The best luxury spas in London

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. On arrival, guests are quietly ushered into a tearoom for a seasonal infusion and the old-school pleasure of the latest glossy magazines, as well as a gratifyingly short patient form. The changing rooms are like most changing rooms, but can be reached via a secret passage for those who don’t want to bump into fellow spa visitors — although there should never be too many of those, as you may only use the facilities if you are a guest or have booked a spa experience. There are seven treatment rooms, with in-house brands including Margy’s (exclusive to the Peninsula in the UK) and aromatherapy products from Subtle Energies. There are all the usual treatments, massages and body wraps (here infused with pearl and conch shell extracts). The facial menu includes the 24 Karat Gold mask and e-Finger Facial option — the mask being self explanatory, the e-Finger an “electrolift” device for firming. I had a personalised holistic massage and bespoke “super lift” facial. Knots were eradicated, pressure points activated and there was much facial massage and the application of various masks and gorgeous-smelling oils. It was all very skilful and relaxing, and my skin did look and feel transformed afterwards.

Other options include guided meditations, a sleep support day programme and sessions with a rotating cast of specialists, including Susan Siklawi, who offers craniosacral massage, and the acupuncturist Dr Li Ping Bartlett. There is a relaxation room with heated beds, which feels almost temple-like in its hushed tranquillity. For more energetic souls, the personal trainer David Marshall is on hand to guide you around the fitness centre and, on your way out, you may pop into the Errol Douglas salon for a blow dry, which will help you to prepare for re-entry to the real world. Gavanndra Hodge
peninsula.com, SW1X

Talise Spa at the Carlton Tower Jumeirah Hotel

The Talise Spa at the Carlton Tower Jumeirah Hotel

Slap bang between Harrods and Buckingham Palace sits the Carlton Tower Jumeirah Hotel. This is possibly the swankiest neighbourhood in London and home to those who know their stuff when it comes to being pampered to within an inch of their lives.

The neat little spa at the Carlton Tower features what may be one of the best hotel pools in London. All 20m of it sits twinkling under a curved-glass, double-height ceiling, so you’re comprehensively bathed in natural light even on the gloomiest and dankest of London days. It’s easy to lose touch with reality as you sit on a soft lounger, separated from others by white muslin curtains. Just an hour can feel like the mini-est of mini-breaks, and no less restorative for it.

There are one double and four single treatment rooms, and you can choose from 18 treatments using Aromatherapy Associates, 111Skin and Omorovicza products. Ask for Ruth, the charming Irish therapist, who may just have some sort of magic in her hands. There are modest sauna and steam rooms but, frankly, how much room do you need to sit still and sweat?

The spa is known as Talise Spa at the Peak (after the spa at its sister hotel, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai) as it’s the complement to the more exhausting and famous Peak gym up on the 8th and 9th floors. If you fancy becoming a member, the Peak has a wonderful, super-healthy café and offers 30 fitness classes, including five different yogas, three for dance and three for boxing. It also has a renowned matching curved-glass, double-height ceiling overlooking the 14,000 sq ft of glorious Cadogan Gardens. What would you rather stare at as you sweat? A basement wall? A TV? Other sweaty people? Or blanket views of one of the loveliest private gardens in London? Jennifer Gains
jumeirah.com, SW1X

The spa at the Fairmont in Windsor

The Fairmont, Windsor

Raj Arora’s father-in-law is a billionaire. No doubt she could easily spend all day at home eating bon-bons. Instead, she’s built a space dedicated to skincare and aesthetics that is the jewel in the crown of a spectacular spa, which itself is the gem within the Arora-owned Fairmont Windsor hotel.

Setting up a cute little clinic in daddy-in-law’s hotel may not sound too taxing, but the Face Bible, as it is called, is state of the art and has an impressive range of aesthetic, skin and health treatments, including advanced peels, injectables, the very latest devices and lasers, all expertly masterminded by Raj, who also happens to be an excellent doctor. In a masterstroke of inspiration, the clinic also offers private GP services to hotel guests and the wealthy local spa members. These include Well Woman health checks and blood work. If you’re checking in for a spa day, why wouldn’t you have it all done at once? You can go from massage to nails to haircut to Botox to smear test. It’s a no-brainer. The Fairmont sits just 15 minutes from Heathrow, so the spa is an easy day trip from London.

