ad. PR experience. If you’re a regular around here you will know I love a good spa. It was on my list as a to-do when deemed safe to visit. (Also when I felt safe to visit too.) I started to talk to my husband about it as a potential thing to do for my birthday, when an invite to go re-visit my local spa dropped in my inbox! I considered it fate and visited in December when the tiering system was in place in England. Our region was in tier 3, and living just 5 mins away from Ye Olde Bell Spa I could still stay local and visit. I thought it would be good to write about it now, and what spa COVID safety measures were in place now they are back open in England.
At the time I visited Ye Olde Bell spa was allowed to have all facilities open but couldn’t serve food. They could only serve takeout, non-alcoholic drinks too from memory. Because of this they’d tailored their packages to account for all this. Now as of April 12th in England spa’s are re-open , however they can only serve food and drink outside and they can’t open their steam rooms or saunas. Again Ye Olde Bell Spa have tailored some packages to reflect this. I’ll detail them later on down the post if you are looking to visit.
Spa COVID Safety Measures
First off- what spa COVID safety measures were in place? Well, to start you have to wear a mask in the changing rooms, the reception area and all inside corridors. Once you are in the spa area you don’t. Unless you are planning to walk past or near people and you therefore can’t social distance. We kept ours in our robe pocket so we had one at all times. Secondly the cleaning was ramped up. We saw regular cleaning happening on the outside seated areas and tables, the inside seating, the steam rooms and saunas (as they were open) and floor. The benefit of this being a smaller spa, is that they are so attentive and can also ensure they can keep everything clean as they go.
Towels, throws and dressing gowns. Towels can be changed regular, especially if like me you couldn’t remember which hook you’d left your towel on! With throws for outside we were given some and we then kept them on hooks near our chosen seating. Then we could reuse them and ensure no one else used them in between by mistake too.
What’s Open at Ye Olde Bell Spa Now (From Friday 16th April)
From April 16th the pool area, both inside and out, will be open on Fridays and Saturdays to book , but the saunas and steam rooms won’t be. There will be a full drinks service and snacks served outside, which means bubbles in the pool can happen! My fave part. 3 hours there is £60 per person and you must be part of the same household or support bubble if you go with someone. Also if you book certain treatments you get free spa time too! All info is here on Ye Olde Bel Spa Instagram page. The mud rasul, Sabbia Med room and Halo-IR are all available to book as bolt on treatments to your visit.
On our last visit we did the Halo-IR and I loved it. It’s in the treatment rooms upstairs so its masks on time to go there. Then once there you can choose a colour. Each one is there to promote certain well being aspects so just pick the one you feel you need! Then sit in the warm wooden room and breathe deeply. I have to say I felt really good afterwards! You can even hook up your playlist to listen to through the speakers in the room. Of course I chose Shakka for my treatment! I’m keen to go back in too, so debating adding it to my next trip.
Overall I have to say I felt like social distancing in this spa was a breeze. Numbers of people there are limited and we didn’t have to wait to do anything whilst there because of it. The cleaning was top notch as was the service. Thanks to the spa COVID safety measures put in place, I felt relaxed and so chilled afterwards. I would highly recommend it! For how this spa fairs from a plus size perspective head to my original post here!