Sunday Spa: Middle Piccadilly, Dorset
There are times in life when you need to get away from the daily grind, turn off your mobile and just breathe. Middle Piccadilly – a countryside retreat and spa in Dorset – is for those times.
A rural health retreat-cum-spa, Middle Piccadilly is located off the aptly-named Peaceful Lane, a short drive from the pretty market town of Sherborne. A luxury spa retreat this is not, but more of a homely retreat, where you really get the personal touch. With only five rooms, Middle Piccadilly is small and rustic, with several treatment rooms and staff on hand at all times to help you relax.
Run by Dominic and Lisa, this home-from-home is for people who need to unwind and offers an informal and holistic environment for people to relax and focus on themselves and gain perspective on life, with delicious vegetarian food and great treatments. They clearly go out of their way to help with every single visitor’s needs. It’s homely atmosphere that makes the place unique.
The spa is an annex off a beautiful family home, tucked away in the countryside, where all guests meet at mealtimes in the stunning country kitchen complete with a cosy aga and gorgeous wooden fittings. If you prefer to keep yourself to yourself, this set-up probably isn’t for you, but for those that like to meet people from all walks of life, it’s great. The vegetarian food on offer was the absolute highlight of our stay, and Cordon Vert-trained Dominic is a master of vegetarian food. I counted down the minutes until my next feed!
Treatments on offer vary from stress-relieving massages to their specialty – Shamanic healing. I opted for their Hand-on-Heart treatment, which involved easing every last ounce of tension from your hands and feet and re-balancing chakras. A completely new treatment for me, it was brilliant and left me completely unwound.
I also opted for an organic facial with Lisa, which was brilliant. Lisa cleansed and moisturised my skin (very much in need for a good dose of TLC) only using organic ingredients. The porridge oat exfoliation was an absolute revelation and left my skin silky smooth and any angry redness calmed (I will definitely be trying this at home!). This was followed with a wonderfully cooling clay and avocado mask. Treatment rooms are small and cosy, but could do with a little lick of paint in some cases and perhaps a sign on the door marking it as a treatment room, as most are situated alongside bedrooms, so there is some unwanted noise.
It was an unusually warm September weekend when we visited and we missed having some deck chairs underneath the beautiful apple trees in the mature gardens to take in the Dorset views. The garden also houses a tucked-away yoga house, which had us wishing we had brought our mats! But for chilly days, the communal living room where you could read a book and make a cup of tea is perfect.
When we weren’t being pampered, Nikki and I explored the green fields on foot in the glorious sunshine and walked off any remaining niggles from our busy London lives. This perfect countryside retreat was just what we needed.
Find out more about Middle Piccadilly and book a stay for yourself here.
Sarah and Nikki were guests of Middle Piccadilly