The Monart Experience

Before visiting Monart I knew it was known to be one of the best spas in Ireland, so of course I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Little did I know that Monart was more than a spa hotel, it was the spa hotel. Unlike most other hotels with a spa, if you are visiting Monart you are there for the spa, it's not just an added bonus. The whole place is almost a retreat, a detox or a slight break from reality.

Upon arriving at the five star Monart hotel, we pulled up outside the main door where two concierges were waiting, one to take our bags inside and one to park my car! For someone who is not used to five star service, I giddily handed over my car keys while trying to hide the numerous bottles of wine we were trying to sneak in with us. 
We took a few moments to take in the grandeur of our surroundings before we were welcomed by a staff member, who gave us our room information as well as a brief introduction to the hotel. 

As part of the hotel's aim to offer a completely relaxed experience, Monart doesn't have WiFi (except for in one common room). You are there to relax, the use of phones is not prohibited but not really encouraged. While it all sounds extremely strict and regimented, it's not like that at all. Having barely any signal and no WiFi was actually nice, but I was still whipping my phone out to take a few pictures. Another part of the Monart experience is the 'Monart uniform' which are luxurious white fluffy robes, to be worn all day, except for at dinner.



After we checked into our huge room we immediately put on our robes and headed to the spa for the afternoon. We spent our time going between the outdoor sauna, the infrared sauna, the steam room, salt room, foot bath and pool. We also popped in and out of the relaxation room where we could read (or snooze) with some fresh fruit and Voya tea.

 





Luckily for us the weather was on our side so we could sit out and enjoy our lunch while taking in the stunning garden views.

If you are wondering about the food, thinking all we ate was cucumbers, don't worry....it's not that kind of detox! Breakfast was included and was your usual buffet of cereal, fruit, yoghurt etc with hot food available to order from the menu. On our first night we dined in the main restaurant which offered unbelievable food (including dessert). But the best meal had to be our room service dinner which we enjoyed on our balcony, in our robes, drinking our prosecco.

 

The whole weekend was the most relaxing thing I've ever done. Every aspect of the hotel and spa was five star, including the attentive staff who were always on hand to bring us fresh robes or a bucket of ice for the multiple bottles of wine we brought with us. While I've been to a few other spa hotels, nothing compares to how chilled out and relaxed we were at Monart.