Hip Trips
TEXT WENDY SAUNT
We’re ‘on-trend’ so you can be too. From budget-but-luxe breaks to boutique bootcamps, Wendy Saunt brings you all the hot new ways to holiday yourself happy
Nano-breaks We Brits are famous for keeping our heads while all about us are losing theirs. So we’re not going to let a small matter like a recession or the weak pound put us off our beloved holidays – oh no! Which is why this year has seen a massive rise in nano-breaks – super-short, super chi-chi breaks which allow us to take it easy in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed, without hammering the plastic.
If you want an authentic Eastern spa experience you no longer have to take a 14-hour flight – the first British Ayurvedic spa retreat has arrived. Situated in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, the Ayush Wellness Spa is offering a two-night “Indian Summer” break, including a consultation with their Ayurvedic physician and a Shirodhara “third eye” sedation therapy session. (£335, Ayush Wellness Spa, Jersey, www.ayushspa.com).
And what’s the point of going away somewhere fancy if you can’t get stuck into some seriously tasty tucker while you’re there. Red Letter Days are offering single night, five-star gourmet breaks in boutique hotels around the UK. Couples get to spend a very special night away in select accomodation, enjoying not only a dinner to delight the fussiest gourmet’s palette, but also a pretty tasty breakfast, as well. (£199, www.redletterdays.co.uk)
Many good things come in small packages, and a night in a five-star hotel is all very well, but we can do better. Luxury Edinburgh has put together a range of nano-breaks, including the Girly Indulgence (including accommodation for four at the Edinburgh Residence, a trip to the One Spa, and a cocktail masterclass at Harvey Nichols) and the Castle to Coast (including a stay at the Sheraton Grand, dinner at Martin Wishart’s Michelin-starred restaurant, and tour of the Castle). (From £145, www.luxuryedinburgh.com)
Babymoon
Another emerging holiday trend is the babymoon – a break for expectant couples who want to squeeze in a last hurrah before the arrival of their darling bundle of effluence. You’re not supposed to fly during your third trimester, so we’ve found some fabulous spas right here in Blighty.
If it’s not long to D-Day (that’s “D” for drop) and you’re in serious need of some pampering, but you also want some last-minute fun too, waddle over to the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in Manchester. You can hit the city, gorge yourself on fine dining and load up on non-alcoholic cocktails before retreating to the Sienna Spa to spoil yourself silly. No one is left out here, with treatments including the New Life Massage and Tranquility For Dads. (From £55, www.radissonedwardian.com)
Of course, there’s a good chance you’re in full nesting mode and what you want is peace and quiet – and lots of it. The Feversham Arms Hotel offers a deluxe retreat with a large side order of rolling North Yorks Moors. Their Baby Love package – with its Nurturing Mother-toBe massage and Sole Delight Grooming treatment – has it all covered. You can even hire a classic sports car through the hotel to keep the father-to-be happy as well. (From £115, fever-www.shamarmshotel.com)
If you want to use your babymoon as a chance to swot up on how to look after newborns, you need to call the Baby Gurus. They offer bespoke one-night packages around the UK where you get to enjoy a luxury break (lovely hotel, great food, relaxing spa and a golf course as a little sweetener for Daddy), as well as some serious-but-really-useful stuff like antenatal teaching sessions and expert guest speakers to tell you all you need to know about impending parenthood. (From £500, www.thebabygurus.com).
Luxury boot camp Yes, you want to get in shape. No, you don’t want to have to eat grass soup or take communal showers to achieve it. Step up, the luxury boot camp – a hot new idea from some bright sparks who realised that most of us want to shift lard with the absolute minimum of misery.
Luxury bootcamp might sound like a contradiction in terms, but when you’re enjoying a day of yoga, hiking, massages and a special organic spa cuisine menu, before snuggling up in your Egyptian cotton bedclothes at NuBeginnings, the UK’s first boutique bootcamp, you really won’t give a fig for semantics. As well as the luxury, the levels of care at NuBeginnings are top notch too – with a maximum of 10 guests each week, it really is all about you, you, you. (From £1,695 a week, www.nubeginnings.co.uk)
The New You Boot Camp is the most successful weight loss camp in Europe for a good reason. You can expect to be treated like new recruit to the Marines,
i.e. shown no mercy and expected to do lots of obstacle courses. The good news is you’ll probably drop a dress size, and after a hard day of dropping and giving ten, you can crawl off to your gorgeous bedroom. Plus, you get to spend the day getting sweaty with military physical instructors. Ooo-ee! (From £1,100, www.newyoubootcamp.com)
We all know that French women don’t get fat, no matter how many pains au chocolat they shove down their throats. If you want to get in on the act, then Camp Biche, near Toulouse, is for you. Its secret of your success is something they call the Tableture du Chocolat – an intensive morning abs workout. But when you’re swearing and sweating your way through 500 sit-ups, just remember that it is your passport to cheese, dessert and even un petit peu du vin rouge, all of which are permitted here. Vive la France! (£3,225 for a week, www.camp-biche.com)
Overseas nip ’n’ tuck Popping over to Europe for a sneaky nip ’n’ tuck and then passing off the new, improved you as the result of having a tan and eating ‘Mediterranean’ for a week is hugely popular right now, with research showing that a quarter of the Brits considering cosmetic surgery are planning to have their procedure done abroad because it can be so much cheaper than at home.
Running a jaw-dropping range of procedures – calf lift, anyone? – Cyprus’s
Shift the lard with the minimum of misery
Picture Perfect is the kind of place you want if you’re considering getting some work done. The spotless, state-ofthe-art hospital is less than four years old and procedures cost significantly less than in the UK. What’s more, you can enjoy island life and a raft of beauty and spa treatments, so when you get back you only have to lie a little bit when people say how relaxed and refreshed you’re looking. (www.pictureperfect.com.cy)
Of course, not everyone is up for going under the knife – but that’s not to say we don’t spend hours, two inches from the mirror scrutinising our craggy chops, wishing we had avoided the sun/booze/fags a bit more. Bellissima Ibiza offers Botox and fillers from £92, meaning you can enjoy all of the above and still come back looking 10 years younger. (www.bellissimaibiza.com)
Anyone who thinks a nice smile doesn’t matter needs to remind themselves of Shane McGowan’s nightmare gnashers. But the sad fact is that, if nature didn’t bless you with them, a set of straight pearly whites doesn’t come cheap. Brits are flocking to Hungary, Europe’s leading dentistry destination, to get everything from veneers to root canal work – often for up to 70% less than they would pay in the UK. Check out Smile Savers – they run a service for finding quality dentists in Hungary. (www.smile-savershungary.co.uk)
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