Fitness, Food & Pampering in Wales

If you read about my DIY fitness holiday in Wales last year then you’ll know that I travel down to Pembrokeshire quite a lot. On the way I’ve always seen The Celtic Manor Resort as the huge mysterious hotel up on the hill when we drive over the Severn Bridge. If I’m 100% honest, the only time I’ve ever seen the inside of the hotel was on an episode of Don’t Tell The Bride many moons ago, so I was a little nervous/intrigued about what to expect when they kindly invited us to stay for a couple of nights. Turns out I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about.

Featuring three hotels, three golf courses, six restaurants and two fitness centres and spas, the Celtic Manor Resort is far from the boutique style of hotel I’d normally opt for, but it was such a pleasant change. While we waited for our room we relaxed in the Olive Tree Restaurant and enjoyed a healthy quinoa lunch followed by two rounds of Adventure Golf. That was my sweetener to Rob, as I knew it would be hard for him to be surrounded by three amazing golf courses and not get to play any of them. Our room (plus private lounge and dining room!) had a huge balcony looking over the golf course, which was just beautiful under the sunny sky.

Full of Fitness

We headed down to the Forum Gym before dinner to get our sweat on, but were slightly let down by the size of the facility. In fairness we were probably there at the busiest time of day, but for a hotel of this size we both felt it was slightly on the small side. I found a spot and got sweaty with a full-body Kayla Itsines workout. The gym did the job and had everything I needed, but I’d have loved a squat rack for some post-Kayla legs and glute work. Typical woman though, always wanting more! 😉 After our amazing steak dinner at The Grill that evening we went for a wander around the clubhouse and found Dylan’s gym, which was bigger than The Forum gym and quieter, as it’s away from the main hotel. That would become our new sweat ground.

On the Thursday I was booked in to the Pilates class, which was a nice change from my usual intense workouts and yoga. Celtic Manor has a class timetable for both gyms, so if you’re not a golfer, swimmer or gym-bunny, you’ll hopefully find a class to suit you.

So Much For My Healthy Eating Plans!

On our way to The Celtic Manor I was saying to Rob how I was planning on using this trip as a bit of a detox; super clean eating and lots of fitness, but… hmmm… the eating didn’t really work out that way! Our first dinner at The Grill was the best – carrot & herb soup, fillet steak with chunky chips & vegetables, followed by treacle tart. I think it’s safe to say that my clean eating plans went out the window. Ooops. Dinner on the second night was at Newbridge on Usk, a beautiful old country restaurant about a 10-minute drive away from The Celtic Manor Hotel. The concierge were brilliant and had a driver to take us wherever we needed to go within minutes.

Even though The Grill was my favourite meal, our meal at Newbridge on Usk definitely didn’t disappoint. I ate possibly the best fishcake I’ve ever had and finished it all off with a (un)healthy helping of raspberry and elderflower sorbet. I’m still thinking about that sorbet now!

Kneading Those Knots

To bring our stay to a relaxing end both Rob and I were taken off into separate treatment rooms for a full-body deep tissue massage. If you’ve never had a deep tissue massage before, you’ll want to be prepared for a little bit of discomfort while your therapist gets to work on your back, shoulders and neck. It’s only when you have a massage like this that you realise how many muscle knots you have and how tense you are.

Both Rob and I left The Celtic Manor Resort feeling full of delicious food that we’d earned in the gym and feeling very relaxed from the massage. The perfect break to spend some quality time together and recharge our batteries.

Thanks to The Celtic Manor Resort for our wonderful stay.

Find information about the resort and rates on their website.