Every girl wants to be a Princess right?

When my girl gifted me a spa weekend in Airth Castle for my birthday I was BEYOND excited!

Afternoon tea, pool, jacuzzi, dinner, massages and facials in the comfort of our very own castle…legit my idea of perfection. So what are we waiting for?  Let’s get this show on the road baby…

So we pull up and I am mesmerised by how pretty this place is- the grounds are gorgeous, the castle is obviously a belter and there was snow on the ground and sunshine in the sky…it’s gonna be a gooooooood weekend : )

My homegirl Michelle is currently 7 months pregnant and had been planning this weekend since AUGUST- she had totally surprised me by having our friend Louise and my Mum hiding in her house when I arrived to join us for the weekend- most thoughtful person ever right?

After some* confusion (*a shit tonne) at check in- the lady finally got us checked in- wooooooo.  Let’s not let that ruin our day huh?

We hopped up to the rooms, (which are lovely) dropped our bags off and headed downstairs.

First stop for the weekend was afternoon tea, wine while I wait? oh yes : )

At this point I will confirm that the preggo lady did not drink – luckily my Mum was there to get a little juicy with me…coz thats how we roll honey…

We ordered and had to make a specific request of the sandwiches- preggos cant eat certain things and we just wanted to be sure with the sandwich selection.  Seems like a fair request yes?  Not for the staff at Airth Castle- my friend got a look that suggested she had just asked the server for a lapdance, not ‘can we skip the salmon please?’

Not cool, especially considering she had called ahead in the morning before we arrived to make sure her request would be ok. But hey, AGAIN let’s not let that ruin our day huh?

The food arrived and damn it was lovely- the sandwiches, the cakes and holy crap those SCONES, it was genuinely delightful.  After an extraordinary amount of carbs what better thing to do than squeeze into a tiny lil bikini- excellent!

Food baby in full force we headed to the pool area for some sweet relaxation.  There is nothing better than a relaxing gossip sesh with your favourite ladies while wearing paper slippers and a fluffy robe, girls, you know I’m talking sense here.  After a wee dip we headed back to the rooms to have a catnap and get ready for dinner, but not before I squeezed in a wee robe selfie obvz…

After all the food and pool time frolics I napped like a baby, the beds are lovely and I awoke ready for more food, more wine and more fun times.  So my mum goes to dry her hair (I was a smart cookie and top knotted the life out of mine in the pool to keep it dry) but wait…the hairdryer is broke… no probs, call reception.  15 mins pass, 25 mins pass- no hairdryer.  Let’s call again and express that we have dinner reservations in an hour. 20 mins pass, 40 mins pass- nothing.  Overall we waited 1 hour and 25 minutes for a hairdyer by which time my mums hair was dry and her patience thin.

Doesn’t sound like a big deal but ladies, you know the score.  If something interrupts your ‘getting ready’ flow (dress rips, you forgot to bring eyelashes, you’ve packed the wrong bra) whatever it is, and you don’t feel ready before a night out, you just feel a bit crap.  But hey, for the THIRD time today ladies, let’s not let this ruin our day huh?

I’m not usually this forgiving- wine helps.

We made our way back down to the Grill Room and had an amazing dinner- I had the sweet potato soup and the steak burger.  It was a little salty but overall a decent wee burger- not El Perro Negro standard or anything, but a good wee eat.  Especially because I stole some of Louise’s onion rings to give it some edge.

We sat gabbing for hours, we ended up being the only people in the Grill Room, almost like it was hired out JUST for us : )  Then back up to the room for more wine and fun times. Cheers baby!

The next morning I wake up with not a hint of a hangover- wine seems to have the opposite effect on me and leaves me fresh as a daisy the next day, so I’m more than ready to annihilate the breakfast buffet…geez it!

Ok, so breakfast was a bit of a disaster.  We got the the Grill Room to be greeted by a big ridiculous queue of people trying to get in.  BUT IM HUNGRYYYYYYY!  We finally get to the front and are put on a list and told to wait until our room number is called- and we are at the bottom of a long list honey.  Not cool. My advice to anyone staying there is get to breakfast early if you want a smooth ride.  I was genuinely STARVING by the time we got seated.  The breakfast serves eggs, bacon, scramby egg, haggis, black pudding and all the regular croissant-y stuff- the reason I’m writing this is because in my ravenous feeding frenzy I forgot to take a picture- soz babes.

Bellies full we checked out and headed for our treatments…swoon! I opted for a facial and a massage and I was not disappointed.  The Elemis facial is just delightful.  Double cleanse, exfoliate, hunners of toning in between, a beautiful mask and a scalp massage while the mask is working its glorious way into my pores- simply divine.  The massage hit ALL the right spots, honestly my girl was getting in deep and I was not complaining- bliss!

Unfortunately my Mum didn’t have as exceptional an experience as we all did.  She got a collagen hand treatment (which she loved) and a file and polish.  So we’re sitting relaxing in the spa and my mum comes out and I ask her to show me her nails- they are ALL smudged…like, every finger.  The girl hadn’t left the polish long enough before telling my mum to haul ass and her manicure was ruined before she’d even stepped out of the spa.  Hey, these things happen, no biggie right? Wrong.  My Mum asks the girl for some nail polish remover as her manicure is ruined.  The girl gives her nail polish remover without even questioning, or acknowledging the fact that a customer just paid £25 to take her own nail polish off.  Bitch please.

So after some more poor service at the spa desk we finally manage to sort it out with the salon manager and all is right with the world again- well, except my Mums nails of course.

We headed for lunch and had a lovely end to the weekend.  After all of the excessive eating I opted for a light lunch because I genuinely feel like I can’t ever eat again.  Melon medley get in my face but…

Is this the most instagrammable starter ever?  It is indeed baby. Then a little dressed house salad to finish off- lovely.

Food done, we headed home.

Airth Castle – the place is stunning there’s no doubt about it, the facilities are great however the staff are an absolute joke (with the exception of the guy who served us dinner, he was lovely).  It almost felt like at every opportunity to drop the ball, they truely excelled themselves and each time the apology or recognition of the fact that they had made a complete arse of something was non existent.

We’ve all worked in customer service at some point and I appreciate that sometimes, things happen.  However, if you aren’t willing to acknowledge a fuck up, then honey, you’re in the wrong industry. And let’s be real, Airth Castle is NOT cheap.

However, I must say- I had an amazing weekend with my beautiful girls, so much thought from all of them went into making my Birthday treat special and I love them more than anything.  Luckily, when I’m with them, there aint no way I can have a bad time : )

So there you have it baby, the very first time I’ve written a less than glowing review of something- do I feel bad? a little; but if someone went there on my recommendation and was disappointed I’d feel even worse.

If you do happen to find yourself at this beautiful castle, I do hope you have a better service than us- oh, and don’t forget to bring your hairdryer honey ; )

 

Love KBang xxx