5 quirky spas and treatments to try

When the steam room is so hot you need a felt hat to protect your head, you know you’re in for something different. Banya is becoming more popular in the UK with a Parenie Ritual – where semi-clad men brush your skin with bunches of eucalyptus leaves in a super-hot steam room before encouraging you to jump into a cold plunge pool – appealing to the ‘been-there-done-that spa-goer. When it comes to refreshments, Banya No. 1 Hoxton's retro booths are perfect for a pot of sea buckthorn tea or a beetroot juice – there’s also European largers and Champagne available to celebrate your bravery (and new-found euphoria).

Re:Treat beyond massages and facials with a plethora of unusual treatments and experiences to try, including their cutting-edge Somadome Meditation Pod. Simply choose your track of choice (be it bouncy to feel energised or tranquil to feel soothed), slip into the chair, pop the earphones on and be transported beyond the spa’s light and airy reception area with its central Manchester views. The beats target specific areas of the brain that affect mood, attention and sensory perception to put you in your desired state of mind. Not your thing? Re:Treat at The Lowry also offers Cryotherapy, hormone testing, doggy yoga and vitamin infusions.

Anybody who has watched the movie Hidden Figures will appreciate the benefit of looking beyond the numbers (in this case to send an astronaut to space). Numerology explores a world where numbers are more than digits, believing them to influence a person’s life and destiny. Simply write down your birthday as a series of numbers, add them up and keep adding until you arrive at a single digit – this is your life path number. To find out what this all means, book a 50-minute Numerology treatment with a specialist practitioner at Ragdale Hall Spa and reveal your personality traits and potential life paths. Fascinating stuff.

If you are dreaming of sunnier climes but don’t have the time or budget – we hear you – whisk yourself to SenSpa at Careys Manor, the most extensive Thai spa in the UK with 22,000 sq ft of space to feel like you’re on holiday in. As well as Thai therapists, all the treatments on the extensive menu are designed around traditional Thai rituals, including Thai massages, Prana (a mind-calming massage) and Shakti (polish, wrap, massage). After relaxing in the extensive thermal suite – with its hydrotherapy pool, five heat rooms and experience showers – head to The Zen Garden for a zingy Pad Thai washed down with a Singha beer.

If ever there was a spa that channels the power of plants it’s The Greenhouse Spa at The Elms Hotel. This botanical oasis - with earthy tones, rustic wood, wicker baskets, leafy designs and foliage – creeps across the entire space, from the manicure stations to the treatment rooms (even the mirrors and sinks haven’t been spared). If plants aren’t drooping down or climbing up, they’re scattered about the floor in pots, urns and vases. But it’s the pool area that gives the spa its name, with those planters hanging from the exposed wooden vaulted ceiling, coupled with large windows, giving greenhouse feels as you swim.