Blimey but I am behind with my posting. I have new job! It's very exciting - I am now officially 'Head of Social Media' at a little digital agency called Digital Binx. It's all very new (two weeks!) so I don't have a huge amount to tell you all yet. Have a look at the site to find out more!
But just before I started, I had the absolute honour of being invited to stay for a night at Bailbrook House in lovely, lovely Bath. It's part of the small, boutique chain of Handpicked Hotels, all known for their beautiful and unique venues. Bailbrook itself seems to have languished for several decades as a conference centre, so the transformation to a fancy hotel is pretty amazing. Here's my little review!
We arrived on a rainy Sunday afternoon and were immediately treated to Afternoon Tea. Now I am a huge fan of afternoon tea as you may well know from reading umpteen other blogs about said teas; but my lovely man Sean is not as au fait with them. It's fair to say he doesn't 'get' afternoon tea and had not, in his recollection, ever had one. He was soon converted.
There were two teas available - savoury and sweet. We chose one of each! The savoury had freshly baked breadsticks, smoked salmon caesar salad, parma ham and some amazing homemade harissa spiced 'hummous' (in inverted commas as it didn't taste at all like hummous but was utterly delicious) and tzaziki, plus olives, tiny prawn vol au vents and croque monsieur. Oh and the finger sandwiches, standard tea offering but not standard in this case with homemade bread in multiple flavours. YUM.
The sweet tea was pretty traditional: sandwiches, scones with fresh clotted cream and jam, but also with tiny strawberry and mint cupcakes, bakewell tarts and a little Peach Schnapps sorbet and madeira cake. Very tasty indeed.
The tea was all Twinings finest, but with a really neat system to choose. A presentation box with loose teas in jars was brought over for us to open and sniff. I chose Earl Grey as I very often do. Mr Tizard chose a smoky one whose name escapes me. They came over with a little timer to get the perfect brew - white, green or black tea!
That evening we explored Bath and had an awesome sleep in the very comfy bed (not to mention a bath in the huuuuge bathroom with TV and waterproof remote. Here's the Tizard, demonstrating.
Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the bed, I got so excited about jumping onto it. So here is a recreation of my first entrance into the room, performed the following morning.
There were lots of cool, quirky vintage pictures everywhere... and the four poster bed was THE most comfortable ever.
The rooms all have grand names like Lord Nelson and Jane Austen. Ours was General James Wolfe, apparently a British army officer who trounced the Canadians at the Battle of Quebec. Soz Canadians.
(civilised official pic)
After all that jumping, there was only one thing for it. Breakfast and the papers.
What about the hotel itself? It was a horrible day when we visited Bailbrook House Hotel. Here's a photo of it looking lovely.
It's truly gorgeous, Georgian; built in the 1790s and used for all sorts (including, as previously mentioned, as a conference centre). The grounds are lovely too. I had to have a pose. In me big troosers.
Billowy.
I had such a lovely night's stay with the great food and super room. A massive, massive thank you to Bailbrook House and Handpicked Hotels for having me. If you are looking for a luxurious mini-break in the wonderful city of Bath, I couldn't recommend it more! I adore Bath so much though. Anyone got any other recommendations? I want to go back soon!
Fleur xx
DiaryofaVintageGirl.com
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