The apparently infinite gym has a scanner that maps your body in 3D, lots of classes and a spin studio. There are regular tennis and (the now mandatory for those who consider themselves at the sharp end of fitness trends) padel tennis courts in the grounds. The spa itself, which covers more than 25,000 sq ft, is extravagantly comprehensive. It offers more than 200 treatments in 18 treatment rooms (ask for a massage with Rekha, now there’s a woman fizzing with enthusiasm for her job). The facilities are nothing short of astonishing: a cryotherapy chamber, a dry floatation chamber, indoor and outdoor pools, a healthy café, hairdressers, a nail bar, a Himalayan salt mist room, steam room, sauna, hamman and a phone-free, sound-proofed room with ten beds for a little nap. Danielle Craft
fairmont-windsorpark.com, TW20

The Four Seasons Park Lane spa

Four Seasons Park Lane

The first pleasant surprise when visiting the spa at the Four Seasons hotel on Park Lane is that you are directed to the 10th floor. So often hotel spas are hidden in a subterranean lair — dark and moody, sure, but how delightful it was to walk out into a bright, airy reception with views stretching across central London. I was greeted by Peggy, who deftly showed me around the female-only thermal suite (the men’s facilities are separate), answering any questions I might have had before I even needed to ask.

In the immaculate changing area, Natural Spa Factory toning mist, cleanser and face cream were readily available along a fully equipped vanity unit bedecked with white orchids. I then spent a serene hour moving between the 32-degree thermal pool, sauna bathed in natural light and the eucalyptus steam room, punctuated by rejuvenating cold mist showers. I headed through to the treatment rooms, with floor-to-ceiling windows, for a Five Elements Aromatherapy massage. As a member of the Buzzfeed quiz generation, I enjoyed filling in a short questionnaire to choose between Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water Element Herbology natural oils — did I want to feel energised or detoxed? Was I a worrier or irritable? (I was Wood, by the way, drawn to spring and the colour green.)

The 32-degree thermal pool

While Perrine’s hands and hot stones expertly worked away any tension, a violin concerto gently played in the background as my preoccupations gracefully drifted off across Green Park. It was unadulterated bliss. After a serene 90 minutes, I moved to a darkened bed to relax with a nettle tea and fruit-infused water, reluctant ever to leave.

The suite is not for those looking to while away hours lying by a large pool with a good book. It is small, intimate, like relaxing in my own living room, if my living room had a five-star thermal pool and Himalayan salt wall sauna. But for a quiet morning spent high above the bustling hive of the capital, treated to world-class hospitality, you couldn’t ask for more. And when Yannick Alléno, whose ventures have previously received three Michelin stars, opens his Pavyllon London restaurant at the hotel in the summer, I will surely be back. Verity Stockdale
fourseasons.com, W1J

A treatment room at the Claridge’s spa

Claridge’s Spa

There has been underground burrowing at Claridge’s for nearly a decade now, and last year the results of all this industry were revealed — a brand new 75,000 sq ft spa three floors down. The vibe here is very different from the art deco monochrome magnificence above.

The spa has been designed by the interiors architect André Fu and is a Zen environment clad in pale oak and limestone. Fountains tinkle and the smell of cedarwood calms the spirit as you slip into a peach-coloured kimono to sip custom-blend green tea while awaiting a treatment in one of the seven treatment rooms (all double-insulated so guests will be entirely unaware of the Victoria line Tube trains whizzing past every two minutes).

The new pool at Claridge’s

There are Augustinus Bader facials, face gym workouts, manicures with the cult nail artiste Harriet Westmoreland and expert highlights care of Josh Wood. There is even the UK’s first MLX i3Dome, an infrared body pod, for a sweatily effective detox. But those seeking true balance — befitting of a space inspired by Kyoto’s sacred architecture — should consult the resident acupuncturist Ross Barr. He is trained in the Five Element acupuncture tradition and is a skilled and subtle practitioner, able to alleviate stress and restore focus, as well as offer acupuncture for fertility issues, trauma and grief. Ross is a true healer, and although he has clinics across London, his new Claridge’s base allows him to offer an even more recuperative experience.

Because after a treatment the last thing one wants is to hurl oneself back into the urban mêlée. Far better to glide through candle-lit corridors, by-passing the gym, perhaps taking in a sauna or steam in the changing rooms, before heading to Claridge’s new pool. It is small at 8m, but perfectly formed, with curtained day beds for those wishing to rest/pass out for a short while. GH
claridges.co.uk, W1K

The pool at the Retreat at the Londoner

THE LONDONER

The Retreat at the Londoner

Prepare for several Through the Looking-Glass moments when booking into the Retreat spa at the Londoner, one of the city’s newest luxury hotels that’s stacked with as many storeys below ground as above and one of the deepest buildings in the world.

