USP The Grove describes itself as “London’s country estate” and indeed, despite being just 18 miles from Central London, the grounds of the hotel would not look out of place in the Cotswolds. This makes a wonderfully convenient place to escape to for tranquillity and pampering. The Sequoia spa is adjacent to the hotel and offers a tempting menu of treatments. This summer it launches a Beauty and the Beach package. The original walled garden surrounding the hotel’s outdoor pool will become an urban beach resort complete with six beach huts - each with bespoke interiors and chandeliers by Fox Linton - three of which will house different spa stations offering indulgent treatments.

AMBIENCE Facilities include a vitality pool with therapeutic saline water and hydrotherapy jets; crystal steam rooms, saunas and tropical rain or cold mist showers. All treatments begin in the relaxation room. I could live quite happily in this space. It’s so safe and warm that within five minutes, your aches start to melt away. It’s also where you finish off any treatment sessions before easing you back into the outside world.

QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE With the prospect of warmer weather on its way, I decided to give myself a treat to help prepare for skin-baring season. My therapist, Ivana, began by offering me a delicious mint tea, and then talked me through the treatments and helped me to choose the oils and products for my Espa holistic back, face and scalp massage with hot stones (£150).

The treatment started with the application of Espa’s refining skin polish on my back. This gentle exfoliator removed all the dull skin that my jumpers had been hiding for months, and which as soon as the weather gets warmer will need to look presentable in tea dresses. The massage that followed was blissful. The alternation between massage and hot stone was seamless and at the end, to borrow a cliché, I was floating. I’ve had a number of shoulder and back strains for the past year, due to poor posture finally catching up on me, and this treatment made me feel ache-free for the first time in ages.

Sequoia has a list of new treatments designed to help smooth out the lines, cracks and flaky bits hidden under tights and jumpers. These include ultimate body wraps and advanced facials that claim to firm and lift. My session ended with an Espa facial, including the application of an essential mineral mask. Finally, the feeling of having paper-thin skin with a hint of grey was gone. My cheeks were rosy, my skin felt cleaner than it had for a year and ready for spring.

IN CROWD It’s accessibility from London means it’s a favourite haunt for yummy mummies, celebrities and the socialites looking for a little time out from their hectic diaries. The hotel grounds also contain a golf course that hosted the World Golf Championships last year, so attracts many executives combining deal making with lowering their handicap.

FOOD AND DRINK Sequoia has its own café-style eatery located in the spa garden room; I had a delicious lunch of sushi and crab tartar. Lunch is also available in one of the main hotel's three restaurants. Or simply relax with a pot of Earl Grey in one of the hotel’s stunning sitting rooms.

WALLET WATCH Day packages start from £200 but individual treatments range from a Balinese body massage at £105 to an Espa body wrap at £70.

NEED TO KNOW The Grove Sequoia Spa, Chandler's Cross, Hertfordshire, WD3 4TG (01923 294294; www.thegrove.co.uk )

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