Claridge’s has opened the doors to its new spa, which houses the Mayfair hotel’s first swimming pool, following a five-floor excavation.
Claridge’s Spa has been designed by interior architect Andre Fu, who was influenced by traditional Japanese temples and Zen gardens in Kyoto.
Resident brands include Josh Wood, Augustinus Bader and FaceGym, alongside a roster of visiting wellness experts. Popular Instagram nail artist Harriet Westmoreland will create French tip manicures in the hotel’s signature jade colour, while acupuncturist Ross J Barr will offer various sessions, including a “psychological MOT”.
Creating Claridge’s Spa has been a huge undertaking for the hotel, involving excavating five floors down to create the 7,000-square-foot space, which is accessed via the main lobby. It includes a heated swimming pool, which is framed by a multi-vaulted ceiling and stone columns, with cabanas set back from the water.
On arrival guests are presented with kimonos in soft pinks and peaches, before a welcoming foot ceremony. They are presented with a choice of incense before their treatment, and the sound of bells marks the end of a treatment.
The collection of face and body treatments include the signature 90-minute Bamboo & Silk Ritual, which includes a body massage with warmed bamboo sticks and seasonal herbs within hot oil-infused poultices. This is followed by a deep hand massage and a facial, where therapists wear silk thimbles on their fingers and use mini-poultices on pressure points on the face and decolletage.
The spa offers the Josh Wood at Claridge’s hair and beauty space, where British hair colour expert Wood and his team offer hair, nails and beauty services. The salon has two chairs, and Wood explained: “This new space is not about the usual volume in a salon, but moreover about getting every strand right. The best of the best, there’s nothing that’s too much to ask.”
Claridge’s is owned and managed by Maybourne Hotel Group, and its creative director of spa and wellness is Facegym founder Inge Theron.
She said: “We have created a spa here at Claridge’s where guests will find both holistic practices and results-driven high-tech all under one roof. Claridge’s has long been a temple of good living with a philosophy of enjoying life to the full, and so now, as well as pouring guests the perfect martini, we can also rejuvenate and restore with the perfect treatment, to strike that all important balance. Claridge’s Spa is the very beginning of a new wellness journey for Maybourne Hotel Group.”
Claridge’s Spa is open to both hotel and outside guests, Monday-Sunday from 8am to 9pm.