The first reality wobble comes as you step from the hectic bustle of Leicester Square into the thickly carpeted, monastic hush of the lobby; the second as you emerge, four floors beneath ground level, into ultra-convincing daylight shimmering across the surface of an azure pool. The next is likely to hit in one of the serene, womb-like treatment rooms as you fall into a trance-like state while pondering how exactly they managed to pack it all in down there without bumping into the Piccadilly line.

The Retreat isn’t some sprawling country house-style spa; instead it rewrites the definition of inner sanctum, closeting visitors away from the world above. City-dwellers and weekend breakers alike gather around the considerably sized pool and hydro plunge pool, which ripple gently with soft, oxygenated water and are bordered by beachy-looking cabanas and daybeds.

These are all in winking distance of the spa’s Refuel bar, which serves superfood salads and smoothies as well as invigorating wellness shots. Both menu and drinks are laced with exotic-sounding ingredients such as xylitol powder to stimulate the immune system, coenzyme Q10 to energise you on a cellular level, and collagen — because who doesn’t want a bit more of that? I can attest to the health-giving properties of the vegan cheese and avocado toastie.

Yet most of the glow I departed with was thanks to a 90-minute Illuminating C facial (£145) so relaxing it was practically disorienting. Using Omorovicza products, my therapist combined an extensive cleanse, peel, mask and moisturise with ice-cold pressure-point massage to depuff eyes and plump everything else, and a blissful hand, arm and neck rub. Buckle in for a floaty, out-of-body experience.

If feeling polished and pummelled is more to your taste, the Live Forever detoxifying body wrap (£125) begins with an invigorating Hebridean salt scrub to boost circulation and improve skin texture, then segues into a cocoon-like oil massage. Before you emerge from your below-ground chrysalis, be sure to make the most of the changing rooms’ giant fluffy towels, tea-infused beauty range and Dyson hairdryers. Or if that sounds too tiring, book in for a manicure and blow-dry at the salons just beyond the pool.

I warn you, leaving the Retreat is difficult — but if you get a touch of the bends on your ascent back up to real life, there’s always Joshua’s Tavern gin bar on the way out. Harriet Walker
thelondoner.com, WC2H

Loungers at the Lanesborough Spa

JAMES MERRELL

The Lanesborough

Wander along the plush corridors of the Lanesborough and hidden beneath the rooms and reception you’ll find a spa so calm and luxurious it’s hard to believe you’re just a few feet away from Hyde Park Corner.

The spacious changing rooms are decorated in elegant gold and silver (my neon-pink hairbrush felt terribly loud and out of place). There are thermal sauna and steam rooms as well as a mixed hydro pool — a truly calming space. I’d have been content to just spend the day reading on the comfy loungers.

Spa butlers (no, I’d never heard of them either) are on hand to cater to your every need. The problem was I couldn’t find anything for them to do. There are towels, water stations, robes, toiletries and amenities everywhere you look, including in the relaxation area where you’re collected for your appointment. Here you’ll find tea and healthy snacks in abundance. The spa offers a wide range of treatments, from advanced therapies such as body sculpting and micro-needling to holistic relaxation including the Tata Harper Awakening and Energising Body Ritual with singing bowl. I tried the Signature Royal Fern facial (£190 for 60 minutes). My therapist used electronic muscle stimulation (EMS) gloves to massage and sculpt my face, removing all the tension I’d built up in my jaw and leaving my face smooth and hydrated. The Club & Spa restaurant has an extensive menu that covers most dietary requirements. I tried the Niçoise salad as well as the green booster juice for a protein and vitamin-rich lunch — both were delicious. Rachel Speed
lanesboroughclubandspa.com, SW1X

