London’s 12 Best Spas

From the Turkish baths of Bayswater and Islington to candlelit pools off the Strand, a wood-fired sauna in Hackney Wick and the great hotel spas of Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Whitehall: twelve London spas, what each does best and what to book, every detail checked on the spa’s own website.

London keeps its best spas out of sight. They lie beneath the great hotels of Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Whitehall, on a rooftop above Park Lane, behind the doors of a 1929 bathhouse on Queensway, in the house where Peter Pan was written and in a car park in Hackney Wick. Most are a short ride from one another, so a free afternoon is all you need.

The traditions are as varied as the city. Two public baths keep the Turkish sequence of warm, hot and hottest rooms; a hammam scrub can be had with black soap on a heated slab or on a bed of pink onyx; candlelit pools at different temperatures follow the Roman pattern; and wood-fired saunas with cold plunges bring the Nordic habit to East London. The grand hotels add their own: recovery suites with ice baths, guided heat-and-water circuits and facials by Guerlain and Dr. Barbara Sturm.

Turkish hot rooms of 1929, candlelit pools off the Strand and a 25-metre pool in Vicenza stone: all a short ride apart.

We chose these twelve for what each does best, and checked every detail on the spa’s own website. The hotel spas suit a long, quiet afternoon, and most open their pools and heat to visitors who book a treatment; the Turkish baths suit a slow morning at an everyday price; the sauna in Hackney Wick suits an evening with friends. Each entry says which, and what to book.

At a glance

1. Claridge’s Spa · Mayfair · Grand-hotel spa · An André Fu pool and a hammam on a heated onyx bed

2. Porchester Spa · Bayswater · Turkish baths · Warm, hot and hottest rooms in a building of 1929

3. The Bvlgari Spa · Knightsbridge · Hotel spa and recovery · A 25-metre pool in Vicenza stone and a gold-mosaic vitality pool

4. AIRE Ancient Baths · Strand · Thermal baths · Candlelit pools in J.M. Barrie’s former home

5. Mandarin Oriental · Knightsbridge · Hotel spa by the park · Amethyst crystal steam room and a 17-metre pool

6. Guerlain Spa · Whitehall · Hotel spa over four floors · A 20-metre pool under a double-height ceiling

7. Ironmonger Row Baths · Old Street · Turkish baths and hammam · Tepidarium, caldarium, laconium and ice fountains

8. Biome · Whitehall · Hotel thermal floor · A guided heat-and-water journey and a nutritionist’s menu

9. The Peninsula · Belgravia · Hotel spa · Seven treatment rooms and a 25-metre pool with underwater music

10. Four Seasons · Park Lane · Rooftop spa · Glass-walled treatment rooms above Hyde Park

11. The Lanesborough · Hyde Park Corner · Members’ club spa · A hydrotherapy pool and a rasul for two

12. Community Sauna Baths · Hackney Wick · Not-for-profit sauna · Six wood-fired saunas and cold plunges at 3–15°C

1. Claridge’s Spa

Best for: A quiet, beautifully made spa beneath Claridge’s, in the heart of Mayfair.

The setting: The spa lies below Claridge’s on Brook Street, a short walk from Bond Street station. Its electrolyte-rich pool, designed by André Fu, sits under a multi-vaulted ceiling between stone columns, with private cabanas alongside for reading or doing nothing at all.

Heat, water and treatments: Separate saunas in the ladies’ and gentlemen’s changing suites are lined in warm timber beneath a sculpted ceiling of curved panels, pricked with points of light. There are steam rooms and seven treatment rooms, each with its own bathroom. Book a treatment of 90 minutes or more and you have up to two hours in the pool and heat beforehand.

What to book: The hammam ritual on the heated pink onyx bed: aromatic steam, a charcoal detox, a scrub with the traditional kese mitt, then a body mask and hair cleanse. Every treatment opens with a foot ceremony using koji and closes with the sound of bells, a nod to the Japanese incense ceremony of Koh-do; the facials are by Dr. Barbara Sturm and 111SKIN.

2. Porchester Spa

Best for: London’s Turkish-bath tradition, in rooms that have barely changed since 1929.

The setting: The spa is part of the Porchester Centre on Queensway, a Grade II* listed building. Restored by Everyone Active and Westminster City Council, it keeps the original features of 1929, and calls itself “London’s oldest spa”: stone walls, globe lamps, chequered floors and a sunken plunge pool.

Heat, water and treatments: The heart of it is the Turkish sequence of dry hot rooms: the Tepidarium (warm), the Caldarium (hot) and the Laconium (hottest). Around them are two steam rooms at about 50°C and 70% humidity, a wood-lined sauna that reaches 92°C, the plunge pool, a relaxation lounge and a café. The steam rooms and sauna are for over-18s.

What to book: The bathing itself: move slowly from warm to hottest, cool off in the plunge pool, rest, and go round again. Massages and facials are booked with the spa’s therapists. Book your day ahead on the Everyone Active app or website (up to five days in advance) and bring your own towels.

3. The Bvlgari Spa

Best for: Italian stone, what the hotel calls “the most dramatic private pool complex in central London”, and serious recovery technology.

The setting: Designed by ACPV Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, the spa at the Bvlgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge, is clad in onyx, oak and Vicenza stone, the stone the hotel links to the Italian architecture of Palladio.

