By Becca Hensley
Sequoia Spa at The Grove, Hertfordshire, U.K.
Like Alice down the rabbit hole, I descend into The Grove’s subterranean spa, leaving behind the newly redone cosmopolitan country estate once the stomping ground of Queen Victoria and Vita Sackville-West, once the former home of the Earls of Clarendon, and located less than an hour from London. Though I could gad about the whimsical exoticism of the drawing rooms, I’m in the mood for a “journey,” as Sequoia’s spa director calls a trip to her spa. At The Grove, the old has been reinvented, antique and contemporary define a special place. But below ground, at Sequoia, a new world beckons.
A wondrous, reality-suspending, hall of mirrors is a surreal entry into a tranquil place. Lingering hedonistically in a magical relaxation room, subdued by a silver ceiling, purple velvet walls and heated, wavy beds, I consider that this wait could be my treatment. But, being jet-lagged and beat, I’m willing to try the Sequoia Signature Ritual, which includes a footbath, exfoliation, four-hand massage, and a hydrating facial. Not ready to re-enter the real world yet, I romp in the Tropical Rain Lifestyle shower. Shamefully renewed, I ascend and enter the sunken gardens behind the mansion to muse the meaning of life.
Dorchester Spa at The Dorchester Hotel, London
Visiting London, I seek relaxation the urbane way. I’ve spent a day shopping in Pimlico, viewing the new Gothic wing at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and sipping champagne cocktails in the Dorchester Hotel’s Italian Room bar. When I fall into my canopied bed, my body aches from the rigors of city living. Even the Dorchester’s bathtub, the deepest in all of England, can’t soothe these overwrought muscles. I need the grand Dorchester’s elegant Art Deco spa. Not just a pretty face, it boasts some of the best-trained therapists in London. Their regular clients, from across the globe, book far in advance. Such warm, healing energy comes across like comfort food. I unwind with a Total Relaxation Treatment. I am so revived and awakened after being scrubbed with sea salt, massaged, and given a facial, all with organic Jurlique products, that I’m ready to hit the streets again, visit a museum, maybe even leave town and drive out to Stonehenge.
address book
* Call for current currency exchange rates. The Dorchester
www.thedorchester.com
011 44 207629 8888
Room rates begin at 270 pounds. The Dorchester Spa Total Relaxation Treatment (90 min) 98 pounds
The Grove
www.thegrove.co.uk
011 44 1923 807807
Room rates start at 240 pounds. Puva Karma Four-Hand Synchronized Massage (2 hours) 200 pounds. Rehydrator Facial (55 min) 65 pounds
March/April 2004
- Earth Science - April 17, 2026
- Sweed Beauty - April 17, 2026
- Farmhouse Fresh - April 17, 2026