There aren’t many things I’d rather do in an afternoon than go and have a bit of afternoon tea and spend time getting a massage; and I got to do just that with Red Letter Days a couple of weeks ago.
My friend Rosie and I made our way over to The Grove Hotel in Cromer for a little afternoon jaunt and it was so nice to escape the craziness of the kids for a while. I always think it’s lovely to do things with them but I really felt like I needed to be away from it all, and this was the ideal opportunity to escape being a mum for just a bit.
I don’t think you can ever go wrong with an afternoon tea and massages are one of my favourite things of all time. As someone who is always really tense and stressed, it’s nice to have that released through massage.
It took us just over an hour to get to The Grove Hotel where we went down a little, what seemed like secluded, driveway only to come upon this beautiful Georgina house covered in lush greenery. There was a beautiful open garden to the left, which had trees, bushes and plenty of flowers lining the perimeter and we spotted some yurts toward the back.
We parked up, entered the house and made our way to the reception desk. We got booked in and shown to the orangery where the doors were swung open and the sun was shining in through the roof lantern. It was so serene and quiet and pretty idyllic, especially when we were sat down on some beautiful Chesterfield style chairs. We were offered some tea and coffee to settle us in (unlimited with the experience that we chose) and were told we could choose to stay in the orangery or move to the garden. As the sun was shining we decided to chill outside for a bit and enjoy the weather. I chose to leave the cuppa until after the massage as I was going first.
The itinerary was pretty simple; one of us would have a massage, followed by the other and then we’d both sit down for some afternoon tea. Though it’s situated on the grounds The Massage Hut is a separate entity to The Grove Hotel, but they do offer packages like the one we chose where you can get to enjoy both.
The Massage Hut at The Grove Hotel
I was lead away from the outdoor table down a small path to The Massage Hut and it really is just a cute, little hut. It’s set just underneath some trees to the right and once you walk inside it’s super cosy. I was made to feel welcome and totally at ease with Christy, the therapist. She went through a few questions with me to get an overall view of my health and what the every day stresses were in my life and I think that’s really important. Firstly, because it’s an holistic massage, she was able to focus on the areas that I’d spoken about and secondly it’s such a great ice breaker if you’re nervous about getting a massage.
Once all the formalities were done, Christy pulled a curtain across and I was able to get undressed and onto the bed. Usually, with any massage, I always ask that they really put some effort it and knead me until it hurts but that didn’t happen this time. Despite it not being as firm as I’m used to, Christy was really good at working at the knots and tension in my neck and shoulders and I really enjoyed it. I was able to relax and just let myself sink into the bed while she was applying pressure. I tend to find that sometimes I tense up during a massage and have to tell myself to relax otherwise I don’t get the full effect.
As always, the 30 minutes I was on the table flew by and I was left thinking that I should have upgraded to a longer one! I got dressed and there was a little debrief about the massage on both parts which I thought was a nice little touch; normally you’re just told to get dressed and then they say “thanks” and see you out of the door.
I was led back to our table where I swapped places with Rosie. I was offered a pot of tea and this time I couldn’t say no.
Afternoon Tea at The Grove Hotel
The tea came loose leaf, which I think I’ve only ever had a handful of times in my life. Luckily, I knew to use the strainer otherwise it’d have been a bit of disaster. There was plenty in the pot for two cups and I think it’s only right to have tea with two lumps of sugar.
It was so lovely to sit down for 40 minutes in the peace and quiet with almost nobody else around, other than those checking into either the yurts or the small cottages on site. Once Rosie had finished her massage she came and met me and we went back into the orangery to be served our afternoon tea.
Initially it looked absolutely amazing. There was a good variety and ratio of savoury to sweet, although there were a couple of things I’d have happily changed. The salmon in the sandwiches was smoked and it tasted lovely, but I didn’t eat the second one because I just don’t really like the texture of salmon in bread; it’s not for me. However, the rest of the sandwiches were delicious and you could definitely tell they’d been freshly made.
The scones were fruit scones, which is pretty standard for afternoon tea, but I would much prefer a cheese scone with some butter. There was plenty of cream and jam though and I did eat the scone if any of you were wondering (I just picked the fruit out)!
There was also some brownie and some fruit cake. Neither me or Rosie like fruit cake so that got left, although it looked appetising. The brownie was delicious; incredibly rich but when you crunched into the outer layer into the thicker, gooier middle I really didn’t mind.
The smaller sweets were also really lovely. There was a profiterole which was utterly divine and I could’ve eaten a whole batch of them. The victoria sponge which had some piped cream on with a strawberry and raspberry wasn’t really anything to write home about; I ended up spreading on some of the jam and cream that came with the scones. The last thing was a cone shaped meringue with a creamy middle. I so desperately hoped that the cream in the middle might have a bit of lemon zest in because that would have been amazing, but I was so disappointed as it basically tasted of nothing.
For £14.50 per head for the afternoon tea, I didn’t think this was too bad. There are small upgrade packages that range from “flowering jasmine afternoon tea” through to “sparkling afternoon tea” which is served seven days a week between 2.30pm and 4.30pm.
After we’d finished our afternoon tea we had a little wander around the grounds. This family run hotel also offers glamping and holiday cottages with a small on site swimming pool and children’s play area. You’ll also find a private woodland path through to Cromer beach, which is a short walk.
We’d be more than happy to come back here if we were in the area but I probably wouldn’t make an hour’s trip for it. But, overall? A good price, a good afternoon tea and a superb massage.
*I was gifted this experience in return for a review. All views and opinions are my own.