Here's a headline list of my favourite detox spas to get you going in 2008.
Click on the title of each spa to read a fuller review
The Soma Centre, Kensington, London
(020-7937 8000; www.royalgardenhotel.co.uk)
USP Their claim of even the slimmest possibility of being
able to look ten years younger in a single day calls like a siren. Just
treatment rooms but the best facial I've had. The one hour slimming and
detoxifying body treatment using algae harvested in the North Sea actually
made my skin feel ten years younger.
WALLET WATCH The day costs from £400, with anti-ageing work,
such as Botox, costing extra.
Grayshott Spa, Grayshott, Surrey
(01428 602020; www.grayshottspa.com)
USP Staff and facilities at Grayshott are excellent. The spa
area is clinical and frighteningly modern, but there are lots of facilities
— tennis courts, nine-hole golf course, indoor and outdoor pool, whirlpool,
cinema.
WALLET WATCH A two-night pamper package, including a
refresher facial, manicure and back massage, costs £425 for a single room.
Bath House Spa, New Park Manor, New Forest, Hampshire
(01590 623467; www.newparkmanorhotel.co.uk)
USP Staff are efficient, friendly and full of knowledge about
their trade and the products they use. The six treatment rooms have a ranch
like feel in keeping with the location. There’s a 16m indoor swimming pool
with 270-degree views of the surrounding paddocks and forest, an outdoor hot
tub, sanarium, sauna, Klafs steam room, Kneipps foot baths, Klafs experience
showers and a hydrotherapy pool – good for cellulite and mobility problems.
WALLET WATCH A 75-minute Hot Stone Massage costs £70. Spa
days start from £105 per person. The spa offers various special pampering
days throughout the year. Overnight Post Christmas detox packages start from
£275 and include a tailor-made fitness programme to take home.
Donnington Valley Hotel and Spa, Newbury, Berkshire
(01635 568169; www.donningtonvalley.co.uk)
USP New, light and roomy spa – with excellent wet facilities
- thoughtfully conceived and not too over the top in its décor. I came to
experience the anti-blues Aquasun mineral treatment - "a virtual
holiday treatment which recreates the key beneficial elements of a beach
holiday".
WALLET WATCH Aquasun mineral treatment costs £32 for 30
minutes; an Indian head massage is £35 for 30 minutes. A Holistic One Night
Spa Break is £179 per person (Single Room Occupancy £199). A half-day spa
Relax for four hours is available Monday to Thursday for only £60 per person
and includes a 30-minute Clarins Absolute Radiance Facial and tea. The
popular holistic treatment is £99 per person during the week and £115 Friday
to Sunday - a Full Body Hot Stone Massage, a Deluxe Foot Ritual, a healthy
Spa Lunch and hour relax and then a choice of ESPA Salt & Oil Scrub,
Indian Head Massage, Aquasun Mineral Treatments; followed by a fruit sorbet
and a product gift pack.
Tree of Life Centre, Staverton, Gloucestershire
(01242 680450; www.blockclearance.com)
USP Along with yoga and massage, the founder Patricia Sterry, a
psychiatrist trained at Guy’s Hospital, offers sessions in psychotherapy,
reflexology, naturopathy and craniology, yoga and massage. At the core of
the centre is block clearance therapy (BCT), which helps to break negative
cycles or patterns, such as eating disorders and alcoholism, by communing
with the subconscious. Other treatments include two consultations with a
naturopath, a massage (I had a neck and shoulder massage) and/or yoga, and
reflexology. There is also plenty of time to read, chat or, if you like,
cook.
P. Schell - does this place have a website? And do they do any programs in English?
M. K, Switzerland,
What a lot of rubbish. Go to the intimate and cosy "Haus der Gesundheit" (at Reifnitz near Klagenfurt /Austria and get a 3weeks treatment, under expert medical supervision, lose 20 or more pounds the healthy way, get a responsible diagnosis and enjoy life again. Henceforth you will despise the superficial and phony approach to the serious subject of detox (and so called anti-ageing programs) offered in such spas as described here, because now you know better. Treatments, therapies and full board might run up to € 2500 for 3 weeks, Ryanair gets you there. A fabulous experience, although very private, down to earth and not at all posh.
P. Schell, Munich,