Welcome to the Bazaar spa review, where the beauty team delve into the sanctuaries really worth spending your downtime in. Whether you’re in need of a transformative facial, a tension-melting massage, or simply an afternoon soaking in the pool, we know just the spot. This week, a look at the new luxurious top-to-toe treatment at one of London's most storied institutions, Claridge's in Mayfair – now considered one of the very best spa hotels in the UK.
The setting
Nestled three floors below Claridge's' black and white lobby, the spa – consisting of seven treatment rooms, a sauna, steam rooms, hair salon, fitness centre, changing rooms and swimming pool – takes up a vast 7,000 square feet of space. And it feels like it: warm and inviting, it's easy to quickly forget you're subterranean. Designed by famed interior architect Andre Fu, the space takes of lot of inspiration from Japan, from the trickling water feature and cherry blossom art (a Damien Hirst, no less) that greet you, to the mellow wooden walls that lead you through the hallways. There's also a wonderfully welcoming scent that drifts through the entire floor; not the usual essential oil type aroma but more comforting and warming, like toasted rice, which turns out to be their hand-crafted poultices (hot bags of grains used in treatments) and a custom fragrance of cinnamon, cedarwood and clary sage.
The spa treatment
As for the treatments themselves, there's a curated selection ranging from healing rituals to gadget-filled facials, "holistic and tech under one roof" – as David-Wilkinson puts it. The latest addition to the spa menu is the Omorovicza Signature Treatment, which takes place The Pink Room, a softly lit space in gentle shades of dusty pink and terracotta with heated rose onyx treatment bed in the centre, shower facilities and an en-suite sauna.
For the next two hours, prepare to be scrubbed down, sweat out and coated in Omorovicza's signature Hungarian Moor Mud, which contains calcium, magnesium and fulvic acid to reinvigorate and clarify the face and body. The session starts with 15 minutes in a sauna to detoxify the day's stresses. The Hammam-style treatment is then followed with gentle dry brushing from feet to shoulders and a thorough scrub that your therapist rinses off with a shower. You'll then be treated long massage strokes using a body oil, get rinsed off – again – and experience a body mask. While that gets to work, you'll get a head massage, hair wash, and a deep cleansing facial complete with a sculpting face massage to ease any tension and take down puffiness.
Once the mask is washed off, it's time to head back into the sauna to help with circulation. Then, it's time for a relaxing massage that uses balletic movements to encourage lymphatic drainage and relieve muscle aches.
It's an action-packed session, but the expert massage therapist will make you feel thoroughly cared for, and despite the wet environment, don't be surprised if you find yourself dozing off.
You'll emerge feeling revived and impossibly soft to the touch (one Bazaar editor, who indulges in close contact sports, reports of team mates noting how "strangely smooth" her limbs felt). If you're in need of a full body reset, it's certainly worth booking in.
The spa amenities
Aside from Omorovicza, there are familiar lines like Augustinus Bader and Face Gym for more targeted facials, with the latter offering longer and more luxurious 'workouts' than at its other outposts, and a Josh Wood salon for a trim or blow-dry. Keep your eyes peeled for other recognisable names too: nail artist Harriet Westmoreland and acupuncturist Ross J. Barr are both booked for residencies, with further talent to come.
Of course, no five-star spa is complete without a swimming pool, and this one offers a true haven in central London. All pale stone columns and gentle curves, we'd happily spend the whole day snoozing in one of the private pool-side cabanas, draped with linen and bathed in soft light. With a break for a treatment, or two, of course...
The special touches
As you'd expect from Claridge's, there are five-star touches throughout – little things that you wouldn't notice if they weren't there, but add that extra something. "Everything has been 'Claridge's-ised'," the spa director Hattie David-Wilkinson tells us, as she hands over a bespoke-blended herbal tea. Many of these touches incorporate a Japanese influence, a place regarded by them and many as the epicentre of wellness.
Here, the signal to show a treatment room is occupied isn't a sliding metal tag, but a hand-woven tapestry decoration to hang on the door handle. And, when you're in your room, robed and ready for your therapist, instead of having to alert them with that awkward 'I'm ready!', there's a dinky bell for you to chime. It's all very civilised, without being gimmicky.
The Omorovicza Signature Treatment, £390 for 2 hours
