firm believe in the bigger the better and I would love to have waves just like Lydias.....all the time!

What would you wear to the Polo At The Manor? Do you like Lydia's outfit choices?
How would you do your hair and make up?

Not only is there lots of glamour at the event, there is also an Elemis Bus for spa treatments and Depot are providing a wonderful array of streetfood, including Beetlejuice Campervan who create wonderful cocktails.

Tweet us with your choices and use the hashtag #polomanorstyle

L xxx

Celtic Manor - Pamper at the Manor

Hey All

Last Monday we were lucky enough to be invited to a pamper evening at Celtic Manor. It's a spa I've been dying to go to for ages and we both love a good spa day so couldn't wait to head there.

Celtic Manor is a huge hotel with two separate types of accommodation within the hotel and lodges on site, golf course and many other activites for an stay including the Forum Spa.

This place is huge and after going in a different entrance to L I promptly got lost, the staff instantly impressed me as I must have been looking lost a member of staff walked out of a conference room to ask if I needed help.

On arriving we were taken to the changing rooms where we all had our own personalised lockers filled with robes, towels and some treats. The robes were so big and comfy I wanted to just stay lounged in it.

Once we'd all gotten changed we were welcomed with Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries and taken into the main reception. The forum spa uses Elemis and Leighton Denny products which are two brands I love. Elemis skincare is a current favourite of mine and my skin always feels better after using it.

On the evening we got to have back, neck and shoulder massages, Elemis Biotec Facials, AND a file and polish. We were also allowed to explore the spa area and got to see the treatment room for the Elemis Herbal Steam Temple. The room was beautiful and felt like somewhere in Morocco with the amazing tiles floor and sparkly ceiling. This is a treatment I think I'll be booking if I visit again. You get three different types of mud to apply to different areas of the body and get to relax on the heated seats. At the end of the treatment a rainforest type shower starts. How amazing does that sound!



Every area of the spa felt luxurious and I loved that even the toilets has Elemis products to use. A great feature that we all agreed was great was that the women's changing rooms had a female only sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. This is great for days where you maybe don't want to be around too many people. I imagine this would be really popular area for groups of women enjoying a spa day.

The main swimming pool is one of the most beautiful I've seen. With an amazing mural on the ceiling and massive glass windows behind the hot tub so you can look out to beautiful scenery. It felt so relaxing in there and the swimming pool was a decent size.



The make up was something we of course couldn't resist a little swatch of. These eye shadows were such pretty, easy to wear, everyday colours.

Here I am enjoying my massage chair. We were a bit dubious of the chairs but it was so easy to relax on them. These were put up in a lovely chill out area with sun loungers and magazines. This area also has massive windows with green fields to look out on. We're already planning a day spa trip here and looking forward to some chill time in this area.



The files and polish all uses Leighton Denny products. There were an amazing range of colours. L went for a gorgeous pearl shimmer shade. I couldn't resist a gorgeous greige colour. I've had Leighton Denny manicures before. They always last a resonable amount of time. For me no polish lasts that long without chipping.











We've saved the best till last here. The Biotec Facials. This link explains all the types fully. This is a new and exclusive treatment. There are a combination of seven, target specific treatments to offer personalised facials with great results.

L went with the Resurfacing Facial while I went for the Radiance facial. They both started with a cleanse of the skin followed by a tool that gave the skin a gentle exfoliation. This felt a bit weird at first and made a buzzing sound like you'd expect an ultra-sonic tool to. Next up I had a mask put on then the rollers were used to massage the mask into the skin. L's facial then moved onto a light treatment to help treat scars and fine lines. 

We both felt so relaxed during these and loved how soft our skin felt after. This is another thing we've said we need to go back for more and imagine that if this could be done on a monthly basis we'd really notice the difference in our skin.




The Celtic Manor offer great spa days for all budgets and can include stays in the hotel (Obama stayed here during the NATO talks!!)  and meals. We'll definitely be back.

They even hold bootcamp weekends with Lucy Mecklenburgh (from TOWIE and Results with Lucy) and to experience a bootcamp with her would be amazing!! They consider the whole package in these weekend deals so you get food, exercise classes and wellbeing talks which would be great to listen to.

Huge thanks to Celtic Manor Forum Spa for the amazing treatments and totally relaxing us after some busy weeks.
We also left with an amazing goodie bag of Elemis products so we will be sure to review them when we manage to try them all out - we have been completely overwhelmed with the generosity of Celtic Manor, their customer service is second to none.


Love L and M

xxx