A relaxing stay at the Redcastle Oceanfront Golf & Spa Hotel

I mentioned to the hotel that we loved the outdoors so they booked us into a kayaking session with Inish Adventures.

We were met by Tiarnán, who got us set up with wetsuits, shoes and safety gear and ran through the options for the day; sea kayak, short kayak or paddle boards.

We decided on the sea kayaks and, after a short training session, we set off down the Foyle.

Tiarnán was able to tell us all about the local wildlife and excitedly talked about his love for the water, which was great to hear.

We weren’t very lucky on the sea-life front, apart from the odd seagull, but I wonder if Sarah’s occasional screeching had anything to do with that...

We bid adieu to Natasha as Sarah and I headed for the Redcastle Hotel where we were booked in for a mud bath. Neither of us had ever had a mud bath before but we had imagined that we would be spending the afternoon in a wooden barrel full of thick mud.

Fortunately, we were wrong. We each had our own private room with a huge bath/hot tub hybrid filled with water and nutrients, mud and seaweed essence that would do wonders for our bodies.

Once out of the mudbath and reunited with Sarah, we headed off to check in. We were greeted by a pleasant receptionist, who told us that we had a lovely, newly refurbished room.

And lovely it was! We were staying in a spacious double room, which was decorated with a robe each, a plate of chocolates and champagne to welcome us. It was wonderful. The hotel has recently undergone refurbishments, worth over half a million pound so far.

All of the bedrooms and the wedding and function suite, the Ocean Suite, are being updated, with work set to be complete in May this year.

We were staying in one of these newly refurbished rooms and we were amazed by its quality.

We spent some time in our room, drinking the gorgeous champagne and gushing over the hotel before getting ready for dinner, where we were greeted by a friendly waitress who led us to our table overlooking the Foyle.

The huge glass windows almost made it feel like we were on a boat in the middle of the ocean and the overcast weather made it so we couldn’t see any land ahead.

Going with the maritime theme, Sarah got the Burtonport Crab Salad to start and Seared Sea Bass for mains with a glass of red wine. I got the Caesar Salad for starters, roast chicken breast for mains and a glass of white wine.

We were blown away by the dinner; it was absolutely delicious and the service was next to none.

Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so we didn’t get dessert but the in-house mixologist came to our table for a chat about cocktails and, before we knew it, we were sipping on beautiful espresso martinis. We were exhausted from all the excitement of the day so we headed to bed shortly after and had a great sleep in a huge and very comfortable bed.

We headed down for the delicious self-service breakfast in the morning and we loved trying all the pastries and delicacies until we were fit to burst.

We spent some time in the pool, trying the different jacuzzis, steam room and hot tub before we each went in for an amazingly relaxing back massage, before heading home fully relaxed and pampered. We can’t wait to go back!

Book your Redcastle Minibreak from only €169 in total for two people. An overnight stay with a delicious three course evening meal in The Edge Restaurant, €10 Spa Credit (T&Cs Apply), glass of bubbly on arrival and a full Irish breakfast the next morning. Subject to availability, T&C’s apply.