MAXINE GORDON visits a new North Yorkshire spa, where the treatments are tailored especially for you.

IF you are someone who can’t make up their mind, or often changes it at the last minute, make tracks for the Imagine day spa.

It’s USP is that you can decide what treatment you want on arrival. Better still; if you fancy mixing two treatments together – all you need to do is ask.

“Our therapists are trained in every treatment; so if you want a St Tropez tan and your nails done that is possible because your therapist can do them,” explains manager Wendy Butcher.

It’s all about flexibility – which means the client comes first. Great.

“With Imagine spas all our packages are time-based, so you book your slot but can decide on what treatment you would like on the day. You can tell the therapist how you want to feel and let them decide what the most effective treatment will be,” adds Wendy.

It makes it oh-so easy to change your mind. Wendy continues: “You might have fancied a facial when you booked, but then the night before your visit, you sleep funny and have a crick in your neck so really fancy a head and shoulders massage – well that’s no problem.”

I experience this flexibility in action during my visit to Imagine, based in the enviable location of the former Keep at Hazelwood Castle Hotel, just a 20-minute drive from York along the A64.

I’ve come for the ‘Half Day Indulge’ package, which includes a complimentary drink on arrival, a 60 minute treatment (or two 30-minute treatments), up to three hours chillaxing in the relaxation area (in fluffy white robes and slippers, sipping herbal teas and reading the latest glossy magazines) and either a one-course lunch or afternoon tea.

Reading through the spa programme is a bit like scanning a restaurant menu that features your favourite dishes.

There are therapeutic manicures and pedicures, a choice of four different body massages, at least five treatments for your face as well as exfoliating specialities such as a salt body peel and aromatherapy body wrap.

There’s an anti-cellulite firming treatment as well as tanning using St Tropez (applied by the therapist).

Arriving later this spring will be the Mud Serail Chamber, where your skin is lathered in detoxifying mud and you sit in a hot steam room for 20 minutes before getting showered off.

I arrive with knots in my back and neck and a bit stressed. Therapist Kerry Browning suggests the ‘Scentao of Asia Massage’ where hot stones and a warming, relaxation, oil are used to tackle trouble spots. Kerry melds this with a deep tissue back massage, so I feel my aches and pains are thoroughly ironed out.

Because she has warmed my back with the hot stones, when she gets to work using her arms and elbows, the feeling is one of relaxation rather than discomfort. Recommended.

Imagine also capitalises on its remarkable location. As long as you mention it at the time of booking, a history tour of the castle (which dates back to the Domesday Book) can be included in your visit – for no extra charge.