Get messy and thoroughly pampered with the Luton Hoo Hotel Luxury Mud Weekend.
Luton isn’t top of many people’s wish lists when it comes to staycation destinations, but five minutes at Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf & Spa and you’ll forget budget airlines and cowboy hat wearing hen parties even exist, never mind are only a stone’s throw away.
We headed off to the Bedfordshire countryside, which is only a 30minute train journey from London St Pancras, to sample their newly launched Luxury Mud Weekend. The package caters for everyone – whether donning wellies and getting wet is your thing, or relaxing with a spa treatment is more your style. There is one thing that draws the whole weekend together, mud, and lots of it.
We arrived to the five star hotel through vast Capability Brown landscaped grounds, to find an impressive 18th Century mansion house. The building itself is impressive, imposing even, but the personality and hospitality could not be kinder. We were greeted with a smile and shown through to one of the hotel’s exquisite lounges to hear all about what muddy activities we were to be getting up to.
From the moment you arrive you know this building is rich in history and as we later found out, everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to Winston Churchill has stayed here. The walls are decked out in rich tapestries and works of art, every corner is filled with a statue or an intriguing piece of furniture; everywhere you look is a feast for your eyes but it’s done with the utmost taste and loyalty to Luton Hoo’s history.
Our stay started with an off-road Land Rover Experience which saw us tumble over hills, suspend on two wheels and crash into deep pools of mud – all of course with expert guidance and in the safety of Land Rover’s most advance vehicles. It’s an experience young and old will not forget and you don’t have to be a car enthusiast to enjoy yourself.
More mud was to come later in a very different form as we headed to Luton Hoo’s stunning spa. Located in the mansion’s old stable courtyard, the spa is worlds apart from the hotel itself, but perfect for grabbing some me time and getting away from it all. We indulged in an hour-long luxury mud facial and wasted away the afternoon in the light drenched, oak framed pool. In the summer they open up the floor-to-ceiling glass doors to a sunny patio so you have the choice or indoor or outdoor relaxation.
Sticking with the mud theme, we were whisked back to the hotel on one of their many golf buggies to sample their Mud Afternoon Tea. The prettiest of cakes, almost too pretty to eat were served, all with a chocolaty theme alongside an extensive menu of refreshing teas.
Food is certainly one of Luton Hoo’s fortes, whether it’s having a family lunch in the nearby Adam’s Brasserie or fine dining in the stunning Wernher Restaurant. Locally sourced ingredients and a British menu are given a contemporary twist with a delicious outcome. We sampled rich smoked salmon to start followed by succulent lamb, and topped it all off with yet more sugar in the form of a to die for cheesecake.
After a well deserved, food-induced sleep in an incredibly comfy bed, we woke up for yet more eating. A fresh breakfast of fruit, pastries, a full English and numerous other delights greeted us, setting us up for another day of mud themed activities. Clay pigeon shooting was on the agenda so it was time to get out the Hunters, don the Barbour and embrace the Great British Summer. The threat of rain and the grey skies didn’t manage to dampen our mood, in fact it made the whole experience even more authentic. Off in the Land Rover again we were taken to the Estate’s nearby shooting range where we were taught how to shoot. If you’re not a competitive person before you go clay pigeon shooting, you will be afterwards. The whole experience was really fun thanks to the wonderful instructors who somehow managed to get a group of a dozen women hooked on clay pigeon shooting – a worrying thought perhaps?
Back at the mansion house, we were left free to relax in the lounge or stroll the stunning grounds. There are so many activities at Luton Hoo you could easily be occupied for a week; however a week’s worth of relaxation and doing nothing is equally as acceptable.
What’s most impressive about Luton Hoo is that they’ve done a good job of bringing the building’s history vey much into the present, whether its perfectly revamping the interiors to the way they were intended, to hearing tales from the head gardener who’s worked on the grounds for decades. There are times when the sheer decadence and splendour of Luton Hoo makes you feel as though you’re in a film, and so it’s not surprising to learn that many a film has been made here, from Four Weddings and a Funeral to Vanity Fair.
There is one downside to Luton Hoo, and that’s leaving – if we could move in we would. But as we left the stunning grounds after an unforgettable weekend, any delusions of grandeur were laid to rest as our feet firmly touched the ground at Luton Parkway Station, as we waited for our short train trip back to London.
Need to Know
Number of Rooms: 228 Rooms and Suites
Check Out Time: 11am
Facilites: Restaurant, Brasserie, Spa and Pool, Tennis Court, Clay Pigeon Shooting, Bike Hire, Land Rover Experience, Golf Course, Wifi Facilites, TVs in Rooms and DVD Players Available, Molton Brown Toiletries in Bathroom, Family and Baby Facilites can be arranged.
How To Get There: A First Capital Connect train service runs regularly from London St Pancras to Luton Airport Parkway and takes less than 30minutes. A taxi from the airport takes less than 10mintes.
Rates: Prices for the Luxury Mud Weekend start at £367 per person based on two sharing.
The Luxury Mud Weekend includes one nights’ accommodation, breakfast, dinner in the Wernher Restaurant, a mud spa treatment, clay pigeon shooting, chocolate afternoon tea, a chocolate cocktail and complimentary chocolates. Prices start at £367.00 per person, sharing a twin/double room. The Land Rover Experience costs £200 extra. Call +44 (0)1582 734437 or visit www.lutonhoo.co.uk. First Capital Connect runs regular train services to Luton Airport Parkway, visit: www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk