Birthday afternoon tea with Russell!

This week we visited the Hotel Russell, London for afternoon tea to celebrate Daddy Avery’s birthday. We were very impressed by the grandeur of the hotel and were seated in the Tempus restaurant  with its marble pillars and high ceilings.  Abhinav and his team were very attentive and offered us plenty of steaming tea throughout.  We were presented with freshly made sandwiches and were very impressed with the effort made to meet our dietary requirements.  We also enjoyed a delicious selection of pastries and scones. We enjoyed our visit so much we are hoping to make stop number 13 a Christmas stay at the Russell!

 

Stop 11, The Derbyshire

Stop 11 brings us to stay at The Derbyshire.   After a long journey from London we were glad to fall into the huge bed in our room.  Our room was large and spacious with a mini fridge, TV and en suite bathroom.  With plenty of pillows we slept soundly and woke refreshed and ready to fill up at the breakfast buffet.  There was plenty of choice at breakfast and the chef was more than happy to cook  some poached eggs to accompany my breakfast muffins.

After breakfast we took a stroll to the nearby East Midlands outlet village where there are many shops to browse and bargains to be found . The Peak District is close by but ideally a car is needed to explore the area as public transport is limited.

We spent our afternoon using the leisure facilities back at the hotel.  The hotel has a heated indoor pool, sauna and steam room and also offers beauty treatments. After a relaxing massage and facial we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool with a good book.

You have the choice of eating in the Tempus restaurant or in the bar, both offering a varied menu to suit all tastes.  We sampled some dishes including the Tempus pate with onion marmalade and the lemon tart, both of which were delicious.

Sunday took us into Derby city centre . We visited its stunning cathedral which was hosting an animal thanksgiving service.  It was very strange to see alpacas and tortoises’ walking down the aisle!

November brings our next stay and we look forward to stop number 12 at Northampton’s Sedgebrook hall.

Stop 10: Beaumont Estate

Anniversary and Birthday Trip!

A year had passed and it was time to take the Principal Hayley challenge back to where it all started and celebrate Hayley A’s birthday.

BeaumontEstate was the destination for stop 10 and we were excited to celebrate a year of the Principal Hayley challenge back in Windsor. On arrival the reception was bustling with guests for a wedding. Although there were lots of people checking in the reception staff checked people in quickly and efficiently and we did not have to wait long.

 After receiving our room key from Brian we headed to find our room. Beaumont estate is the largest Principal Hayley property with 414 rooms set within 40 acres of landscaped grounds.

  

 

Our room, a standard room, was spacious,modern and spotlessly clean. We were over the moon with the treats left for us by the marketing team to celebrate our anniversary and Hayley A’s birthday. Thanks guys!

After exploring our room, we donned our principal Hayley coats and headed off to explore the grounds. The estate, which dates back to the 17th century was previously a school and has beautiful outside spaces to walk in close to the River Thames.

We were blown away by the Beaumont Chapel which is an ideal place to celebrate a wedding. The chapel has been beautifully restored by Principal Hayley and would give a feeling of grandeur to any occasion.

We took a look round the White House, a magnificent executive wing of Beaumont Estate, the home of conference rooms and suites as well as guest bedrooms. Just the name itself makes it feel special and the decor inside did not disappoint!



White House

There is plenty to do and the hotel boasts a leisure Club with indoor swimming pool, tennis courts as well as plenty of things for children including a play room, giant Connect Four and giant Jenga. The hotel and conference centre also plays host to businesses for team building days, they certainly have the space and tranquility to be perfect for this.

Beaumont is in a great location and is the perfect base for visiting Windsor Castle, Legoland and Thorpe Park. We were due to have a flutter at the Windsor race course but due to the delightful English weather we were rained off.

Our evening was spent in Tempus, where we had our first PH buffet experience. There was a good range of delicious dishes for both meat eaters and vegetarians and as always the deserts were AMAZING!



The staff  were very attentive and made sure we were topped up with drinks and finished plates were taken away. We then headed to the bar for a celebratory drink.

We always love a Principal Hayley breakfast and although the breakfast room was very busy with people from the wedding and other events from the previous night, the staff were on the ball and food was replenished quickly, maintaining a hot and hearty breakfast which set us up for the day. 

