The best spas in London, from luxury hotel spas to budget options

Best for: A traditional paranie treatment.

Perhaps the most relaxing thing about this traditional Russian spa in east London is the fact that staff - known as bankshiks - shepherd you around, telling you what to do and removing the need to think for yourself for as long as you’re here. Bliss. A Russian banya is hotter than your average sauna, so you’ll be handed a grey felt hat to protect your head from the heat. Other treatments include paranie, a traditional ritual which is supposed to improve blood circulation, and involves lying down inside a sauna while one of the banshik’s gently whacks your entire body with a bouquet of aromatic birch, oak and eucalyptus branches (it’s way more relaxing than it sounds). In between treatments, you can order Eastern European and Russian delicacies at the venue’s restaurant. Don’t skip the dumplings. 

Micawber Street, N1 7TB. The 3-hour silver public banya package includes paranie, tea, honey and salt scrub and a private booth in the restaurant for £140. 

Best for: Inner-city tranquility.

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 most grandiose hotels, it’s a tucked-away cavern of utter marble-surfaced bliss. The main treatments on offer are massage and facials, using the French beauty heavyweight Guerlain’s pioneering techniques and much-loved products. The Imperial Age Reverse, in particular, is worth your time and money. This 60 or 90-minute treatment, which takes place in one of the spa’s other-worldly private rooms, is an in-depth facial massage that will depuff and help tone your muscles and brighten your skin, leaving you feeling refreshed and looking sharp.

Whitehall, SW1. Spa access is included as part of hotel stay, treatments from £150.

Best for: Treatments designed by celeb beauticians.

A grand old dame of Park Lane, first opened in 1931, The Dorchester has it all: heritage, prestige and exemplary modern service. As you exit the lift down to its basement spa, you’ll be greeted by a display of Dorchester roses. Off to one side, an elegant ‘Spatisserie’ serves afternoon teas and flutes of champagne to would-be virtuous ladies in robes. The facials and massages here are indulgent and performed by world-class therapists. If that’s not enough, its 2026 wellness residency is bringing experts together to offer a range of other treatments: award-winning aesthetician and facialist Natasha Clancy, reflexology expert Marzena Zawadzka, and acupuncturist Renata Nunes. Across the road, you’ll find the pool, steam and sauna at sister hotel 45 Park Lane, where you can unwind some more.

53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA. Personalised 60-minute wellbeing massages and facials start at £210.

Best for: Turkish-style saunas.

This old-school spa is a hit with the locals, but it's worth making the trek for too. Not just for its affordability, but also its history. Opened in 1929, the place still has all its original features, including the green-and-white tiles. A reasonable £30.90 will gain you access to the two steam rooms, three Turkish hot rooms, a sauna, relaxation area and cold plunge pool, as well as a 30m swimming pool. Any extras, like a 30-minute back, neck and shoulder massage, will cost upwards of £37 per treatment.

Queensway, W2. Spa sessions £30.90 (concessions available), treatments from £37.

Best for: Sound healing experiences.

Hidden away in the heart of Soho, Salon C Stellar is the most unique wellness destination in London. Founded by skincare guru Andrea Pfeffer, this clinic offers cutting-edge sensory and experiential skincare and wellbeing treatments anywhere else in the city. Bespoke sound healing is available as a standalone individual treatment or with a group. But if you want to combine sound healing with a facial, Pfeffer has commissioned musicians and artists – like model Erin O’Connor or indie band Little Dragon – to design soundscapes to accompany her treatments. As you lie back in the treatment bed, these are piped into your brain via headphones, which cocoon you in sound and make you forget that you are a few steps away from Regent Street.

19b Beak Street, W1F 9RP. Facials start at £145.

Best for: Beautiful surroundings.

There’s something about Aire. In the subterranean depths of a Georgian townhouse just behind The Strand, this labyrinth of baths and steam rooms takes inspiration from Ancient Rome, Greece and Ottoman bathing rituals. The scent of orange blossom fills the air, and candlelight guides you from the 36°C Tepidarium to the 40°C Caldarium. You’ll also find the Vaporium (steam room) and Flotarium (salt bath designed for floating, a little like London’s own mini Dead Sea). Massages here are deeply relaxing, with the scent of orange blossom transporting you to a Spanish or Italian orange grove and making you momentarily forget that you’re lying underneath one of London’s busiest roads. If it all gets too much, you can pop your robe on and break for a glass of cava and some chocolates before dipping back in. Phones are banned, as are children, and entry times are staggered so the spa is never crowded.

