Pamper palaces: 12 of London’s best hotels with spas

Guests wait for treatments in a shadowy, magazine-laiden relaxation room with call buttons for summoning complimentary refreshments. Therapists administer treatments by ila, La Prairie, Tata Harper and Lanesborough own-brand products in the dimly lit rooms before you’re left to explore scent-infused experience showers, a steam room, sauna and small swimming pool with whirlpool. A club lounge with smoothie bar and vegetarian restaurant, large gym with top-of-the-range equipment, and a Daniel Galvin Jr hair salon can also be found here.

This is ESPA’s flagship spa (pictured above and on the previous slide); a serious affair spread over four of the hotel’s floors, featuring a steam room, 17 treatment rooms, a private spa suite, nail studio, super-cool indoor swimming pool, vitality pool, an amphitheatre sauna, ice fountain, marble heated loungers and private sleep pods. Of course, the treatments are ESPA’s best – de-stressing, muscle-releasing and uplifting, and there are various packages to choose from; the Pure Indulgence Body Ritual is just that.

The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental has thrown open its doors to sparkling new facilities and fresh look by New York designer Adam D Tihany. There are 13 treatment rooms, including a double suite complete with Rasul water temple; a spa menu with myriad treatments from Mandarin Oriental’s signature ‘digital wellness escape’ restorative massage to traditional Chinese medicine. Expect stellar amenities including an amethyst crystal steam room, sanarium, 17-metre indoor pool and fitness centre.

Spa facilities at The Langham are modest – there’s no lounging space in the pool area but this means it’s better for doing laps. The slate-tiled walls with a bonsai tree motif at the end make for an attractive backdrop while you swim. There’s a small sauna and steam room in the changing rooms, as well as a gym, and treatments are available. Chuan Body + Soul holistic treatments are designed to balance you through Chinese techniques. ‘Chuan’ means ‘water’ and massages are performed on waterbeds to enhance the experience.

It’s compact, but The Beaumont’s spa and hammam embodies cleanliness from its gleaming white aesthetic to complimentary fruit bowls and cucumber water. Both steam room and sauna sit either side of an ice-cold plunge pool and the relaxation chairs are surrounded by glossy magazines. A range of treatments include the expected facials, massages and mani/pedicures, along with hammam treatments (performed on the heated marble table) followed by scrubs and wraps. A gym and hair salon are close by.

No spa in London can rival the views from this rooftop fixture at Four Seasons Park Lane, which overlooks the Dutch elms and copper beeches in the south-east portion of Hyde Park; the sauna, which has a window, boasts particularly magnificent vistas. Allow plenty of time for the pre-treatment pampering – in particular the vitality pool with bubbles and underwater seating, and the wood-clad relaxation room with leather, camel-coloured pods to lie in, a feature wall with gold masks, and plenty of magazines and herbal tea on hand.

Guests can console themselves with the beautiful wellness centre with swimming pool (open until late), hammam, sauna and steam room, or by treating themselves to shellac in the Cheeky nails bar followed by pedi in the Cowshed spa. A Trish McEvoy makeup parlour offers free five-minute touch-ups and longer makeup lessons. Men can head to the barbershop (expertise include beard ‘shaping’ and facials). Other wellness musts include the rooftop pool with views of St Paul’s and fitness centre with boxing gym and three Pilates studios.

This spa, situated in the hotel’s former steam kitchens, is one of London’s best-kept pampering secrets. The indoor pool’s walls are covered in Victorian tiling, and dramatic arched windows let in pale yellow rays of sunlight. There is also a eucalyptus steam bath, gym, and several relaxation beds. Spa packages are thoughtfully aimed at weary travellers, and the establishment also offers a ‘spa journey’ series — including ‘Africa’, ‘Indonesia’, and ‘an English Garden’, and uses Aromatherapy Associates products.

The seventh-floor spa is an English country garden high above the city. The secret garden, lined with daybeds and in full bloom over summer, is a good spot to wind down after a treatment. Bamford Haybarn, which follows a holistic, organic philosophy, takes care of these, while boutique British brand OSKIA look after facials. Special events are also held throughout summer, such as hula hoop or synchronised swimming classes (check the website for up to date timetables).

The agua London spa at Sea Containers London has an all-white, 1970s sci-fi, glacial-cool vibe to it, with geometric tiling, curvy lines and globular design features. There’s an emphasis on social bookings for groups where food and drink are served up amid the pedicures and mud baths. Other teatments include diamond energy facials and ‘agua adventures’ such as Slumber Party, a blend of massages, facials and refreshments; and Couples’ Suite Revival with custom side-by-side massages, pedicures for both, champagne and a Seventies-style organic chocolate fondue to share.

There’s a peaceful ambience to the sleek Aman spa at The Connaught, all dark woods, shiny marble and minimalist lines. The black-granite swimming pool is the centrepoint, surrounded by loungers, and there’s a small aromatic steam room. Aside from the standard therapies, Aman at The Connaught offers signature experiences inspired by different areas of the world: if you have a spare two-and-a-half hours you should treat yourself to the Native American-inspired signature experience, a combination of different massages including ancient Navajo techniques.

The Sense spa at Rosewood London is a soothing space; a warren of black slate with a relaxation room, sauna and steam facilities in changing rooms, plus treatment rooms. Treatments are excellent, with heated beds that adjust at both ends; the deep tissue Maison Caulières massage is a wonderful option for releasing particularly troublesome knots. There is also a gym, with fruit and headphones supplied.