The Best Spa Hotels in London’s West End

If you were a millionaire with an enormous basement and a flair for theatrics, this is the spa you’d build. With glossy black marble walls streaked with gold, space-age fireplaces suspended from the ceiling and a sculptural, amphitheatre-styled sauna, the ESPA Life at Corinthia glows with rich textures and flickering flames. Spa days don’t come cheap, but there’s plenty of space to lounge. Holistic medicine fans should try energy-shifting rituals involving crystals.

W London’s AWAY Spa is a treatment-focussed, clinic-style retreat, rather than one with a big spread of facilities. It’s rich with the scent of NEOM’s snooze-inducing essential oil products and houses a steam room and sauna to further unwind before or after your treatment. Massage rooms have a futuristic, space-station feel, with smooth, curving white edges and gentle uplighting. In addition to mani-pedis, waxing and make-up sessions, the signature NEOM massage is the most popular treatment – choose from 30, 60 or 90 minutes, depending on your budget.

In the rarefied setting of Park Lane, with views of Hyde Park’s treetops, the Four Seasons’ spa is a place to recline and reflect – just footsteps from the rush of Oxford Street’s shops and Mayfair’s nightlife. Candles flicker at the edge of the slate vitality pool, and it has a herbal steam room and a spacious sauna, equipped with cushions should you want to lie back. Couples should book the exclusive Sky Suite – a private bubble of pampering with views for days.

This Regent Street institution does old-school, sophisticated glamour with a distinctly London attitude. Its holistic spa has a glossy, private hammam for serious body scrubs, a full-length lap pool trimmed with glowing lanterns and potted plants, and a vast gym with techy LifeFitness machines. Treatments range from scent-driven (aromatherapy massages) to Eastern-inspired (using hot herbal compresses or stones). Take advantage of the tension-melting sauna and jacuzzi before heading in.

More famous for its world-beating cocktail bar, the Langham is just as good for easing that fuzzy morning-after head. Hit the Chuan Body + Soul for a few laps in its expansive, cerulean pool, fizzing hydrotherapy tub and saunas (men and women have their own for that extra bit of privacy). Ancient Chinese medicine influences many of the treatments, with more specialist cupping and reiki also on hand.

There’s a fashionista feel to the Connaught’s slick urban spa. A black-and-white striped wall looms over the moody black-tiled swimming pool, while plush cream wicker furniture offers room to lounge around. The Aman Spa uses its bespoke range of products, scooped from glossy black wooden pots. Therapists have designed four treatments specifically for jet-set travellers (hello, fashion week) and meditation classes to clear cluttered minds. Karl Lagerfeld would approve.

Parts of the Dorchester Spa look more like a high-end jewellery boutique – all mirrored surfaces, velvet upholstery and curtain-draped walls. It specialises in techy, complex facials with mood-changing results (look for microcurrent, LED-therapy, cryo-mask or skin-needling therapies). Alternatively, go au naturel with algae, rose or 24-carat gold. There are no wet-area facilities, aside from experience showers; however, yoga, meditation and resistance-training workshops are available to book.

An impressive, collonaded swimming pool inlaid with mermaid-tail mosaics is the centrepiece of this affordable London spa hotel, in the heart of the city’s luxury shopping and dining scene. Sofa-thick loungers with snuggly throws make things extra lavish, as do the high-spec, 24-hour guest gym and steam room. Generous health club hours fit in around your work trip, too.

Firmdale Hotels’ signature bold printed fabrics are present throughout its quirky Soholistic Spa, where wicker furniture, rococo mirrors and patterned wallpaper give a homely, non-clinical feel. It comprises several treatment rooms, a gym, changing rooms and a steam room, but tempting spa day packages throw in a champagne afternoon tea or a two-course lunch in its lauded restaurants (especially good value on weekday afternoons).

A light-flooded swimming pool and gym characterise the Savoy’s elegant spa, where the cognoscenti go for the very finest facials and massages. Step off the frenetic Strand to the absolute calm of its steam room, sauna and heated treatment beds. Alternatively, get your heart rate up with one of its personal trainers. Lucky enough to be staying overnight? Experience private treatments in your hotel room.

Mosaic heated stone beds and golden monk statues catch the mood lighting at the May Fair Hotel’s cavernous spa, on a quiet street in London’s see-and-be-seen boutique and restaurant hub. Get muddied up and hosed down in the rasul clay baths, or take a sauna and cool off with the ice fountain between treatments using pure essential oils by ESPA.

In a nifty central location for London highlights such as Covent Garden, the British Museum and St Paul’s Cathedral, the Rosewood is a fortress of luxury in the West End. Its spa is less shouted about than some, so there’s a chance you’ll bag its bamboo-walled chambers all to yourself, with an amethyst-infused steam room, dry-heat sauna and facials from cult West Hollywood spa, the Face Place. Finish your spa day with a blow-dry in its Matthew Curtis salon, and take your bouncy bob out on the town.