The Lanesborough Club & Spa

The Lanesborough Club and Spa is a vast white, neo-classical style mansion in the heart of one of London's most exclusive areas, on the edge of Hyde Park. Head out of exit three at Hyde Park Corner station and you'll be in front of this historic building.

Knock on the imposing black door to enter the club -- and spa heaven.

The marble-floored, wood-panelled reception area is spacious and calming with royal-blue armchairs and a mirrored feature wall. Spa staff gave us a warm and friendly welcome, and talked us through our day before showing us into the opulent spa café. Here, we drank coffee while completing consultation forms.

Our spa butler, Corina, met us in the café and took us on a tour of the spa, ending in the expansive changing rooms which are art-deco inspired. The dark wood and silver vanity area -- complete with seating for six, large silver mirrors and pendant tulip lights with glass leaves -- is something to behold. Stocked with all the products you think you could need (and a few you couldn't), you'll want for absolutely nothing during your visit.

Banks of light grey lockers, broken up with gold seats surrounded by tasselled curtains, line the walls. Inside you'll find a robe, branded sliders, white fluffy towels and an eco-friendly bag for wet swimwear.

The thermal facilities at The Lanesborough Club and Spa are single sex and located inside the changing rooms. There's a hot wooden sauna, seating six, where classical musical plays gently in the background. We cooled down in the experience shower afterwards, switching between warm rain, cool rain and -- our favourite -- cool mist. The spacious mother-of-pearl and pink-tiled steam room was delightfully hot on our visit. It was rather dark inside, however, and we had to wait for our eyes to adjust before finding a seat.

Next door is a hydro-therapy pool, reached via a few steps. At approximately 10 metres, the pool is just long enough to swim lengths or, do as we did, and pummel your limbs under the bubble jets. Relax on one of six loungers afterwards, each with its own pillow, stack of magazines and, rather opulently, a bell to call your spa butler.

If you don't fancy reading poolside, head to the spa lounge with its red and dark-wood panel walls. Comfortable armchairs surrounded by cream curtains are dotted around the room. Each has its own side table with a lamp and, again, a bell to call the spa butler. (We could get used to this.) If you can be bothered to get up, however, help yourself to drinks and snacks from a table in the centre.

The Lanesborough Club and Spa also has a rather grand manicure and pedicure suite, a VIP suite with a rasul and, if you're lucky enough to be a member, a private lounge and fitness suite with classes run by Bodyism.

We tried the Lanesborough Lather treatment (90 minutes, £230), an indulgent Turkish-inspired body ritual including a scrub, rasul and massage.

Aneta, my therapist, met me in the spa lounge and led me through to the large and rather grand VIP suite. We talked through the treatment before she left the room so that I could get comfortable on the treatment bed. The treatment began with some deep breathing and a foot cleanse.

Aneta rhythmically brushed my legs with a body brush; she followed this with a cool black soap which she massaged in with warm mitts. She repeated this on my back and arms; it felt wonderfully refreshing. When I turned over, Aneta placed a herbal compress over my eyes and repeated the same process on my front.

Aneta then treated my face to an exfoliator, a herbal-scented serum and a hydrating mask. While this set, Aneta asked me to sit up so that she could apply some thick mineral mud to my back (which I couldn't reach). She then showed me through to the rasul and asked me to apply the same mud all over my body. After ten minutes, I stepped into a shower and washed off the mud. Immediately, my skin felt much softer.

The final stage of this treatment is an indulgent full body massage using The Lanesborough's own Body Balm, which contains arnica to soothe tense muscles. Aneta's expert touch continued into a delightful head massage which felt incredibly comforting.

After coming around slowly, my mind felt supremely relaxed, while my body felt revitalised; my face sported a post-holiday glow. I floated back to the spa lounge and curled up on a reclining armchair with a pot of peppermint tea.

The Lanesborough Club and Spa offers a range of La Prairie facials and massages, wraps and scrubs using ila and the Lanesborough's own-brand products. All therapist are trained by renowned facialist Anastasia Achilleos method; you can even book in for a treatment with the lady herself. For post-spa preening, book in for a mani/pedi, beauty finishing touches, or even a blow dry in the Daniel Galvin Junior salon.

You can eat lunch in your robe in either the glamorous spa restaurant or the spa lounge. The menu is deliciously healthy with a variety of salads and hot dishes on offer, such as courgette spaghetti or coconut dhal. There are options for breakfast and plenty of smoothies and sweet treats, too.

Our light and refreshing tuna and avocado salad served with a pot of The Lanesborough signature tea was just what the doctor ordered. Before leaving, we ordered a deliciously sweet Pink Royal Smoothie to go which was packed full of berries, banana and honey, and, rather impressively, served in a paper cup with a paper straw.

We loved

The customer service: Summon a member of staff at the push of a button.

The art-deco-inspired design: Every single room has the wow factor.

The peace and quiet: We had the thermal facilities to ourselves for most of our visit.

We didn't love

There isn't much not to love but, if we had to be picky, we would love it if the steam room was scented. 

Anyone in need of peace and quiet: Despite being in central London, The Lanesborough is a wonderful place to escape to for some quiet time.

Lucky locals who can make the most of a membership here… if only we lived nearby.

Ladies of a certain age will love the results-driven La Prairie and Anastasia Achilleos facials.

We awarded The Lanesborough Club and Spa a Good Spa Guide Bubble rating of Five Bubble Luxury. This is an exclusive, private and supremely relaxing spa where you're treated like a VIP. The customer service is outstanding, the results-driven treatments excellent, the facilities top-notch, and the food healthy and tasty. If only we could move in.

Scarlet Spy visited in June 2018 and awarded it 5 Bubble Luxury.