Treated like a Child at Sparkling Hill Resort

My children are lucky little beings.  I am realizing this now after being treated like a helpless child all week.  I don’t mean that in a bad way…I’m speaking of being taken care of.  When is the last time someone washed your hair?  Or made your bed?  And don’t forget meals.  How often does someone lay all your food out so  you can pick and choose what you fancy at that very moment?  Pretty much never right?

It was fabulous to be treated like a child.  To be taken care of and pampered and cherished for an entire weekend.  Sunday evening I returned from a girls weekend trip to Vernon where we stayed at Sparkling Hill Resort.  As much as I missed my family, it was so hard to leave all that opulence behind knowing that the very next morning I’d have to make my own breakfast and my bed would stay disheveled because I didn’t feel like making it and nobody would be there to wash and style my hair.  I’m now back to being a self sufficient adult and it really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I am already aching to go back to the Okanagan.  Back to this:

I didn’t have to wash those windows or that tub.  It was all clean and inviting and beautiful as if magic cleaning fairies came by whilst I was gone and buffed it all until it shined.  That tub was made for a glass of wine and a book.  Made for it.

This incredible ‘fire place’ sculpture glowed and flickered in our room, creating ambiance and shine and I didn’t have to shop for it or install it or think about it one bit.  It was just there and I sat in peace and quiet, staring into the glow without any thoughts being interrupted by the screams of fighting children.

I walked into this room where tea was already prepared and waiting for me, grabbed a cup and sat to enjoy reading a book.  I read in the daytime!  I didn’t have to wait until the children were in bed so that I could concentrate on the story at all.  It remained quiet and peaceful the entire 2 hours I lounged there.  Oh and the air is lightly scented – just being there, breathing in that air and quiet made me feel relaxed as mush.

This was the view from our room.  Pretty much any window I peered out of had a view like this or better.  Mountains, trees, lake, vineyards.  I watched a bald eagle swirling round and round in lazy circles at one point.  How is it possible to not feel a bit of zen when you’re looking at this?  It’s not.

Now, beyond these doors.  THAT was where the magic happened.  These doors lead to the tea room I spoke of above.  There was also something I can’t even begin to describe to you.  The saunas. THE SAUNAS OMG YOU HAVE TO GO!  There were steam rooms with rose or ocean scents in the air, dry saunas and showers with eucalyptus and birdie sounds all around you as the water massaged your very soul.  There were pools and pretty jewels everywhere.  There was even an icy igloo to cool you down after a hot bake.  When you stay at Sparkling Hill you get access to all of this for FREE.  Sure you can book massages and special services and I did splurge to get my hair done but if you don’t wish to spend on those types of things, you can still take time in the spas and walk away feeling like you just had the most incredibly opulent and expensive experience of your life only it’s included with your stay!

I haven’t even touched on the food.  As an Alberta girl, I’ve had a lot of peppercorn steaks in my day but this one from PeakFine was so well prepared.  The sauce, the veg, the potato.  I’m starting to drool.  I did not have one bad bite during my entire stay.  My only food regret was that I had the pork belly from the buffet just once.  We had it on the first day and I thought about that pork belly the entire weekend, each morning hoping I’d see it waiting for me in the silver trays.  Alas, it did not appear again.  I will forever regret not having just one more piece.  PLUS everything I ate was gluten free and I never felt like I was missing out or had to explain or settled for something ‘less’.  It was all fantastic.

Wow, this post is getting long!  I’ll sign off saying the staff, who you never had to search for, were so so so so so lovely.  Always smiling.  Always ready to help.  Always available to  cherish you.  And I really, really did feel cherished.  I know part of it was because I was with my beautiful friends.  But a lot of that came directly from the resort itself.  It’s an easy trip to Vernon from Calgary.  You are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t head out there sometime soon for your own child-like experience.

 

 

 

 

 

** Sparkling Hill provided accommodations to facilitate this review.  All opinions, thoughts and photographs are my own.