Afternoon Tea At The Radisson Blue, Manchester

It’s that time of year when we are wracking our brains, wondering what gifts to buy family and friends. Stocking fillers are the easy bit aren’t they? But buying a gift that someone truly loves can be tricky.

Gifting experiences always make wonderful gifts and it is something I am a huge advocate of. 

Gifts should be thought about, unless you really know somebody really wants a jumper or pair of slippers, then the best gift you could possibly give is something you have really put time and effort into thinking about. 

A gift related to a hobby, for example, a flying lesson, golfing day, wine tasting or cooking lesson. Some of us love to be pampered, ahem if anyone is reading at home! OR WOULD LOVE TO SEE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. (I have been hinting that for over 10 years capitals are not going to make a difference)

But to open a gift and think, ah they really thought about what I would like makes me so happy. Because in my book, there is no point buying a thoughtless gift, it screams I couldn’t be bothered or didn’t have time. Oops I never intended this post to turn into and a “You must think about your gifts post” it just evolved. But you know what? Now I have got as far as writing this down I am going to stand by it. Jumps off soap box!

A couple of weeks ago Karen And I tried out one such gift experience in Manchester.

Afternoon Tea At The Radisson Blu

We have become veterans of afternoon tea and spa experiences over the last couple of years, and have another adventure with BuyAGift planned for London in the new year.

I was tasked with finding a couple of great experiences Karen and I would love to book as a gift for us to share. So I started where any one in their right mind would start a couple of weeks before Christmas. Cake in Manchester, we are both mad busy and coordinating diaries was a feat in itself.

The wonderful thing about BuyAGift vouchers is that you have a year to use them.

And should your gift choice be totally wrong and its is not a life long ambition to fly a plane, you can swap your vouchers for another experience and either pay towards a more expensive experience or bank any left over money from a less expensive experience and use at a future date. It really is a win win situation and very interchangeable.

If you are thinking of gifting someone an afternoon tea voucher, it’s wonderful to have the choice of hundreds of potential options.

We combined our afternoon tea with a little time Christmas Shopping and catching up. What better way to catch up than over cake?

The Afternoon Tea At The Radisson Blu Was Delicious

The decor in the restaurant is contemporary yet chilled, environment is always a huge factor isn’t it? If a location does not feel special in one way or another the food does not seems to shine as much. But the decor at the Radisson is the perfect setting.

Our afternoon tea consisted of a choice of sandwiches, scones and cakes. We were asked if he had any preferences or allergies and offered a choice of tea coffee. The staff were attentive ensuring our cups were never empty and checking we were happy with our food and the atmosphere was welcoming and relaxed. 

We sat putting the world to rights and catching up after a hectic couple of months. It’s funny, to say our friendship started out of our love for blogging there was not much blog chat, more family life and the usual things friends chat about over cake. But here’s the thing, we just don’t make time for moments like this when we are busy working mums do we? Yet it’s what we desperately need sometimes, someone to share our thoughts with. To support each other thorough this rocky road of parenthood. And gifting vouchers for afternoons eating copious amounts of cake is a sure fire way to make that happen. 

Keep an eye out for our next adventure with BuyAGift if may just include a bit more cake and a bit of sightseeing. And check out Karens review here.