Tried and tested: Bob and Cloche
Jo Morris checks into Gleneagles’ new beauty lodge, Bob and Cloche.
It should be said that one of my favourite things about going for a treatment is not the treatment itself. It’s that very first step that you take through the door that marks the end of rushing around life like a blue bottomed fly, and the beginning of me time. I can literally feel my shoulders drop as I hand myself over to someone to look after me for a few hours. Rather like that feeling I used to get as a kid in the backseat of the car when the engine stopped and all you feel is a quietness.
Bob and Cloche gives me that. The former gate lodge at Gleneagles Hotel has been transformed into a beauty destination with a very firm nod to the hotel’s heritage of 1920s glamour.
With various beauty rooms – including a nail bar, pedicure room, hairstyling room and treatment rooms – the feel is classic yet opulent with contemporary ivory leather chairs and stools, bespoke golden-framed mirrors, and a striking colour palette of dusty pink, pale green and black. The cherry on top is a relaxation area, with roaring fire and velvet sofas, and a dressing room, with velvet chaise lounges and vintage drinks trolley. It’s the perfect spot to come with a group of girlfriends.
As I’m led to a gorgeous bespoke sofa for my pedicure, I do a quick mental jiggle of my day ahead to see if I can maybe stay forever. Unfortunately, I can’t, not least because I have my four-year-old son in tow. Not the ideal start to a luxury pedicure you might think but despite the ‘why’ machine to my left, the treatment starts to do its job and I start to unwind.
The therapist is brilliant- dare I say it- it was the best pedicure I’ve ever had. What makes me really love her, however, is that she offers to paint my son’s toenails as well. He is still very much in the zone of princess dresses mixed with superhero costumes so this is pretty much a highlight of his short life. He chooses one bright blue toe and one orange toe. At the end of his mini treatment he declares he wants to keep them like that forever. Which means I’ll need to head back to Bob and Cloche for the next 20 years. I can live with that.
The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, PH3 1NF, Tel: 01764 694419, gleneagles.com