The best group spa treatments for time with friends

Spa breaks can be wonderful opportunities to enjoy quality time with friends. However, with spa treatments themselves being such an intrinsic part of a spa break, what are the best group spa treatments to share quality time with friends?

Mud rasul group spa treatments at Celtic Manor and spas across the UK

A mud rasul is perhaps the most popular way to have a group spa treatment or spa experience with friends. Each spa tends to put its own twist on the self administered treatment, and often they are tweaked with the seasons as well. For example, Bryn Meadows Golf Hotel and Spa in Wales are geniuses at offering strawberries and cream muds in the summer, or chocolate orange scrubs in the winter. Then again, Celtic Manor, has a steam chamber with beautiful little lights in the ceiling in patterns that mimic the constellations. 

In short, a mud rasul includes the use of a dedicated, private steam room, which you can sit in with friends. You are given pots of spa mud to apply to your face and body. As part of the treatment, sometimes the spa will suggest applying a scrub to your skin first, sometimes they recommend it after the mud. Some mud can be applied to the hair, but you don’t have to get your hair muddy if you prefer not to. You then relax in the steam room with the mud on to let it work its magic, detoxing, softening and nourishing the skin. 

It’s super relaxing and allows you time together whilst also experiencing the benefits of the spa treatment.

The Celtic Sauna Ritual at Galgorm Resort and Spa

Galgorm Resort and Spa in Ireland has a reputation for being excellent for anyone and everyone who visits, with friends, partners or on your own. However, with the space they have as well as experiences they offer, specifically designed for group spa days, make it a unique place to go with friends. Amongst them is the Celtic Sauna Ritual, which can take up to six people at a time and is a tradition practised in central and northern Europe. A bit like a performance, essences such as sage and lavender are added to the traditional sauna experience to address different needs at different times of the year. 

A gong strikes and you head in to spend up to 12 minutes in the sauna as the process promotes sweating and pushes out toxins. The first essence is added, then the second, and then you’re given crushed ice to take the edge off the heat. Then the third essence is added, and after the full 12 minutes you leave the sauna and are taken to the River House relaxation area. It is a truly picturesque location with the natural sound of the river filling the room. All other sounds are turned off and this is your chance to enjoy the environment with a glass of cranberry juice and crushed ice on group spa days.

We suggest you follow it up with the Beltane experience, which brings together fire, air and water, relax around a sunken fire with friends before enjoying a dip in the 12 person hot tub.

Sunlight Therapy Room at Rudding Park

Part of the thermal suite in the Rooftop Spa Garden at Rudding Park, the Sunlight Therapy Room has four loungers in it, and is a bit like having a chance to sunbathe together in soporific style. Here, real sunlight simulators that recreate the same spectrum of light as the sun. However, it also removes the harmful UVA and UVB rays of natural sunlight. In addition to being enjoyable, however, it also has a number of lovely health benefits as well. 

Large enough to take small groups, and elegantly designed, the room is best used as part of the wider spa experience. It is set to a 20 minute cycle. For 10 minutes the ‘sun’ rises to its peak (created with lighting effects and visuals on a screen). Then it takes 10 minutes going to sunset. It’s good for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), eczema, vitamin D deficiencies and aching joints, as well as being a tranquil space to spend time together.

The Natura Bissé Oxygen Bubble at Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa

This luxury spa has enough space to take as many friends as you want to bring on a spa day, with 23 treatment rooms and a myriad of pools and thermal facilities. Amongst its most celebrated spa experiences is the Natura Bissé Oxygen Bubble, one of only 24 in the world. 

Here, the air you breathe will be 99.995 % pure. You unwind in a serene environment filled with soft aromatic notes that take your mind on an exquisite journey to well-being. It is a singular experience, providing exceptional results that rejuvenate and purify. It can also be added to a selection of spa treatments, and it’s also big enough to share with a friend.

A facial in a dual treatment room

Of course, a classic for quality time with a friend whilst also having a treatment is to go for a therapy of choice in a dual treatment room. We suggest a facial simply because you won’t have your face nuzzled into the treatment bed, so you can chatter if you want. However, we also suggest that overall, you simply choose your favourite treatment, and enjoy it. Maybe you chat, or maybe you just enjoy being in the same space together. The choice is yours.