USP The Langham is one of London’s oldest hotels – it celebrated its 140th anniversary two years ago. The spa is younger, at a nubile ten years, but no less grand. It occupies the former site of a Barclays bank, and the echoing banking hall, with its elegantly vaulted ceiling is now the spa reception and the former bank vault, a 16-metre pool. There are seven treatments rooms where a range of Thalgo and Aromatherapy Associates products are used, the former focussing on marine-based ingredients and the latter on scents.
QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE When I checked in at the spa reception I looked up to see the word “DETOX” pinned to the wall above the desk – clearly I was in the right place. My two-and-a-half hour spa package, Heavenly Body, is one of the Langham spa’s most popular packages, and a great detox treatment. It offers a body exfoliation and wrap, full body massage, collagen eye treatment, light lunch and spa day pass. All this for £155 is good value, particularly if you make the most of the day pass and spend the morning in the gym, pool, sauna or steam room, then enjoy the treatment after lunch.
My therapist, Jessica, was friendly without being over-familiar and talked me through the treatment and why it was beneficial (although thankfully what she described as a “seafood body wrap” turned out to be seaweed, or rather algae, so no being plastered in smelly kippers, as I had envisioned). It started with a brisk exfoliation using a Thalgo body scrub which, according to Jessica, has smaller but more concentrated grains, so is less abrasive but more effective than normal scrubs. This exfoliation left my skin feeling smooth after a quick shower, and then it was time for the algae wrap. It had a briny whiff, but was bearable, and once I was coated in the warm goo and wrapped in plastic, foil and towels I was happy to let it soak in for around 40 minutes while Jessica did the collagen eye treatment.
This sounded a bit “non surgical facelift” to me, but turned out to be a facial using products around the eye that have collagen extracts, purported to improve skin elasticity and bash wrinkles. After cleansing, the tingling Pure Radiance Exfoliant Cream left my skin feeling fresh and smooth and I loved the menthol scent. Next up I was moisturised but by the end of the treatment the skin on my face felt taut, and in need of more moisturiser. I washed the wrap off in the shower and enjoyed a massage, which was a soporific end to the treatment. As to its effectiveness as a detox, Jessica warned that I would find fluids passing through my body quicker over the following days, as I purged toxins, and this was the case. As for the collagen, I’m not sure my eyes looked any better, although the skin on my face was smooth afterwards and I felt refreshed – a good start to a new year.
AMBIENCE The spa reception is grand, but the treatment rooms less so, although they are large enough and inoffensively decorated in a warm cream paint and some discreet tiling. The music playing throughout the spa has an edge over the usual spa drones with a Buddha Bar-esque beat to it. Also worth a mention is the excellent massage table, which rather like an airline seat converted to a reclining position, raising the head and knees, making it more comfortable when lying on your back.
IN CROWD Business and leisure guests at the hotel make full use of the spa, although it costs them £7 a day to use the leisure facilities. There are also a number of members, including a sizeable tranche of media professionals who work nearby.
FOOD Spa goers on the Heavenly Body package can order from the light lunch menu up to a value of £15, which includes a club sandwich, Caesar salad and pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce – so not the most imaginative choices. For a supplement there’s also a breaded veal escalope or a herb pancake with spinach, ricotta and sage. The Langham’s Memories restaurant, which will be refurbished by the fashionable designer David Collins in the summer, offers a £22.50 two-course set menu with choices such as rock oysters or pan-fried sea bream.
WALLET WATCH As previously mentioned, the Heavenly Body package costs £155. Massages cost from £35 (for 30 mins) and facials from £70 (for an hour), and there are other spa packages starting from £95, which includes massage and exfoliation.
NEED TO KNOW Spa at the Langham Hotel, 1C Portland Place, Regent St, London, W1B 1JA; (020 7973 7550; www.langhamhotels.com; lon.spa@langhamhotels.com
GINNY MCGRATH
