Chill Factor
Check out London’s thriving spa and wellness culture.
1 UP IN THE AIR Tune into the Wellness Channel and choose from soothing aural delights such as Blue Dolphins, English Country Dawn and Tibetan Monastery. Forest Raindrops was my selection for my British Airways flight to London. I closed my eyes, settled in and… promptly fell asleep. First. Time. Ever.
2 ON ARRIVAL Flights from Australia often arrive at Heathrow in the morning and many hotels don’t allow check-in until 4pm. What to do? Businessor First-class guests would do well to linger in Terminal 5’s The Galleries Arrivals Lounge. Have some breakfast, shower, read a magazine or three. With your best face on, you’ll be all set to enter one of the grandest cities in the world.
3 BEND AND STRETCH You may not feel up to it, but yoga is a truly restorative post-flight activity. I tried out an Inner Axis class at Triyoga in Chelsea, which aims to alleviate sleeplessness, stress and anxiety. I’m so ‘chill’ afterwards that the flight feels like a lifetime ago. Regular travellers should consider a ClassPass, which gives access to fitness and wellness studios in 8000 locations around the world.
4 WHEN YOU’RE TIRED, CARB SOFTEN BECK ON. TRY TO RESIST BECAUSE RAW FOOD AND WHOLE FOODS ARE YOUR FRIENDS. I ENJOYED JUICE AND SALAD AT JUICE BABY, AND THERE ARE SIMILAR HEALTH FIXES ALL OVER TOWN.
5 STAY FITS avvy hotels are all about facilitating wellness. We stay at The Connaught in Mayfair and, after a bit of delving, discover that free meditation classes are offered at 1pm each day for guests and visitors. Over at Claridges, personal trainers will help you keep well by devising a personal program for the duration of your stay. Starwood and Westin hotels even offer ‘gear lending’ so you don’t have to pack sneakers and other exercise apparel. Many properties also have bikes that are free for guests to use. Basically, there’s no excuse not to be active.
6 TREAT YOURSELF After a day sightseeing and shopping, spas are manna from heaven and massages and facials work wonders. Do not resist.
7 BIG CITY DINING London has a lot of great restaurants in high demand, so book ahead. I dine at Pollen Street Social (sister restaurant to Sydney’s Kensington Street Social), helmed by chef Jason Atherton. It’s all about deconstructed fine dining, which is casual in atmosphere, fine in dining – a winning combo. Upping the ante is Hélène Darroze’s two Michelin-starred restaurant at The Connaught. It’s a superlative experience and highly Instagrammable.
8 A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY If time permits, head into the verdant English countryside. I leave town in the afternoon and travel by train to Sussex, about an hour away. Ockenden Manor (below) in Cuckfield is my home for two nights. It’s a true spa resort set within the grounds of an Elizabethan manor, with a huge indoor pool, treatment rooms and even i-sopod flotation tanks. All around me robe-clad guests wander from one holistic treatment to another; the entire place is so tranquil a moonbeam over the meadows wouldn’t surprise me. A stroll through Tudor-era Cuckfield is also a must.
9 BRIGHTON A diversion to Brighton delivers a taste of bohemia, starting with the great folly that is the Royal Pavilion. In the winter its foreground is transformed into an ice-skating rink, bringing levity to all. A stroll along the waterfront, punctuated by the nostalgic Brighton Pier as well as the futuristic i360 observation tower, blows the cobwebs away. North Laine, with its 300-plus independently owned cafes and shops, empties my wallet. Good shopping can be good for your health.
10 RURAL AND REAL They say long views are good for the eyes and I gaze at castles, meadows and grazing land on the journey to Dorset and the village of Evershot, near Dorchester. An overnight stay in the Grade II-listed Summer Lodge Country House hotel (below) is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The hotel is set in 2ha of quintessentially English grounds next to a 243ha deer park and its rooms are layer upon layer of loveliness. Afternoon tea in the drawing room – delicate finger sandwiches, freshly made scones, cakes and delicacies served on gleaming silverware – feels like the height of indulgence, as is dinner later that evening with all the theatricality of five-star service and delicious, creatively presented dishes. PS: The spa is also incredible.