A massage is usually the last thing added to a weekend away, once the room and the table are sorted. We’d suggest doing it the other way round. Book the treatment first, then build the rest of the stay around it.
We have treatment rooms at two of our pubs, and they’ve had far less attention than the food or the bedrooms. Here’s what they’re like, what’s on offer and how we’d fit one into a stay.
The Shepherd’s Hut at the Double Red Duke
At the Double Red Duke in Clanfield, the treatment room is a single Shepherd’s Hut set in the gardens. It’s one hut, built for the purpose, and that’s rather the point. It’s small and quiet and a short walk from everything else, which makes it feel further from the bar than it actually is.
Afterwards you’re back at the Duke, with a fire in the bar and a roll-top bath in many of the bedrooms. The rooms are stocked with 100 Acres toiletries, so the scent follows you upstairs.
Two treatment rooms at the Wild Duck
The Wild Duck in Ewen has two treatment rooms, tucked out of the way of the pub itself. The bedrooms upstairs are finished in Edward Bulmer limewashes, and a few have private terraces looking out over the hills. That’s worth asking about if the plan is to do very little for a whole afternoon.
What’s on the menu
Treatments at both pubs are run in partnership with Solstice Wellbeing, and each one is an hour long.
Relaxing Massage (£70). A bespoke massage using 100 Acres oils, with a choice of the Relax or Invigorate blend.
Reset Massage (£70). Back, foot and scalp, for when everything needs a bit of attention but nothing in particular hurts.
Heated Compress Massage (£85). Our signature treatment, using heated compresses on aching muscles. It’s the one we’d book after a long winter walk.
Beauty Ritual Facial (£75). A double cleanse, steam, exfoliation and extractions, then a face, neck and shoulder massage, mask and serum.
Best of Both (£75). Thirty minutes of massage followed by thirty minutes of facial, for anyone who can’t choose.
The products
Everything is done with 100 Acres aromatherapy products. They’re the same range we use in the bedrooms, and all of them can be bought to take home. It’s a small thing, but it means the stay doesn’t end the moment you check out.
How we’d plan it
Book the treatment when you book the room, so the timings line up rather than competing with dinner. A late-afternoon slot works well. You come back in as the light goes, with time for a bath before you head down to eat. If there’s a walk in the plan, do that first and book the Heated Compress for afterwards.
Treatments at both pubs can be booked online through the Book a Treatment link on each pub’s page.
Come for the hour in the Shepherd’s Hut. The fire, the dinner and the bed upstairs are there for whatever’s left of the day.
