The Sanctuary, London Review

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The Sanctuary, London
3.2 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.2 out of 5

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kdaj78's Review of The Sanctuary, London

11th May 2009

Overall Rating

4 stars
  • Value for money
    3.5 stars
Good Points

Wonderful relaxing environment - the koi carp lounge was particularly delightful.
Well trained staff and excellent luxurious treatments.


Bad Points

It is fairly expensive, even just to use the general spa facilities. However, I think it's money well spent if you can afford it.
I found things just slightly too sanitised for my personal preferences, for instance I'd rather just lie on a bed uncovered and be massaged, instead of having each arm and leg separately uncovered and massaged then returned under the covers. I found this strangely prudish in a female only environment where those giving the treatments must have seen every type of body shape imaginable!


General Comments

I spent the day at the Sanctuary in Covent Garden as a birthday treat. The booking process was fairly painless, even though I was booking only two days in advance.

I booked three treatments (a wrap, a facial and a massage). On arrival I was told I had also been booked in for a complementary session in the sleep therapy room. As it was my first visit, I was shown round the changing room areas, had various practical points explained to me and even given a quick tour of the building (which is over several floors). I found all the serving staff to be well trained, knowledgeable and in general friendly, although one or two of them struck me as being slightly robotic. I think this results from saying exactly the same phrases over and over again.

Each of my treatments was excellent and left me feeling entirely pampered and relaxed. Treatment staff were all extremely well trained in the 'house-style' and explain at the beginning of each treatment exactly what is involved so there are no surprises (e.g. if you will be left alone to shower off products, they check if it's ok to touch your tummy area and also expressly tell you if the treatment involves touching your breasts).

The environment at the sanctuary is excellent - I would have been happy sitting in the Koi Carp lounge all day and could hardly move from there after my sleep treatment - even sitting in a spa pool seemed too much of an effort at that point. Each area is well thought out and there's another pool, sauna or hammam to discover round every corner.

I had a light lunch in the lounge which was quickly prepared and surprisingly unhealthy. I had been expecting healthy de-tox food and was pleasantly surprised with my sticky toffee pudding with cream and champagne cocktail.

Overall, I really enjoyed my visit and floated out at the end of a day feeling like I was glowing. This was an expensive but very worthwhile day.

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