The Augustinus Bader spa

AUGUSTINUS BADER

The Skin Lab by Augustinus Bader, Lanserhof

Open the beauty cabinet of anyone with enviable skin and their top shelf is guaranteed to be lined with the telltale blue and gold packaging of Augustinus Bader. Known for its wildly popular Rich Cream, the brand is the brainchild of Charles Rosier and Professor Augustinus Bader, and has taken the luxury beauty world by storm. When it was announced that they were opening their first spa in partnership with the Lanserhof clinic in Mayfair, the skin-obsessed waited with bated breath. Described as a place “where luxury, technology and clinical innovation combine”, the Skin Lab by Augustinus Bader is sleek and chic, every surface as smooth and shiny as the skin you’ll have upon leaving. The first step is the Visia analysis (£120) — a 20-minute treatment in a spaceship-like device that acts as a skin fortune teller. It reads the layers of the skin and reveals all of its secrets — from sun damage to smoking, the Visia tool knows all — and even offers a glimpse of what your skin will look like in the future. This specific feedback is then used to map out your skin’s journey and pick a tailored routine of rejuvenating facials, eye treatments, facial massage and light therapy. I opted for the Rejuvenating Facial (£475) following my Visia reading, which combined the Method, Augustinus Bader’s professional treatment which works to amplify the brand’s patented TFC8 (Trigger Factor Complex) technology and trains skin over the long term with oxygen therapy, fascia massage and LED lights.

While the spa is situated in the members-only Arts Club, membership is not required to access the Augustinus Bader space. Clients are also able to make use of the bespoke therapies offered at the adjoining Lanserhof clinic, so your path could include personal training, studio classes and a visit to the in-house medical clinic. Hayley Bloomingdale
lanserhof.com, W1S

The pool at Ned’s Club Spa

THE NED

Ned’s Club Spa

From the moment you walk into Edwin Lutyens’s grand grade I listed entrance hall, which was once the headquarters of the Midland Bank, you know you’re in the beating heart of the City. Unlike its sister clubs at Soho House, this is a place where suits are welcome, and the space — all marble floors and chandeliers — hums with the sound of business meetings.

Take the lifts two floors down, past a de Gournay wallpaper-lined reading room, and turn right at the stuffed white peacock to find the spa, which has a modern members’ club feel. The changing rooms are fully kitted out with a row of Dyson hairdryers and Cowshed products.

You’re led to your treatment room through candlelit corridors, passing businessmen getting their beards trimmed and toes tended to. There’s an extensive treatment list to choose from, including an array of maternity massages that would make a welcome gift for any mother-to-be. I tried the Akwaterra massage (£160 for 60 minutes), where heated sandstone pods smoothed away aches and pains, and the De Mamiel Urban Warrior facial (£180 for 60 minutes), which uses antioxidant-rich raw cacao, vigorous massage and hot and cold compresses to undo the damage city pollution can wreak on the skin before you’re carefully covered in SPF and sent on your way. Each therapist has to be approved by the renowned facialist Annee de Mamiel herself — ask for Pavlina, one of her protégées.

After your spa trip, and maybe a swim in the 20-metre underground pool or a stop-off in the hammam or sauna, there will be no shortage of places to eat. The Ned has seven restaurants open to the public, along with a rooftop terrace, a pool with views of St Paul’s and a hidden bar in the bank’s original vault for members. If you’re feeling virtuous, try Kaia for sushi or Malibu Kitchen for California-style wellness bowls, or undo all your good work in the lap pool with a burger at the Electric Bar & Diner or a lobster and oyster feast at Millie’s Lounge. Lauren York
thened.com, 8AJ

Residents’ Lounge at 45 Park Lane

THE DORCHESTER

45 Park Lane, Dorchester Collection

It’s rare to go into a spa these days and spot only men. But the spa at 45 Park Lane wasn’t conceived for those seeking a traditional spa day out. It is located at the rear of the Mayfair Park Residences — private homes worth between about £4.5 and £24 million. So the group of men chatting by the pool weren’t swanning down from their hotel room for a swim and a facial like us but neighbours hanging out at home. That their shared 10,000sq ft underground playground feels so light and soothing, artfully adorned with white marble finishes and Scandi furniture, is thanks to Jouin Manku, the international designers behind the pared-back maisons of brands such as Van Cleef & Arpels. It’s beautifully bright and fresh, the 20m pool surrounded by walls clad in pale bleached wood or covered in intricate mosaics of forests and flowers. Alongside the pool there’s a jacuzzi big enough to socialise in and a wood-lined sauna and steam room in which to pretend you’re in Scandinavia. Beside the pool are loungers on which to relax with a juice and tuna tartare if you’re feeling healthy (or a flute of champagne and Australian wagyu beef burger with Béarnaise and fries if you’re not). And there are two treatment rooms attended to by multilingual therapists. Mine was a lovely Ukrainian who used Ishga products made with seaweed from the Outer Hebrides as well as the prized Valmont range for my 60-minute Lift from the Peaks facial (£270). Aside from facials, the spa also offers massages and body wraps, and even advanced treatments like the Ishga Oncology Touch Therapy (beginning at £190) for those battling cancer.