We had a great stay at Beaumont Estate and were glad we chose it as our anniversary stop. Now to look forawrd to another year of Principal Hayley fun....

Anniversary message!

HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY PRINCIPAL HAYLEY CHALLENGE!!

A year ago, afternoon tea at Oakley Court and a random idea turned into

The Principal Hayley Challenge. We never dreamt that we would have such an amazing year. We have stayed in beautiful locations, met wonderful people and have never laughed so much.

We love to share the 'Principal Hayley way' and hope that they too will experience and love the hotels the way we do (not just beacuse of the brilliant name!).  Principal Hayley have provided so many happy memories for us and we look forward to another 12 stops and many more memories.

We would like to thank everyone that we have met on our challenge so far, who have looked after us so well and made us feel so welcome. 

We look forward to more adventures, meeting new Principal Hayley faces and even more laughter in the coming year. Keep following us!

 

Hayley A and Hayley C

x

Stop 9 Horwood House

Stop 9, Horwood House

 

On arrival at Horwood House it’s hard not to feel like royalty as you travel down the ¼ of a mile tree lined driveway. The beautiful Elizabethan style house, built in 1911 for Frederick Arthur Denny (who had made his fortune in pork and bacon) stands at the end of the driveway and would be our home for the next two nights. The hotel, in Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, is set in 38 acres of landscaped grounds and is easily accessible from the M1 and M40. 
 

The hotel houses 182 standard and executive rooms, and offers an impressive indoor swimming pool, spa, sauna and gym.

 

At reception we received a warm welcome from the staff and were allocated room number 202.


The hotel is quite large and although we had a bit of a walk to our room with our luggage, things were made easier by the use of ramps and lifts. The room was of the usual excellent Principal Hayley standard. Clean and fresh with modern facilities including a very large flat screen TV on the wall. We were very impressed with our welcome gift of wine and chocolate orange biscuits. Our favourite!

After a long day we decided to have dinner in Tempus. Some old favourites were on the menu and we enjoyed our beloved beetroot and feta salad and Chicken Kiev. We also tucked into our all time favourite Tempus dessert Chocolate Orange Torte!

 

Dinner took us to the hotel’s Tempus restaurant again on our second night but his time we were feeling a bit more adventurous and veered away from our familiar favourites on the menu. Hayley C opted for the sea bream and Hayley A for the beef, bacon and mushroom pie, both of which were delicious and very filling.  

The hotel was bustling with two weddings and a 40th birthday party. Everyone looked like they were having a great time and the staff were certainly looking after everyone. We left the parties behind and after a long day we were looking forward to a restful night sleep.

Out and about

The next morning, after filling up at the buffet breakfast we headed to nearby Milton Keynes to try out the Sno!zone. There are a variety of activities available here including, skiing, snowboarding and even an indoor sky dive centre. A hilarious half hour was spent riding doughnuts own the real snow slope.

Arguably the funniest photo I have ever seen - Hayley C

In need of warming up, we headed to the MK centre. If you like shopping this is definitely the place for you! With lots of shops and restaurants we were spoilt for choice on where to have lunch.

After a stop at Jamie’s Italian we went in search of the famous Milton Keynes concrete cows. The cows are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by Canadian-born artist, Liz Leyh and have been re-homed from a public park to the MK centre. We also managed to squeeze in a cheeky massage at the local Bannatyne gym, which was a relaxing end to the day.

Sunday dawned bright and we were looking forward to our trip to Waddesdon Manor an astonishing Renaissance-style château, designed by French architect Destailleur in 1874 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. The château, about 25 mins drive from Horwood, has beautiful gardens and each room inside the house is filled with stunning pieces of art work.

        

They were also hosting a Mustang event on the day which gave us even more to see. The house is definitely worth a visit!

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Horwood house and were very impressed with the attentiveness of the staff and the care that they took to make sure guests were enjoying their stay.

Bye for now from the Hayleys!!

Birthday Roadtrip Part 2!