Robert Street, WC2. Packages start at £105 per person for bath access only to £510 for the Signature Wine Experience, which includes several treatments and refreshments. Couples' packages start at £270.

Best for: Ultimate relaxation.

I don’t remember much about my treatment at agua, which is a sign of a job well done. All my receptors went into load shedding mode and I temporarily forgot my middle name during my advanced bodywork massage. Found under the five-star Sea Containers hotel on the South Bank, you’re a million miles from the thousands of stomping tourists overhead. There are two copper and gold-themed lounges to relax in pre and post-treatment, which are stocked with a range of Joe Tea flavours; the curved loungers hug your spine and come with a weighted blanket for extra comfort. The spa also makes its own range of seasonal and organic aromatherapy products from local ingredients on-site, and you can stock up to continue the experience at home during your visit or online after. 

Upper Ground, SE1. Treatments from £130.

Best for: Cheap and cheerful sauna.

This not-for-profit venture was started by sauna enthusiasts in 2021 who wanted to make sauna and cold plunge accessible to a wider range of people, including those on low incomes. And, boy, have they succeeded. Now, if you text someone to ask whether they fancy a drink, it’s not uncommon to get the response ‘on my way to Hackney sauna, can meet after’. The team behind these community saunas have now expanded with locations in Peckham, Camberwell, Stratford and Walthamstow. Facilities are basic - straightforward saunas and cold plunges in metal tubs – but the atmosphere is communal and convivial. Each location has its own charm, but there’s something to be said for cold plunging in amongst the skyscrapers of Stratford, while the Peckham location is inside Ruskin Park and gets some beautiful sunsets. 

Various locations. 1 hour off-peak entry starts at £9.50 with concessions available for students, low-income people and NHS workers.

Best for: Fitness fanatics. 

The super-luxe, Grade II-listed Savoy reopened after more than £100m of renovations in 2010. Built in 1889, the Savoy is the hotel from which Monet painted the Thames, where Vivien Leigh met Laurence Olivier, where Londoners learned to love the martini. The spa is fittingly plush, there’s a swimming pool under a light-filled atrium with a jet-stream to swim against the current. There are also two gym areas featuring Peloton bikes and state-of-the-art weights and cardio machinery, a sauna and steam room and a big range of treatments on offer. 

Strand, WC2. Pool, sauna and steam room access for non-guests is £85, treatments from £150.

Best for: Fun and quirky treatments.

Meander past the towers of delicious smelling, neon-coloured cosmetics which fill this Oxford Street store and you’ll find one of Lush’s seven in-store spas. Sure, Europe’s busiest boulevard hardly seems like the location for a day of relaxation; however, as soon as you step into the quaint, country kitchen-styled spa, where you can experience a mineral bath, a multi-sensory massage or a reflexology session all to a tailor-made soundtrack, the street’s shuffling tourists and tooting buses are forgotten. For the ultimate muscle untangler, we recommend stopping by for ‘The Good Hour’.

Oxford Street, W1. Treatments from £40.

Best for: Getting the basics right.

Less than a three-minute walk from Old Street station, Montcalm East is a work of art. Quite literally. Its exterior is a diamond-shaped optical illusion based on the artwork by abstract artist Bridget Riley. But inside, you know exactly what you’re getting. Found in the depths of the 5* hotel, Bokeh is a subterranean spa where you’ll spot all the usual suspects, from a 10m pool to a steam room and sauna.  Recognisable treatments such as hot stone massages are on the menu as well as more left-field choices such as CBD reflexology and mud facials. There’s also a ‘chill room’, which has been designed to help guests unwind even more, whether that be via a cheeky nap, or actually reading some of that novel you’ve been carrying around in your bag for months.

City Road, EC1. Spa sessions start at £45, treatments from £65.

Best for: Specialist treatments.

The second floor of Park Lane’s Metropolitan hotel, owned by luxury group COMO, is where you’ll find the small but delightful Shambhala spa. Calm, warm and with wonderfully welcoming staff, COMO Shambhala offers a huge range of beautifying treatments and specialist therapies. For the body, the Detoxifying Skin Treatment, which can be booked with a luxurious bath and massage to follow, is a heavenly indulgence; while the reflexology and acupuncture appointments are just the remedy for aching souls. If your mind needs some TLC rather than your body, you can book sessions with the spa's experts in intuitive counselling and energy healing, too.

