As soon as you’re out of Belfast airport, it’s not long before you’re into rural Irish countryside. 30 minutes of driving alongside rolling green fields and you reach the small village of Galgorm and the home of Galgorm Resort and Spa. A recent extension at the property has added a whole new wing and extensive spa village; there’s no better time to visit.
I stay in a Deluxe Room in the new part of the property which has a giant bed, a modern bathroom with a rainfall shower and deep bath tub, a dressing table, TV, sofa, and because it’s December, a Christmas tree too!
Then for the main event: the spa. Thermal Village opened in September 2015, as a revamped version of the original spa. It’s stunning. A web of wooden outbuildings that house saunas and steam rooms, hot tubs, and hydrotherapy pools are interspersed between bushy green grass, connected by paths and decking, and all overlooking the River Meine. It’s an impressive naturalistic setting, and there are both indoor and outdoor elements, including an outdoor Jacuzzi which steams in the crisp winter air. The Celtic Sauna will transport you far away, with its humid heat and glass wall which looks out to the river making for the most calming of experiences.
Later, come dinner time, there are 3 options: Gilli’s, the steak and chips spot; Riverside Room the white-cloth table restaurant; and Fratelli’s, which is the somewhere-in-the-middle Italian. I had a superb dinner at Fratelli’s, which started with cicchetti (Italian ‘bites’) and then grilled salmon for my main.
I sleep like a log, and the following morning, guests in the Deluxe Rooms are invited to breakfast in the Riverside Room, where there’s both buffet options and hot breakfast dishes to order. The buffet alone is pretty sufficient, with all sorts of luxury condiments — chestnut puree anyone?
Time for treatments! First up – the 1-hour bathing ritual. Down next to the river, a gravel path connects 5 or 6 private hot tubs. The Bathing Ritual treatment is hopping in one of these 37-degree tubs, savouring a mini bottle of Laurent-Perrier and slate of chocolate truffles, and simply enjoying the views and the experience. Heavenly, yes? I can’t tell you how glorious the experience is, especially on crisp and bright day.
If you’re looking for a more exhilarating treatment, go big and opt for the Galgorm Ritual, an 85-minute treatment using VOYA products, that incorporates a facial, scalp and full-body massage. It’s 85 minutes and will leave you high on life for days.
When it’s time to head home, you’ll weep, but be pleasantly surprised that Belfast airport is just 30 minutes away, as Galgorm feels admirably distant from the rest of the world.