Detox doesn't have to be about restriction - it can actually be about joyful abundance, delivering a deeply positive and restorative experience - you just need the right spa.
A purpose-built day spa, The Spa at Breedon Priory is the best of contemporary wellbeing. Taking in soothing views of the South Derbyshire countryside, it's an ultra-modern facility with a holistic outlook. Bathed in natural light, you're invited to relax by the outdoor pool and spend time using the suite of facilities including steam rooms, saunas, experience showers, an ice fountain, pools, a relaxation area, sun terrace, spa garden, and a slumber room. For couples or groups there's The Hideaway for a secluded private spa experience, and treatments are from the natural and organic British brands Temple Spa, Tribe 517, Pinks Boutique and Proverb. Completing the experience is the Terrace Restaurant, which offers a nutritious menu of seasonal fare in a stylish space that's relaxed by day, but perfect for dressing up a little in the evening.
A perennial favourite amongst spa goers, Gaia Spa at Boringdon Hall brings you a historic hotel alongside a state-of-the-art spa. Two differently worlds seamlessly fused together, so you can come for a day, a night or as long as you like. Surrounded by south Devon countryside, the five-star has a Michelin Star restaurant and is achingly romantic. The spa meanwhile is a destination in its own right. Floor to ceiling windows let the natural light flood in as you explore three floors of wellness. Roam from the swimming pool to the hydro pool, an outdoor hot tub, little huts outside to relax in the summer months, saunas, steam rooms and heated beds. There's a dedicated spa cafe, and 12 treatment rooms where they offer therapies using their own organic spa product line. It's perfect for enjoying a detox with friends.
The Glass House Retreat is dedicated to wellness in every form, supporting the environment as well as individual health. The adult-only, eco-friendly retreat is an ultra modern destination where you can become fully absorbed in the wellbeing experience curated by co-founder Joy Jarvis, a lifelong devotee of vegetarianism. The spa covers all aspects of wellbeing from fitness to relaxation and nutrition. Facilities include a salt block sauna, cryotherapy chamber, a gym and a heated leisure pool, while 12 treatment rooms offer everything from cleansing scrubs to full-body mineral boosts to the latest Dermalux® and Lipofirm technology treatments. At meals, plant-based fare is the order of the day, with a nutritious menu based on seasonal fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains that feed mind, body and soul.
For those who want to embrace his-tech health, SENSORY Wellbeing at Pan Pacific is the place to go. The spa features the most advanced facilities of any UK hotel gym, including an 18.5m infinity pool, a 24-hour high-performance interactive gym, and indulgent treatment rooms infused with a fusion of Western science and Southeast Asian beauty traditions. Using the power of technology, this is a spa where you can have a head-to-toe reboot courtesy of their Body Assessment and unique TecnoBody® D-Wall. The Body Assessment is available from their treatment menu, supported by Pnoé - the world’s leading automatic VO2 and metabolic analysing system. The test provides an in-depth analysis of heart, lung, muscular and neuromuscular function in real time. Guests can book the experience and then continue with the D-Wall - within three minutes it delivers a posture analysis. If you're having the full assessment then you complete the 360-degree assessment with a food intolerance and allergy testing with their in-house nutritionist.
A pioneer in sustainable, luxury wellness, The Scarlet is an adult-only escape located on the rugged Cornish clifftops of Mawgan Porth. Their spa journey is a carefully considered experience rooted in Ayurvedic wellbeing and always tailored to the individual. Built to honour and give back to nature, every element helps you reconnect with yourself and the world around you. The only sound is the crashing waves of the Atlantic, design is contemporary and tranquil, and facilities include (amongst other things) an outdoor natural reed pool, a clifftop sauna, and tented, lantern-lit treatment rooms.
A luxury hotel in the South Downs, South Lodge is home to a 44,000 sq. ft eco-friendly spa set within the grounds. Under a grass and sedum roof, the spa, which is clad in green oak, has a wealth of facilities, from a state-of-the-art gym and spin studio, to an indoor pool, outdoor hydrotherapy pool, a natural swim pond, and a thermal suite. This connectivity with nature is a really opportunity to breathe deep and unwind but in decadent style. Treatments use products made in the UK from natural ingredients, and there's even a dedicated spa restaurant - Botanica, which has a largely plant based menu using ingredients from the kitchen garden.
Champneys is known as being amongst the original health spa destinations, and Champneys Tring is the perfect example. They pride themselves on being able to make a real difference to people’s lives, through a variety of specialist retreats aimed at optimising a guest’s health and wellbeing. Set in 160 acres, the spa offers a fusion of wellness facilities, spa treatments, hospitality and nutrition. Spend time exercising and enjoying the grounds, or head to the Medical Centre, including the UK's first Marine and Wellness spa which offers unique salt-water based treatments.
Set within a historic building in London, AIRE Ancient Baths London is a subterranean haven of wellbeing dedicated to a transformative experience. Journey through seven baths in a cavernous thermal suite, inspired by a fusion of Roman, Greek, and Ottoman wellbeing. It's a water-based experience where everything feels like a ritual, and offers a luxurious, detox experience. Move from the tepidarium (36ºC), to the caldarium (40°C) and frigidarium (14ºC and 10ºC). There's a vaporium (or steam room), which is scented with eucalyptus; a balneum, thousand jet baths, and a flotarium where you can quite literally float away. It wouldn't be convenient to have your phone in here, but even so, you're asked not to use them in the spa, so it's a good chance for a digital detox as well.
A traditional Russian banya is a type of bathhouse that really focuses on contrast therapy, leaving you feeling thoroughly invigorated. An authentic bathhouse based on a traditional Russian Banya and ancient wellbeing practices. Designed around the centuries-old wellness tradition of Nordic thermal cycles, you go through different heat, ice, and restful experiences from the intense heat of the Parnaya steam sauna to a euphoric dip in the icy plunge pool.
An Art Deco style hotel enjoying the bracing views of Cornwall's coastline, this invigorating retreat invites you to enjoy a unique spa experience. Alongside luxury accommodation (you can choose from hotel suites or self-catering villas and apartments), they embrace the beauty of the surrounding area in their wellbeing offering. The Wild Spa a two-hour outdoor experience followed by the chance to savour a hot drink in their cliffside tipi. It's the ultimate back-to-nature thermal therapy, combining the invigorating effects of cold water exposure with the soothing warmth of heat, all in a natural, secluded setting. Then, return to the hotel where you will find the UK’s only Cowshed Spa outside Soho House properties, for treatments using botanical ingredients straight out of an English country garden.
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