19 Old Park Lane, W1. Treatments from £20.

Best for: Potent anti-ageing facials.

The regal façade of the Mandarin Oriental hotel looks out over Harrods, and with its location just a stone’s throw from Knightsbridge tube, this is well and truly the posh part of town. Serene, dimly lit and beautiful, this place feels a world away from London. You’ll find all the facilities you’d expect at a luxury hotel spa – pool, relaxation area and fitness centre. There’s also a full menu of luxurious treatments, ranging from those taking advantage of traditional Chinese medicine to a range of potent Nescens anti-ageing facials. After 50 minutes with my attentive therapist – and an acid peel, lymphatic drainage and a facial massage to boot – I emerged with actual cheekbones, a Kardashian-worthy jawline and a glow that lasted all week.

66 Knightsbridge, SW1. Spa sessions included with hotel stay or with treatments lasting 90 minutes or more, treatments from £275.

Best for: Bargain wellness.

Ironmonger Row opened its doors for the first time in 1931, when it was established by the Finsbury Metropolitan Council to offer washing machines at a time when at-home laundry was not yet a standard. Today, the historic building is home to an affordable spa and swimming pool, which dates back to 1938, when the building was updated to include Turkish baths. Thanks to careful restoration in 2012, you can sauna and steam alongside the building’s original features: there’s a steam room, three hot rooms, an icy plunge pool, relaxation areas and marble slabs for hammam body scrubs and massages.

1-11 Ironmonger Row, EC1V 3QF. Two-hour thermal spa sessions start at £44, while full spa days start at £275, including a £40 food and drink voucher.

Best for: Botanical hair therapies.

This hub of all-natural hair and beauty on High Holborn is light, airy and always packed. One of the original purveyors of herbal products, Aveda’s flagship spa and salon provides Londoners with a huge range of therapies and grooming services. For untamed talons, manicures and pedicure are available, tucked away in swish nail booths, while downstairs a handful of treatment rooms lend themselves to stress-beating body wraps and chakra-balancing massages. Back on ground level, lacklustre locks can benefit from either a stylish chop or one Aveda’s intensive botanical hair and scalp treatments as well.

High Holborn, WC1. Treatments from £65.

Best for: A day out with friends.

The Bath House in Belgravia isn’t 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. There are a few different treatments on offer, but the best of the lot is a traditional one, called parenie, where you get lightly thrashed with plants and, optionally, ice.

Grosvenor Gardens. Spa sessions start at £75, treatments from £60.

Best for: Rooftop lounging.

A country-styled sanctuary overlooking the lush greenery of Hyde Park, the health club and spa (formerly known as the Bamford Haybarn Spa) located on the seventh floor of The Berkeley hotel is decked out with white wooden panels, whilst soft grey cushions, potted herbs and bales of wicker are added decoration. Undoubtedly the star of show is the rooftop pool, which has a retractable roof for London’s sunny days and offers incredible views over the city. If you can tear yourself away from being poolside, treatments in the spa include exfoliations, massages, hot and cold stone therapy, and men’s sprucing sessions, too. You can even couple a spa visit with a health check-up, with blood tests, food intolerance testing and more available. 

The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1. Spa sessions included with hotel stay or through annual membership from £10,000, treatments from £60.

Best for: Temporarily escaping the city.

At this cosy north London branch of Cowshed, the countryside-themed day spas brought to us by the Babington House bunch, guests are immediately welcomed into a rustic kitchen, where homemade cakes, herbal teas and – if you want to feel really pampered – glasses of bubbly are all up for grabs. Once fed and watered, there are six leather chairs, each with individual TV screens, for those in for a manicure or pedicure, while downstairs, there are seven cream, wooden-clad treatment rooms ready to accommodate body cleanses, reflexology, massages and anti-ageing facials. 

Regent’s Park Road, NW1. Treatments from £65.

Best for: Treatments with a view.

On the 10th floor of the Four Seasons Park Lane, you will find heaven, in the form of a sauna with views of Hyde Park and Battersea Power Station.  Bespoke massages and facials are carried out in treatment rooms with similarly breathtaking views, which suspend you above the city while you relax. After the massage, you’ll be gently ushered to a private relaxation pod where you can sip tea, or prosecco if that’s more your thing! There are also pools and steam rooms, but do note that these are gender segregated, so if you’re planning a romantic afternoon with your heterosexual partner for one of the spa’s couples’ treatments, you won’t be able to enjoy these together.

