I love a good nosy inside buildings and houses, when I’m feeling particularly bored I’ll pop onto estate agents websites to peek at the prestige homes. You know, the ones I’ll never be able to afford, just to nosy at what they’re like inside. So when I was invited to go and have a first look at the extensive refurbishment at Macdonald Kilhey Court hotel by attending a little garden party they were holding I couldn’t really say no. Plus, it was our wedding anniversary so it got us out of the house sans kids for a couple of hours and there was an offer of a glass of Pimms in the sunshine.

We popped up after work and luckily the sun had come out to play so it was lovely and warm. I’ve been to a couple of weddings at Kilhey Court so already knew that the setting and the gardens are absolutely beautiful. We were met by the General Manager, Martin and then the assistant manager Maria showed us down into the garden where we sat with a Pimms. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere. There was a band and garden games you could play, although Mr C and I avoided them as we are really competitive and I’m not sure scrapping on the lawns would have given off the best impression!

After a while of basking in the sunshine and chatting to Maria, who we couldn’t help tell all about Sam and then to Holly the Sales Manager about blogging and all sorts of other things (I even sounded like I knew what I was talking about) Holly took us on a tour of the hotel so we could see the refurbishment. I’ve got to say, I was really impressed. The rooms we saw were a good size and the decor is modern but still manages to fit in with the overall setting of the manor house. There are classic rooms, twin rooms, family rooms and Family suites available in the new part of the building. I think these are fantastic for families, there are rooms with sofa beds and some of the rooms can be adjoined for families with older children too.

I was also interested to find out that they have rooms that allow dogs, there’s a lounge area in the new part of the building where people with dogs can sit and order drinks and food. You can really tell a lot of thought has gone into transforming these rooms to make them stylish and practical for people who are looking for somewhere to stay.

In the Manor House, there are executive rooms and Feature Suites which are just beautiful. You can really imagine a bride & groom stopping there or if you were looking to sneak off for a romantic night away. I have been dropping lots of hints to Mr C.

We live in Wigan which is where Kilhey Court is, so apart from weddings (the majority of our friends our now wed) there would be no real reason for us to stay over (although I’m desperately trying to think of one) and I’d always only thought of Kilhey Court as a place for events and weddings, I was of course wrong.

I was excited to find out that I could visit and use the facilities even if I wasn’t staying at the hotel. There’s a Spa which offers spa days or one-off treatments, a gym, dance studio, water babies swimming lessons, a bar you can use, the hotel does afternoon tea and they are have recently launched a Sunday Lunch menu which was really reasonably priced and sounded delicious.

After our tour we went to have a little look around the garden and down to the lake, which you can have a walk round, then it was time to head home and pick the kiddiewinkles up. We were made to feel very welcome by the team and we had a lovely couple of hours. Now that I know the full extent of what Kilhey Court has to offer I will definitely be visiting again, we’re always looking for nice places for Sunday lunch and you don’t get a much more beautiful setting than here and who doesn’t love a spa day!