We love nothing more than waking up to our baby boy every morning. He opens his bright eyes and melts our hearts with the sweetest smile. These days, our evenings are filled with bedtime routines, chores and once they’re fast asleep in bed, we talk and talk about the boys. Our weekends are for family time, pancakes, cartoons and lego.

Colin and I are one unit now.
We’re “parents”, and we love that more than anything.
But I never want us to forget that we are also, dare I say it, “lovers”. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s true. He is my chosen man, my babies daddy and I want him to think I’m hot! I want him to remember that I do sometimes have smooth legs and wear perfume. That I can still rock a pair of heels and some matching undies. 

So, in the name of being “lovers”, as well as parents, we made a promise that at least once a month, we’re having a date.
Just the two of us.
No distractions. 

Colin was in charge of planning date number 1, and my goodness, didn’t he do well! A spa break (OH YES!!) in a gorgeous new hotel we’d heard amazing things about. 

For our first night away, we didn’t want to be too far from Ollie, so Liverpool was perfect at only an hour from our home. Ollie was in the safest hands with my sweet Mum and Auntie who travelled from Wales to stay at our house and take care of him. 

I have to admit, leaving Ollie for the first time was emotional, and actually felt really unnatural. As reassured by my mummy-friends though, after 10mins of tears in the car, I started to feel better. I was actually really excited to be on my own with Colin. This would be a good thing for all of us, including Ollie. 

We had SUCH a fantastic time. The spa day was heaven on my achey neglected post-pregnancy body. The hotel was pretty spectacular, the food completely delicious, but most of all, it was SO GOOD to spend that time alone with Colin. To have butterflies as I donned my new outfit and left for dinner with only a CLUTCH BAG! 

We stayed at the brand new Titanic Hotel Liverpool. It was a really perfect venue for our first date as Mummy and Daddy, I couldn’t recommend it enough! 

So, in case you’re also in need of a date night…here’s a little inspiration for you….

Colin booked the Romantic get-away Package which was fab value at £250 for both of us and included:
1 night B&B in a Superior Dockside Room
Three course meal
Bottle of Prosecco in the Bedroom
Beautiful Bouquet of Flowers in the room on arrival
2 Hour Spa Access

We then paid extra for some spa treatments too.

It was the PERFECT venue for our first date. While I was desperate for the afternoon of pampering in the spa, I was equally as excited about the ritual of “dressing up”, all smokey eyes and high-heels for a night out. When you stay away in a little country retreat, you feel a bit silly tottering around in heels and a dress, particularly midweek. Not at the Titanic, where you have the benefit of being in the UK’s ‘glamour’ Capital. My big hair and smokey eyes looked rather tame in Liverpool! The bar and restaurant were loud, dark and busy, not only with hotel guests but also with non-residents enjoying a night out. It felt a world away from our usual country pub lunches. 

I’ve never stayed anywhere like this before. Although the hotel is extremely easy get to, you’re not in a loud busy City Center. Stanley Dock is industrial, grimey, and steeped in history. 

As you drive towards the hotel, you’ll pass many beautiful but badly neglected buildings. Its hard to imagine that this stylish new hotel probably looked much like that just a year or so ago.

Built in 1846, the Titanic Hotel Building was once one of the worlds largest warehouses, housing Rum from many exotic countries. The developers have played on the history of the building, not just by maintaining many of the original features, but also in the ‘Rum theme’ that runs through the hotel.

The hotel itself is tucked behind a high red-brick wall. It’s a shining star in the heart of Stanley Dock and it feels quite exclusive driving in through the large original turrets.

The thing that hits you immediately as you enter reception is the sheer scale of the building. The reception is almost part of the bar, and it’s HUGE. I loved the decor, really trendy and dark, but with loads of windows allowing light to flow through the building. It almost felt smokey in the low October sun.

Once checked in, we headed up to our room, through the gigantic dark corridors.

Our room was on the top floor, room 440…..woweee!!! Again, it was enormous, particularly for a city hotel. It had three large pained glass windows making it really bright and airy. A big comfy bed, sitting area, dining area and a hatch that opened in to the bathroom (this made a perfect little prosecco shelf). We had a huge walk-in rain shower, giant bath and double sink, it’s perfect!

