The best day spas in London

It may be just a few seconds walk from that noted oasis of calm, Piccadilly Circus, but once you’ve dodged the crowds to retreat inside Akasha’s heavy wooden doors, you really wouldn’t know it. Everything about Akasha is really rather magnificent, from the wood-panelled reception to the clean lines of the changing rooms. After navigating the labyrinth of cool marble walkways, you soon reach the centrepiece – a gorgeously lit pool.

Facilities: 18-metre pool, sauna, steam room, relaxation room, Hammam, jacuzzi, gym.

Cost: From £89 (after 6pm) for two-hour spa and gym access, or £195 (Mon-Thu) for a 60-minute treatment and access to the spa and gym for 90 minutes. 

A shiny, monochrome labyrinth of treatment rooms, steam rooms and pools, ESPA Life is thoroughly lavish, modern, low-lit and windowless. It’s the ideal place to shut the door on reality. The spa’s main area, the Thermal Suite, is a black-marbled oasis which houses a glass-walled sauna amphitheatre as its centrepiece. 

Facilities: Gym, vitality pool, sauna, steam room, ice fountain, relaxation area.

Cost: Massages and facials from £195.

An impressive steam room, great treatments and striking middle-Eastern statues make this one of central London’s most tranquil hotel spas. Spa-goers are encouraged to lounge in the relaxation area post treatments as well as indulging in the stone oven sauna.

Facilities: Steam room, sauna, experience showers, ice fountain, relaxation room, gym.

Cost: £130 for one hour in the spa, a 30-minute treatment, a glass of Prosecco and a bowl of strawberries.

For a delectable wedge of pure luxury in central London, the Guerlain Spa at Raffles London is a phenomenal bet. Down in the basement of one of the capital’s newest and most grandiose hotels – in a grand old Whitehall building that was once home to the Old War Offices – it’s a tucked-away cavern of utter marble-surfaced bliss. Incomporating French beauty heavyweight Guerlain’s pioneering techniques and much-loved products, massages and facials take place in one of nine other-worldly treatment rooms. I tried the Imperial Face Sculpt, a 90-minute facial massage which left me feeling utterly refreshed and looking noticeably less puffy. If you’re after a real special occasion treat, you certainly won’t be disappointed.

Facilities: Sauna, steam room, experience showers, vitality pool, 20-metre indoor pool, gym and movement studio.

Cost: From £310 for a 90-minute treatment, which includes 2 hours’ access to the pool and thermal facilities.

St Pancras Spa boasts five luxurious treatment rooms and a couples’ suite, where treatments include the Ko Bi Do facial that incorporates ancient Japanese massage techniques, the Udvartana Ayurvedic slimming ritual from India and a dreamy aromatherapy full-body massage for serious relaxation. 

Facilities: Gym, sauna, steam room, relaxation pool.

Cost: From £180 for a 60-minute treatment, nibbles and tea, a two-course lunch with a drink and two hours access to the facilities; spa day pass from £70.

Although you’re located beneath the Connaught Hotel in less-than-relaxing Mayfair, once you’re being massaged in oils from the continent of your choice in the heavenly Aman Spa, ensconced in hot towels on a heated bed, and being murmured to in hushed tones by your barefoot therapist, you won’t believe you’re not in a Malaysian beach spa. 

Facilities: Relaxation area, 60-square-metre pool, steam room, gym.

Cost: £195 for a 60-minute holistic massage.

With its opulent surroundings, the Mandarin Oriental lives up to its reputation as one of London’s most luxurious day spas. Arranged over three levels, the dark wood interior, highlighted with oriental blooms, water features and stone sculptures, is impressive. 

Facilities: Steam room, sanarium, vitality pool, relaxation area.

Cost: Massages from £235; facials from £170.

An elegant redstone facing Marylebone station, The Landmark is London’s last grand Victorian hotel (it opened in 1899, just two years before Queen Vic passed away), and is home to the pristine Spa at The Landmark London. The haven of relaxation is run in partnership with Spanish skincare brand Germaine de Capuccini, with the spa’s pampering massages and body-care therapies making use of its top quality products. Staff on my visit were friendly and attentive, while facilities were clean and quiet, while a 50-minute ‘Deeply Warming’ back, neck and scalp massage was so relaxing I almost fell asleep during it, while still vigorous enough to get rid of some serious muscle aches.

Facilities: 15-metre chlorine-free pool, jacuzzi, steam room, sanarium, relaxation area, gym.

Cost: Spa access from £95 for 2 people for two hours; facials and massages from £125 and packages from £160.

With its small but perfect open-top swimming pool overlooking Hyde Park, this spa, a favourite with celebrities, wins points for its location. But the treatments are also impressive with emphasis on facials and a strong selection of men’s options.

Facilities: Open-top pool, gym.

Cost: From £80 for a 30-minute massage.

Hint: if your therapist asks how you’d like the curtains at the Four Seasons Hotel spa, the correct answer is open. As well as a posh Park Lane postcode, each treatment room offers floor-to-ceiling windows with killer views over Hyde Park. After your treatment, head to a dimly lit relaxation pod where you can have a steaming cup of tea and some nibbles, while you slip on a pair of headphones and let the calming effects of your treatment really sink in.

Facilities: Sauna, pool, relaxation area.

Cost: From £200 for a 60-minute signature massage.

Cowshed’s Primrose Hill spa is a rustic, neighbourhood spot that encourages mani-pedis with friends in a sociable upstairs seating area, and more relaxed therapeutic treatments in the downstairs rooms. Opt for a massage here and you’ll choose between different signature essential oils named for the mood they’re designed to invoke. Then just decide what kind of pressure you want and let the team here go to work on releasing all those everyday aches from your problem areas. We dare you not to pick up a couple of their delicious-smelling products on your way out (I’m a particularly big fan of the ‘invigorating’ range with lemongrass, ginger and rosemary). 

Facilities: Seven treatment rooms, six bespoke chairs for manicures and pedicures.

Cost: Massages start at £65.

This latest opening is London’s first luxury Chinese medicine centre and touted as the hottest ticket in town. Stepping in for its signature Chuan Balancing treatment, you fill in a form to determine what element you are (we’re earth, apparently) before being whisked off for a sublime massage, which stimulates the body’s pressure points to relax and detoxify.

Facilities: Sixteen-metre pool, steam room, sauna, relaxation room.

Cost: Massages and facials from £120 (for 30 minutes).

You’re about as likely to find a cheap spa package in London as you are a unicorn. Unless you go to Spa Experience in Old Street (there are other London branches, too). These guys are offering quality relaxation at a price us common folk can actually afford. Whether you just want to hang out in a steam room for an afternoon or get the full works, Spa Experience will have something to suit your budget.

Facilities: Steam rooms, Turkish baths, sauna, ice fountain, plunge pool, Hammam, relaxation lounge.

Cost: Massages from £48 and facials from £42.

Located in (or, more accurately under) a former bank opposite Buckingham Palace's back wall, The Bathouse probably isn't what you’d expect. It’s not bougie. It’s not elitist. It’s not in any way annoying. What it is, is a deeply energising, thoroughly rewarding way to hang out with a friend. In its most basic sense: banya involves spending a while in a really hot room, and then, when it all gets a bit much, standing under a bucketful of cold water or lowering yourself into a plunge pool. Then, enlivened and wrapped in a white sheet, you waddle back to the utilitarian bar-cafe where you can sit for a while with a tea or glass of vodka. Sublime.

Facilities: oak-lined banya, plunge pools, ice water buckets, relaxation room, treatment rooms, bar-cafe.

Cost: From £65 for a two-hour session.