When you’ve forked out considerable money on what you hope will be a special relaxing treat for yourself, there’s nothing worse than feeling you’ve been short changed. Well you certainly wont have that experience at the subterranean oasis that is the Bulgari Hotel’s heavenly spa.
Remarkably five storeys below the touristy throng of Knightsbridge, the clever lighting design and stone décor of the two-storey complex makes you feel as if you just stepped inside from the beach. Instantly tranquil with oodles of space, you could happily get lost down here for the rest of your life.
There’s a fitness room equipped for the most ardent workout – cue a Millie Mackintosh-styled Instagram shot – steam rooms, saunas, a hair and beauty salon, the most relaxing of relaxation rooms where the fridge of Coconut water is always fully stocked and 11 treatment rooms where the magic happens. If you’re feeling particularly indulgent and want to treat your fiancée, celebrate an anniversary, or merely spoil a friend you can hire the private onyx spa suite (£900 for three hours). But the pièce de résistance has to be the most amazing pool we’ve ever been lucky enough to dip our toes into. At 25 metres, it’s an aquamarine glistening reservoir that puts all others spa pools to shame. Loungers housed in their very own linen-draped cabanas surround the pool, where you can sip herbal tea, nibble on fruit and nuts, and ponder when you’ll take your next dip. And if you’re after something a little more vigorous, the small gold leaf vitality pool will liven your skin and senses. The only downer is you have to be booked in for a treatment lasting at least two hours to use the pool and other facilities. That’s the price you have to pay to feel like a god or goddess.
From customised facials (£140 for 60minutes), wellness thereapies, massages inspired by the holistic practices of Asia (£300 for 120 minutes) and specialist day packages (from £270), there really isn’t anything the Bulgari spa doesn’t offer. We sampled the spa’s exclusive uber-relaxing and invigorating Jax Coco Body Experience (£200 for 60minutes). Using the purest, organic coconut oil sourced from fair trade coconut farmers in the Philippines, I was scrubbed from head to toe then massaged using gloriously hot stones and left with luxuriously soft, exfoliated skin and feeling like I was walking on a cloud as I glided into the relaxation room.
To truly relish the Mediterranean idyll that Bulgari have created, you might have to splash the cash, but once you’ve plunged in that pool that’ll be the last thing on your mind.
Treatments start from £60.