The EarthSpa in Belgravia could be compared to the therapeutic equivalent of a local caff (minus the fry-ups, obviously) where the owners know their regulars, their routines and their preferences.
‘I could stand in the window all day waving to people I know,’ says public-spirited therapist Susan King, co-owner of this homely urban day spa, which is all dark wood, bricks, twigs, feathers and candles, and just a smooth pebble’s throw from Victoria station.
Despite the national accolades, including five whole bubbles from the Good Spa Guide, King likes to think of her and partner Shirin Elling’s four-year-old venture as a local business that welcomes an unusually loyal client base, drawn here by the consistency of the highly personal service.
While the nearby office crowd (‘bankers, journalists, intellectuals’) drop by for their waxes and massages, the good residents of Belgravia (and further afield) opt for more prolonged and lavish treatments, such as body wraps. Short on communal areas, it’s not really a place to spend the whole day, but then the EarthSpa’s more about lavish quick fixes.
Seduced by the promise of kick-starting my lymphatic drainage system — I didn’t even know I owned one of these — I select a seaweed wrap from the extensive menu, particularly as it comes recommended by King.
The treatment begins with a thorough exfoliating rub down with sea salt from the Brittany region (which puts me in mind of a raw chicken cooked croute-en-sel style, the chicken being me).
This is followed by a full body wrap. I am slathered with hot, rather fishy-smelling reconstituted seaweed paste, also from Brittany, then wrapped up in various layers and left to ‘cook’ for 20 minutes. The worst bit is the slithery smelliness of it all; the best is the light foot massage and cold glasses of lemony water that accompany the main treatment.
Feeling not unlike a piece of sushi, I am then pointed in the direction of the in-room shower (and firmly told to rinse, but not to soap), and then moisturised from top to toe by my unerringly lovely and considerate attendant.
As I leave, there’s no question that my skin feels softer and suppler than it has done for years, which makes even my residual fishy smell tolerable. In fact, my only worry is the possibility of having a Pied Piper effect on the neighbourhood cats as I stride homewards.
Treatments from £38, seaweed wrap £68; EarthSpa, Chantrey House, 4 Eccleston Street, London SW1, +44 (0)20 7823 6226, earthspa.co.uk
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