The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
A glowing session with the oracle of wellbeing
John O’Ceallaigh
Removing the calipers from the ring of fat that some years ago stealthily claimed squatters’ rights on my stomach, personal trainer Mike concludes my Body Oracle health consultation with good news: “This might sound like a strange compliment, but it’s nice and soft.” Hard fat that has “set”, he explains, is imbued with toxins and difficult to shift; with his team’s guidance and some effort on my part, I should see improvements in my physique and overall sense of wellbeing within weeks.
It is, I suppose, an encouraging start to my week at The Lanesborough Club & Spa. A new addition to The Lanesborough in Knightsbridge, the 18,000 sq ft complex is one of the most advanced fitness facilities operated by any hotel in the country, but it is well-to-do Londoners, rather than overnight guests, who will gain the most from its opening. After paying a £2,000 joining fee and £6,000 in annual membership costs, just 450 individuals will have unrestricted access to the space each year. The club’s promise is that judicious use of the amenities on offer will leave them feeling better than ever.
Those amenities are ample. Alongside the expected wellequipped gym, there is a private restaurant serving appropriately healthy cuisine, a boutique and a dimly lit spa area where rooms are supported by faux Doric columns and therapists administer treatments using Ila and La Prairie products. Members and guests can convene in the Butterfly Room lounge or separate to use the male and female thermal suites. After a vigorous workout, a “spa butler” – a dapper attendant on hand to provide fresh towels, concierge services and words of encouragement – might recommend you try the “experience shower”, where a cool mist infused with mint essence serves as a refreshing salve for aching muscles.
More valuable still is the expertise at visitors’ disposal. The Lanesborough has partnered with wellbeing specialist Bodyism, which provides clients with the fitness and nutritional guidance they need to fashion “long, lean athletic bodies” and counts Elle Macpherson and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley among its alumni. Every new member will receive a Body Oracle consultation and can subsequently join group classes led by Bodyism personnel (complimentary for them; £35 a pop for hotel guests) or book one-to-one training sessions with Bodyism coaches.
From a range of sports and healthindustry backgrounds, they are briefed on clients’ consultation results and use their expertise to create highly tailored but diverse programmes for club users. I am attended to by Mai, whose background in yoga and meditation introduces a contemplative element to our session; George, who having trained since the age of six as a boxer, leads an invigorating sparring match; and Yianni, previously a video analyst for the British Olympic rowing team, who makes a series of minute changes to my postures to significantly ramp up the exercises’ efficacy.
Varied though their approaches are, they are uniformly chirpy, convincing ambassadors for the Bodyism programme, each radiating glossy good health. I am told Bodyism founder James Duigan encourages his staff to “show love” to their clients, and though I am initially suspicious of the effusive encouragement that follows each stretch and lift I make, I’m soon forced to wonder why my “friends” have never once praised my remarkable flexibility. Yianni commented on it within minutes.
At £150 for an hour-long session, such support is prohibitively priced for most, but will likely be considered a worthwhile investment by the club’s privileged clientele – between 40 and 50 per cent are expected to sign up for individual Bodyism programmes, and the launch of the club comes at a time when consumers are spending significantly on health and wellbeing experiences. The Global Wellness Institute has found that the worldwide wellness industry grew by 10.6 per cent between 2013 and 2015 and is worth $3.7 trillion today. Wellness tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors within the tourism industry overall.
Those figures go some way to clarifying why the Oetker Collection, the company behind The Lanesborough and a scattering of ultra-luxury hotels worldwide, has invested so heavily in this new facility. For chief executive Frank Marrenbach, providing impressive fitness facilities is “an absolutely essential part of a hotel experience, especially as the global traveller becomes more health aware… spas are less about beauty now and more about health and wellbeing.”
I reflect on this after rounding off my week’s membership with an intimidating-sounding but manageable Warrior fitness class and a leisurely Sunday lunch with the papers at the club’s restaurant.
Recommended by that day’s trainer, Simone, a chocolatey £8 Bodyism Body Brilliance-branded shake goes down a treat with a squash, quinoa and asparagus salad and a side order of matcha and coconut pancakes. Aching after my training sessions though I am, it strikes me that for those who can afford it, this is a very agreeable way in which to remain in good shape.
savours a week’s membership at the new exclusive private health club at London’s Lanesborough hotel
B&B Stay & Spa packages at The Lanesborough, including a spa treatment, cost from £640 (020 7259 5599; thelanesborough.com). Day passes for The Lanesborough Club & Spa cost £150; treatments start at £120 (020 7333 7064; lanesboroughclubandspa.com).