Hamilton Place, W1. Massages start at £175 for 60 minutes.

Best for: Total privacy.

Compared to the cavernous ‘wellbeing centres’ found in many of London’s high-end hotels, the Rosewood’s Sense spa, tucked neatly into the hotel basement, is definitely on the teenier end of the spectrum. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. This relative compactness makes for an intimate, relaxed atmosphere; as does the understated, Eastern-inspired décor, the soporifically soft lighting and the softly rippling water that winds its way around the central relaxation room. Across the spa’s seven private rooms, there’s an impressive array of treatments on offer, from targeted facials (which use ethically sourced high-performance Sodashi products) to luxurious massages and an array of traditional beauty services.

252 High Holborn, WC1. Treatments from £85.

Best for: Men’s grooming.

With rich decor (silks, gold finishes and sculptures), this day spa on Northumberland Avenue is an opulent oasis of calm just a (hot) stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square. For 50 smackers, visitors can enjoy the spa’s Sen Space for an hour, which includes a sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and ice fountains. Treatment-wise, £65 will get you an oriental scalp massage, whilst top-dollar treatments cost well over £200. Besides a long list of beauty therapies, Thai Square has a solid selection of male-specific treatments, such as a collagen facial and hot towel facial.

25 Northumberland Avenue, WC2. Spa sessions start at £50, treatments from £65.

Best for: Pure luxury.

The place in London for total, utter and complete indulgence, Knightsbridge’s Ushvani should be on every spa-lover’s bucket list. Founded by Usha Arumugam with the aim of bringing an authentic Malaysian-style spa to London, Ushvani offers weary city dwellers an exotic retreat. Decked out with swirling cream marble and dark wood furnishings, facilities include a hydrotherapy pool, steam room, couple’s suite and hibiscus tea lounge. The treatment menu is Asian-inspired and features a nutmeg flower ritual, warming herbal ritual and a divine Malay massage.

Cadogan Gardens, SW3. Spa access £150, treatments from £189.

Best for: Personalised treatments.

A day on Oxford Street might be brilliant for shopping, but it’s hardly good for the soul. Luckily, tucked away on a quiet-ish street nearby is the calming haven of Chuan Body+Soul – a luxurious subterranean spa perfectly positioned as an alternative to the mayhem on the streets above. It’s a cosy haven of remedies and relaxation, underpinned by traditional Chinese medicine of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. There’s a small but well-curated selection of treatments available. Go for a signature Chuan session to get a taste of the Chinese medicine influence – and be sure to keep some time spare for a lengthy session in the luxurious changing rooms where you’ll find a single-sex steam room and sauna. Delay the inevitable return to reality further with a few laps in the 16-metre pool, flanked by chillout areas and a dramatic spiral staircase.

The Langham, 1c Portland Place, W1. Spa sessions included with hotel stay or with treatments costing over £220, treatments from £175.

Best for: Ultimate escapism.

Four floors underground inside London's first iceberg hotel (also known as The Londoner), The Retreat is a luxury spa hidden beneath the hubbub of Leicester Square. The spa offers a range of holistic treatments with a twist, including facials that use diamond, gold and silver as key ingredients and massage treatments that champion balms over oils. There’s also a hydropool, sauna, steam room, gym, nail bar, hairdresser, and a superfood and wellness clinic on-site. But the real brownie points go to the micro touches dotted across the space, from the cushy poolside cabanas that make you feel like you’re in Cancun instead of under M&M World to the heated toilet seats that ensure your cheeks get pampered, too.

Leicester Square, WC2. Spa sessions included with hotel stays or from £130 for a poolside cabana, treatments from £150.

Best for: Heavenly hydrotherapy.

Another basement oasis in the centre of town, Akasha sits underneath the Hotel Café Royal in Piccadilly Circus. This labyrinth of marbled walkways leads visitors to all sorts of sensational spa facilities including a sauna, jacuzzi, steam room and an 18-metre swimming pool, while there are also nine private treatment rooms offering everything from a ‘Four Elements’ body journey to a rebalancing Indian massage. An even bigger draw to Akasha is its watsu hydrotherapy rituals, however. Home to London’s first watsu treatments, you can enjoy a shiatsu massage whilst floating in your own private 35C-heated pool.

Regent Street, W1. Spa experience session from £195, treatment from £179.