An additional treat is that if you don’t fancy going back up to your room, there’s an airy, architectural cream and wood living space in which to hang out in a soft gown and read. Or, if you’re part of the neighbourhood, talk business over a Scotch by a flickering fire. Lisa Grainger
dorchestercollection.com, W1K

The Corinthia’s glass-walled sauna

JACK HARDY/CORINTHIA

Espa Life, Corinthia London

The scale of the spa at the Corinthia is truly striking. It is set over four floors, with high ceilings and so much marble it feels almost like a temple — a very luxurious one. There are 17 treatment rooms and a private suite in which you can have any number of the 28 Espa treatments and six Barbara Sturm facials. They also offer physiotherapy, acupuncture, percussive therapy, reflexology, craniosacral therapy, guided meditation, gong baths and sound healing therapy. There’s even a Daniel Galvin hair studio.

There’s a yoga studio and an impressive gym, recently fully loaded with new Technogym kit and with personal trainers at your disposal. It also features a rack of Theragun massage guns, which look exciting and menacing in equal measure. The spa also partners with the London Regenerative Institute. Founded by two plastic surgeons, the institute offers the latest innovations in longevity such as stem cell therapies and aesthetic treatments up to and including full-on cosmetic surgery. The affiliation extends to recovery taking place in the hotel itself, with a nurse right next door if need be.

• Jennifer George on the Corinthia hotel’s sumptuous new cosmetic surgery care package

The star of the spa, however, is the Thermal Floor with its a huge, glass-walled amphitheatre sauna, an ice fountain for when it all gets too much, some hilariously soporific hot stone marble loungers and sleep pods for when you need to check out entirely.

There’s a large vitality pool with an assortment of jets and a swimming pool. Unlike almost all luxury hotels, the Corinthia is genuinely family-friendly — the same consideration is given to children’s specific needs as is given to those of the most demanding billionaire penthouse guest, so there are clear children’s swimming hours. But no matter when you’re in it, the pool is the ideal spot for floating about, reflecting on how lucky you are by some extraordinary series of events to find yourself here. Kate Reardon
espalifeatcorinthia.com, SW1A

The swimming pool at the Langham

Chuan Spa, the Langham

The Langham is almost as iconic as the BBC, its neighbour. And what better place to retreat from the relentless news cycle than the Langham’s Chuan Spa.

The spa was conceived by one of Hong Kong’s most revered traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, Professor Song Ke, and bases its treatments and products on the Five Elements theory. On arrival, guests fill out a questionnaire to establish which element they are most in tune with: water, wood, fire, earth or metal. The results dictate how your spa experience will unfold, from the tea that you will be offered to the oils used in your treatment. Type established (I was wood), the next stop is the relaxation area, decked out with candles and flowers, as well as a rich array of snacks — spicy rice cakes, banana chips — to be consumed while watching less idle guests work out in the adjacent gym (memberships are available for those not staying at the hotel).

A double treatment room at the Chuan Spa

MICHAEL WEBER PHOTOGRAPHY

There are four treatment rooms and an impressively wide-ranging treatment menu, offering everything from acupuncture with Professor Song Ke himself (£500), to the Golden Opulence body scrub using crushed gold (from £350) and firming facials using state-of-the-art Zelens ultrasound technology (from £195). Products used include the spa’s own Chuan formulations, as well as Jacqueline Piotaz Switzerland and the CBD brand OTO. I had the signature facial (from £175) and massage (from £160), both bespoke to suit individual requirements. The massage began with pressure point activation and general rubbing to get the chi — life force — flowing. My therapist then administered a brilliantly pitiless back massage, sorting out a shoulder issue that had been bothering me for weeks. During the facial there were various peels and masks, nimble use of a gua sha, and so much rubbing, tapping and pulling that at the end my skin felt warm from all the blood that had been brought to the surface.