Stop 8 : Kenwood Hall, Sheffield

 

So the Hayley's left stop 7 happy, relaxed and ready for the next part of the roadtrip, onto Sheffield and Stop 8 - Kenwood Hall

 

This Principal Hayley hotel is located one mile from the city centre, in what feels like a quiet and upmarket residential district. The hotel itself has 12 acres of land around and the walk into the centre was easy and gave us the opportunity to see suburban Sheffield!

 



Kenwood Hall has free on-site parking and a well-equipped leisure club, including an indoor pool, sauna, steam room, spa bath and gym.

 

More Birthday Surprises........

On the drive up from Solihull, Hayley C was treated to her second birthday surprise.

The Owl House is a brand new Boutique Day Spa located in the idyllic grounds of Langley Priory. We felt so welcomed by the lovely staff, in particular, Lizzie who made sure we had everything we needed.

We started off our spa experience with a gorgeous picnic basket lunch, where Hayley A completed the cheesecake challenge and ate her entire lemon cheesecake with no problems! After lunch we sunk into the outdoor hot tub. It was great to be in the warmth of the tub, but hear the rain pattering on the canopy above.

Next we headed to be “Pigs In Mud”.  This is a fun, invigorating and detoxifying treatment that takes place in a Herbal Steam Chamber. The thought of covering ourselves with mud seemed a bit strange but we embraced it and sat back under the twinkling stars of the Rasul chamber to let the mud do its work. We were left with baby soft skin and are definitely mud converts!

After a relaxing massage, Hayley C rounded off the day with a Bare Minerals make up tutorial and Hayley A had a moisturising hair treatment

All in all, a fabulous place to go to be thoroughly pampered and looked after. We were definitely happy little owls when we left!

Rooms glorious rooms.....

We were lucky enough to be able to experience two different types of room during this stay!

The 1st night we spent in an executive suite complete with a four poster bed! The room was in the oldest part of the hotel which dates back to 1845. It felt like we were in a private west wing!  Hints of this era can be seen in the decor of the conference rooms and library in this wing of the hotel.

  

This room overlooked the hotel green, which was lovely. We took a walk  around the grounds and watched the ducks battle with the frozen sections of the pond!



The second night we moved into an executive twin room with a Juliette balcony which gave us a beautiful view over the lake. We had a double bed each and they were the comfiest beds EVER! It was a fight to get up in the morning!

The room was lovely and spacious and Hayley A particularly enjoyed the spinning chair......

 

Birthday dinner, Kenwood style...

 

The staff were really sweet and friendly - decorating our table for our evening meal in celebration of Hayley C's birthday. We felt very special to have a table cloth, runner, sprinkles and complimentary birthday Prosecco, a happy birthday indeed!



The restaurant was different to the other tempus we have been to, offering a completely alternative menu which made a great change to us Tempus regulars! The choice was smaller but didn’t detract from the quality. The birthday girl had a chicken casserole and rice followed by apple pie and ice cream. Hayley A had delicious pasta with mushroom sauce and field mushrooms. It was a lovely way to spend our first night at Kenwood.

Out and about in Sheffield....

There is plenty to do in Sheffield, whether you like to go shopping or visit a museum. We took the tram to Medowhall which has every shop you could possibly imagine and an excellent variety of eateries in the food court.

We visited Sheffield cathedral and stepped into the Winter Garden which is home to more than 2,000 plants from around the world. It was also lovely to take a walk along the canal and with a glimpse of the sun we even got a chance to sit outside and enjoy a bit of winter warmth.

The obligatory cake shot :)

Birthday treat number 3 was afternoon champagne tea where we met Hayley A's lovely friends Helen and Adrian and cutie Evan.  Opportunity to catch up with friends and indulge in amazing cakes – perfect afternoon!

Our last night was spent in local tapas bar Cubana. A vibrant atmosphere complimented by delicious food and cocktails. Whilst we ate we were treated to one of the weekly Kizomba dance classes, although we weren’t brave enough to join in!

TAPAS..yum!

             

Valentine’s day dawned and it was time for us to head home.

 

After a filling breakfast in the dining room, we packed our bags and waved goodbye to Kenwood.  

A fun filled birthday road trip in two great hotels. Now to decide where Principal Hayley will take us next......