Once we’d dropped off our luggage, we headed to the bar for a drink and a bite to eat before our spa day. The food and drink at the bar was good and it was lovely relaxing on the sofa looking out over the old tobacco warehouse. I bet it’s great sitting out on the balcony on a warm day.

After lunch we headed down to the spa. MAJOR WOW-FACTOR!!! It’s in the basement of the building, really dark and set amongst the original arches and old walls. The pool is small, but perfectly formed and there’s plenty of loungers.

I had a massage and a facial, both were bliss. They use an Irish brand of organic skincare called VOYA. I’d never tried it before but it was lovely, and a nice change from the usual spa brands. 

After our afternoon relaxing in the spa, we got the lift directly back up to the room (well, the floor with our room on), so there’s none of this ‘walking through reception in your dressing gown’ nonsense.

It was so wonderful getting ready together in such a big spacious room. Music on, drinking prosecco in our fluffy white robes and watching the sunset over Stanley Doc. 

Our table was booked for 8pm in the restaurant but we headed down early for a cocktail. There’s a huge selection of rum, if that’s your thing, but we had cocktails. Genuinely THE BEST Espresso Martini I’ve ever had…and potent to say the least! :-/

Vegetarians avert your eyes:

When you walk into the busy, candle-lit restaurant, you’ll think of only one thing….STEAK!! It’s so smokey and delicious, wafting from the open kitchen. There’s even a glass fridge so you can see all the gigantic cuts of raw meat. 

We had Chateaubriand to share and it was heaven on a plate!! This is not the usual fancy attempt at a Michelin Star you’d get in hotels. The Chef has done a great job of keeping the menu simple and in-keeping with the heritage of the building.
There are plenty of traditional British dishes, made fancy. We always share a starter (because we want to try as much as possible) so we had Scotch Eggs which came in brown paper bags and had the most perfectly cooked runny yokes. Honestly I could eat them everyday. We also shared Mackerel Pate which was divine, and not too creamy.

The wine list was good, the coffee was lovely and strong and the desert was just as tasty as the rest of the meal. We were pretty full after our steak so we shared Treacle Tart with Vimto sorbet. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since!!

After a blissful nights sleep we woke up with slightly sore heads, desperate to see our little prince. There’s espresso machines in the rooms (which is always good news to a mama) and the option of room service.

After a nice soak in the giant tub, we headed down to breakfast.
It’s buffet service (which I was slightly disappointed about), but actually really lovely and fresh, with plenty of choice. 

We had one last little meander around the hotel grounds before jumping in the car and hot-footing it home to our little guy. That journey home seemed to take forever! 

I know that we’re really lucky we have my amazing mum to take care of Ollie. We walked into the kitchen to find him smiling away in his highchair. He glanced over at us like “Oh hey you two!”.
Being separated from him made his delicious little smile even sweeter.

We whisked him up for 24hours worth of kisses. Just like that, re-charged batteries, clear heads and some sleep in the bank, my ‘lover’ and I went back to being ‘parents’! 

If you’re planning a little romantic getaway to the Titanic Hotel…here’s what to take:

Heels and LBD
Honestly, you can’t go overboard here…it’s Liverpool!! There’s hardly any walking (with the lift straight down to the restaurant) so wear your favourite sky scrapers and totter away. You’ll be right at home in a LBD on a random thursday too so just enjoy getting dressed up!

Smokey Eyes
See above – it’s Liverpool. I used Bobbi Brown – Limited Edition Sterling Nights Collection
The star of the Christmas Collection is this palette which features nine shadows ranging from matte neutrals to rich, sparkle-infused hues…it’s perfect for date nights!

Candles and Bath Oils
With time, and a big gorgeous bath, you want to make the most of it! We always take a few tea lights to scatter around the room in hotels. I also packed Jo Malone Bath Oil in Red Roses. This is such a beautiful romantic oil and works well with Colin’s favourite Peony and Blush Suede which of course, I was wearing!

Please let me know if you decide to make a trip with your ‘lover’ too and if you do, I hope you have the BEST time!! You deserve it!! 🙂