Afterwards there was time for a bit of sauna and steam room action in the changing room, before visiting the glorious 16m pool, located in a former bank vault, to work up an appetite. There is no calorie-counting spa restaurant here. Instead, there is the Langham’s opulent Palm Court, the first hotel to feature afternoon tea on its menu when it opened in 1865. Its modern menu was created by the chef Michel Roux and the head pastry chef Andrew Gravett. It includes sumptuous reinventions of British classics like the Walnut Whip and Jammie Dodger, alongside arguably the best scones in London. If that won’t sort out your chi, nothing will. Gavanndra Hodge
langhamhotels.com, W1B. Afternoon tea, £75 per person

The spa at the Beaumont

ZAC AND ZAC

The Beaumont

The spa at the Beaumont is an art deco-inspired jewel box, a peaceful oasis only touching distance from Selfridge’s. Like the hotel itself, the spa is luxurious, without being intimidating. Staff are smiley and relaxed; the walls are lined with vintage photos of women looking ecstatic on improbable exercise machines. It’s all polished silver and thick glass, marble and mosaic. Robes are thick, crisp cotton, and there’s hot ginger or lemongrass tea, along with the day’s newspapers and fresh fruit. There’s a steam room, sauna and plunge pool, with handwash and lotion by DR Harris, a venerable London pharmacy.

The spa uses products by Oskia, an award-winning British brand that makes its products in Wales and the changing rooms are generously stocked with full-size bottles of its cleanser and moisturiser. The spa menu includes everything from body scrubs to hammam treatments and reflexology. I tried the Revitalising Super-C facial (£160) . This involved an hour of my face being massaged with vitamin C capsules and Isotonic Hydra Serum. The one-hour full-body massage (£150) was equally invigorating, focusing on the knots, and by the end my whole body felt looser. My therapist somehow achieved this without getting product in my hair. This is crucial if you’re heading straight upstairs to the Colony Grill Room for a reviving Caesar salad and glass of cold albariño. You could also eat in the spa, which has a limited menu, but the restaurant is better for people watching. Saturdays don’t get any better. Hilary Rose
thebeaumont.com, W1K

A double treatment room at the Como Metropolitan hotel

MARTIN MORRELL

The Shambhala Urban Escape, Como Metropolitan

Off a busy Knightsbridge junction in a sleek modern building sits the Como Metropolitan hotel. The spa, the Shambhala Urban Escape, is located in an airy, second-floor space, where new arrivals are greeted with a mug of the signature lemon, ginger and honey tea. The Shambhala escape has been going in London since 1997 and since then it has assembled a crack team of experienced practitioners. The spa’s menu is extensive and offers a unique range of treatments from acupuncture and acupressure to shiatsu and Thai massage, as well as yoga and meditation instruction. I had a phenomenal deep tissue massage (£155), during which the therapist was able to identify my pressure points instantly and incorporated light stretching while talking me through ways to keep my tight muscles loose after our 60-minute session ended.

After my massage I had the signature Dr Hauschka Holistic Treatment (£130) — the Como is Dr Hauschka’s flagship London location. It began with a sage foot bath to aid circulation, before a top-to-toe lymphatic drainage massage. But the main event was a facial using Dr Hauschka’s botanical products. My bespoke treatment included masks to target acne and improve hydration, as well as a facial massage using a brushing technique. If this wasn’t blissful enough, the wonderful experience was sealed by a veggie sandwich and green juice from the spa’s healthy menu, served in the Como’s lobby. Chiara Brown
comohotels.com, W1K

A treatment room at Sense, the Rosewood hotel’s spa

JAMES BEDFORD

Sense, Rosewood London

Sense, the spa at the Rosewood hotel, has been an oasis in the heart of London for nearly ten years, with elegant and understated decor and amenities including a sauna and steam room, as well as an extensive list of treatments. I tried the Contouring Marine Body Wrap (from £205) designed to detoxify and firm the body. The treatment begins with a full-body exfoliation to remove dead skin cells and prepare the skin for the warming Sodashi body mask. Sodashi products use only therapeutic-grade, ethically sourced oils and active plant ingredients. After the wrap is applied, you are left to relax while the marine extracts, plant essences and algae work to stimulate your lymphatic systems and remove toxins. Finally, the wrap is removed and a hydrating lotion applied leaving skin feeling soft and hydrated.

The spa’s relaxation lounge

ROSEWOOD

After this, I was ushered to another room for the Face Place Signature Iderm Facial (£160). The therapist tailored the experience to my specific skin concerns, and combined deep cleansing and skilful extraction. They used a galvanic current, a form of electro-therapy, to ensure the collagen, zinc and vitamin C solution penetrated deep into my skin. I spent time in the spa’s gold leaf and teak relaxation room enjoying complimentary tea and nutritional snacks, before making my way down to the hotel bar, Scarfes. There, I capped off my experience with their “suspicious lady” cocktail, a combination of Roku gin, lychee wine, linden honey and citra hops. Henny Manley
rosewoodhotels.com, WC1V