pampering
So, last Tuesday was my trip to The Sanctuary, and oh. my. god. it was gorgeous!!
I began by slipping out of my street clothes into a long white robe and flip flops (which were to be my uniform for the day) and up to have a fabulous facial. The Sanctuary has its own product line, and they obviously make good use of essential oils (something I thoroughly approve of). The set I was treated too were all Neroli-based, and smelt divine.
Facial over, I wandered into the Koi Fish Pond relaxation area and stretched out on a double bed for a little snooze, before heading into the restaurant for a glass of wine and some delicious food. Then it was time for my 'sleep retreat' - a twenty minute guided meditation on a special vibrating 'bed' thing. Sounds weird, was really lovely though - I wished it could've been longer.
Still, plenty more to explore! First stop was the atrium pool with the famous swing. The pool was like a monster bath (heated to that level, anyway) and the swing .. just a bit bizarre swooshing back and forth over the pool and looking up to the skylights four floors up.
From there it was over to try out the various spas and saunas (prrrrrr) and then back into the relaxation area to collaspse onto another pillow laden bed to read my book for a while. I would loved to have time to indulge in a devonshire tea at that point, but I had to make tracks out of there to meet up with K&J to see AvenueQ in the evening.
I can't recommend the day spa enough. It was expensive, yeah. But a slice of sheer indulgence and luxury practically on any (female) Londoner's doorstep. All around were women with huge smiles on their faces, everybody was snuggled into their robes and padding around the place. And one of the nicest things, was the huge range of ages and cultures. I was fearing it would be all white middle-class wags, but it really was full of all sorts of different women. It was slightly surreal watching a 60+ lady swinging out across the atrium pool, a delighted grin on her face. But very, very cool.
I began by slipping out of my street clothes into a long white robe and flip flops (which were to be my uniform for the day) and up to have a fabulous facial. The Sanctuary has its own product line, and they obviously make good use of essential oils (something I thoroughly approve of). The set I was treated too were all Neroli-based, and smelt divine.
Facial over, I wandered into the Koi Fish Pond relaxation area and stretched out on a double bed for a little snooze, before heading into the restaurant for a glass of wine and some delicious food. Then it was time for my 'sleep retreat' - a twenty minute guided meditation on a special vibrating 'bed' thing. Sounds weird, was really lovely though - I wished it could've been longer.
Still, plenty more to explore! First stop was the atrium pool with the famous swing. The pool was like a monster bath (heated to that level, anyway) and the swing .. just a bit bizarre swooshing back and forth over the pool and looking up to the skylights four floors up.
From there it was over to try out the various spas and saunas (prrrrrr) and then back into the relaxation area to collaspse onto another pillow laden bed to read my book for a while. I would loved to have time to indulge in a devonshire tea at that point, but I had to make tracks out of there to meet up with K&J to see AvenueQ in the evening.
I can't recommend the day spa enough. It was expensive, yeah. But a slice of sheer indulgence and luxury practically on any (female) Londoner's doorstep. All around were women with huge smiles on their faces, everybody was snuggled into their robes and padding around the place. And one of the nicest things, was the huge range of ages and cultures. I was fearing it would be all white middle-class wags, but it really was full of all sorts of different women. It was slightly surreal watching a 60+ lady swinging out across the atrium pool, a delighted grin on her face. But very, very cool.