It is often the case in the UK that an existing hotel decides to expand its appeal by offering a spa. Due to planning laws and restricted space, these often very much have the feel of an add-on – which is of course exactly what they are – and the resulting spa offering is pretty limited. So much for the normal run of things. How about, instead, a spa with a hotel added on?
The Nirvana Spa just outside of Wokingham in Berkshire has been established for a very long time. It opened in 1988 (back in the day Princess Diana was a fan) and has just kept growing over the years and now is the largest day spa in the country. There are 14 fresh water pools, saunas, steam rooms and 12 treatment rooms.
Sorry, was that 14 pools? Yep, at Nirvana it’s all about the water. This is partly because they have a pristine underground aquifer beneath the spa and use two deep wells to access it. The water is rich in minerals absorbed by rainfall in the Chiltern Hills and beneficial for skin conditions and so pure that, they say, the pool water is safe enough to drink. Indeed, throughout this vast spa there are water stations – they obviously encourage maximum hydration – where you can have the water in its pure form or flavoured with herbs or lemon and ginger.
Even though Nirvana has a huge site, this isn’t where they built their hotel. In fact, they didn’t build it at all – though they did do some very extensive renovation. Instead, Nirvana owner John Barley had had his eye on a place for a long time and when it finally came on the market, he snapped it up, regardless of the level of work it required (the work took four years, in fact).
West Court is brand new as a hotel (it opened this May) but it is also a beautiful 17th century Grade II listed historic manor house with a rather unusual story. It was the Officers’ Mess for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers regiment for many years. (In fact, the Major who rarely accompanies me to spas, recalled a regimental dinner there.) Before that, during WWI, it was the training centre for war horses while in WWII it was a training school for secret agents. It would have been ideal as this is the most secluded spot. The house is surrounded by 20 acres of woods, fields and gardens and you hear little here but for the splashing of the fountains and the whistling calls of red kites.
It is not, though, next to the spa. That is a 10-minute drive away – but you can forget a shuttle bus. Instead, a Bentley with deep cream leather seats sweeps you down the country lanes and is waiting to take you back at the end of your day to an excellent dinner in the lofty hotel restaurant with its original floor to ceiling windows overlooking the parkland. It’s a relaxing spot, my room in the old house (there are more bedrooms in the extensions built by the army) was enormous and had every conceivable comfort, overlooking the pond and the tree-shaded drive.
Relaxation, of course, was what this visit was all about. So having arrived at West Court at 10, we dropped our bags and headed for the spa. It is hard to imagine the scale of Nirvana if you haven’t visited it. Those 14 pools are all different – indoor and outdoor, some designed for serious lap swimming, others with hydrotherapy jet. There’s a pool with Dead Sea salts used for rehab by athletes and people suffering from muscular aches and pains. Most interesting of all is the Celestial Pool that also has Dead Sea salts and a “current” that takes you on a floatation circuit beneath a starlit sky.
There is a decidedly Roman flavour to décor – the Colosseum Suite, for instance, has tiered and columned relaxation areas looking down on the vast pool below. The Roman bath concept extends, too, to other facilities, such as the Tepidarium, a warm (as opposed to hot) room where you can relax in twilight on heated beds. There seem to be many of these warm-tiled loungers around the place and you discover them on a tour of the place that needs around half an hour to cover all the ground – including the outdoor spa garden with its own pool and four spa “pods” (private hot tubs). There are Real Sunlight lamps that replicate the benefits of natural sunlight, ideal in the winter for anyone with Seasonal Affective Disorder. There are separate facilities where you can book yourself DIY treatments such as a mud rasul or a hydromassage bed or you can, of course, have a treatment with a therapist.
The Major and I were booked in for a Soothing Back, Neck and Shoulder Candle Massage each, followed by two different varieties of facial. We weren’t in the same room and, interestingly, our therapists chose different products – so even the massage wasn’t an off-the-peg treatment. The Major’s products were from Aromatherapy Associates and featured their Light Relax Oil and Muscle whereas I had Germaine De Capuccini. These were finishing touches and we both, though, began with pindas (hot pouches filled with lavender) and warm olive scented candle oil for the massage.
Our facials, however, were always intended to be quite different. There has been such an upsurge in men’s treatments of late they do, of course, have whole ranges of products to themselves. In the Major’s case, these were Germaine De Capuccini and he was having a Royal Jelly De-stress Facial. This is rather funny, in fact, as the Major tends to get stressed at the thought of having a treatment but I have to say the results were extraordinary – laughter lines disappeared and his skin just glowed. As well as Royal Jelly Comfort Cream and Cleanser, he had Pro-Collagen for eyes and Pleasure & Calm Mist. Even his trepidation had disappeared – so much so, he almost drifted off.
I was, in the meantime, having a much more exhilarating time with an Amazonian Renewal Facial which also used Germaine De Capuccini products but these were part of her new Amazon-themed range “Sperience”. The products smell divine – passionfruit and peach, coconut and citrus, papaya and musk. It starts with a double-brush exfoliation and there’s a great massage which extends way beyond the face alone. The mask extends down to the upper arms and there’s a scalp massage while it does its work and, at the end, a series of neck stretches, where your neck is in a towel sling – all curiously relaxing.
And at the end of all this, you get back in the Bentley as it purrs back to West Court. A perfect retreat, really.
Spa Retreat Packages are available (hotel, spa, lunch and dinner from £500 for two). There is also a new Spa Club Retreat Membership that offers members and a guest an annual exclusive overnight stay at West Court Retreat from just £30 per month. For more information, including details of facilities and treatments, please visit www.nirvanaspacollection.co.uk.