Heat, water and treatments: The 25-metre colonnaded pool has loungers and cabanas; beside it, the vitality pool’s massage jets play under tiny tiles of gold-leaf glass that recall the Byzantine mosaics of Venice and Ravenna. A Recovery Suite with an ice bath, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a Zerobody dry float sit alongside the Private Onyx Suite, which has its own steam room, an oversized Hydro Tub and a treatment room.

What to book: The Thermal Activation Reset Ritual, which begins with 30 minutes in the Recovery Suite (sauna heat, cold immersion and breathwork, led by a WORKSHOP trainer) before the treatment. The Advanced Clinic adds non-surgical skin treatments such as LED therapy and radio frequency.

4. AIRE Ancient Baths London

Best for: Candlelit thermal bathing in near silence, a few minutes from Covent Garden.

The setting: AIRE’s London baths are at 2–3 Robert Street, between the Strand and the river, in the former home of J.M. Barrie, where, AIRE tells us, he lived and wrote Peter Pan. Bare brick, whitewash and candlelight do the rest.

Heat, water and treatments: A circuit of baths at different temperatures, taken at your own pace. Every massage and ritual includes the thermal tour. Swimwear is compulsory (the baths will lend you some), and towels and non-slip shoes are provided.

What to book: AIRE’s Signature Wine Experience is on the London menu; for a first visit, a baths-only session is the simplest way in.

5. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

Best for: A polished hotel spa on the edge of Hyde Park, with English rituals on the menu.

The setting: The spa is in Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, and asks you to switch off your phone and leave it in your locker: the whole place is run for quiet.

Heat, water and treatments: The heat and water are gender-specific: an Amethyst Crystal Steam Room, a sauna, a vitality pool and a Zen Colour Therapy relaxation area. They are yours with a treatment of at least 1 hour 30 minutes from Monday to Thursday, or 2 hours from Friday to Sunday; book two hours or more and the hotel’s 17-metre pool is included too.

What to book: From the spa’s Essence of London menu, the English Rose Poultice Massage, which begins with a foot ritual; or Restorative Hot Stones. Arrive 45 minutes early: late arrivals do not get extra time.

6. Guerlain Spa, Raffles London at The OWO

Best for: A big, modern spa in a Whitehall landmark, with Paris skincare.

The setting: Guerlain Spa spans 27,000 square feet and four floors of The OWO on Whitehall. Guerlain, the Paris beauty house founded in 1828, created its treatments for this hotel alone, and its atelier on the ground floor offers express treatments and fragrance.

Heat, water and treatments: A 20-metre pool under a double-height ceiling; a vitality pool, sauna, steam rooms and experience showers; and one single and two double VIP suites, each with private showers and a soaking tub. The spa is open every day of the year.

What to book: The Royal Glow Tech Facial, developed for Raffles London, which pairs microdermabrasion with photo-biomodulation light therapy; or Spirit of London, a Raffles London exclusive aimed at the tensions of travel.

7. Ironmonger Row Baths

Best for: Historic Turkish baths at an everyday price, near Old Street.

The setting: Spa Experience runs the spa inside Ironmonger Row Baths in Islington, which it describes as one of London’s oldest Turkish baths. Many of the building’s historical features were restored when the spa was renewed.

Heat, water and treatments: Saunas, aroma steam rooms and the Turkish rooms (Tepidarium, Caldarium and Laconium), with ice fountains, monsoon and bucket showers, a plunge pool, a hammam and a relaxation lounge.

What to book: A hammam scrub on the heated slab: the Black Soap Cleanse, a Moroccan black-soap and kessa-glove exfoliation, or the gentler Tranquility Scrub. Both need a thermal-spa booking and swimwear. Some sessions are single-sex, so check the time you book.

8. Biome by Corinthia London

Best for: A guided thermal circuit and food that is part of the treatment.

The setting: Biome is Corinthia London’s new spa, on a thermal floor of the hotel off Whitehall Place: dark stone, low light and a fire beside the water. Its lounge has booths and a menu created with registered public-health nutritionist Dr Federica Amati.

Heat, water and treatments: The Heat & Water Circuit brings together warm pools, steam and dry heat. It is open to hotel guests, and to visitors who book a treatment of 60 minutes or more, a Day Spa Experience or a Spa Experience Pass.

What to book: Biome Guided Heat & Water Therapy: 30 minutes in which a Biome curator takes you through priming, steam, sauna, plunge and rest. Treatments use Wildsmith Skin, the British brand inspired by trees.

9. The Peninsula Spa & Wellness Centre

Best for: Hotel guests and anyone curious about the newest longevity treatments.

The setting: The spa occupies the quiet lower floors of The Peninsula London at 1 Grosvenor Place, beside Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch.

Heat, water and treatments: Separate steam rooms and saunas for men and women, a relaxation lounge with heated loungers and seven treatment rooms, one of them for couples. Hotel guests also have the 25-metre indoor pool, with underwater speakers and illuminated overhead panels.

What to book: The Ricari Method, available in London only here: non-invasive, technology-led treatments for circulation, lymph flow and skin tone, tailored to the day (after a flight, before an event). The menu also includes rituals with Ayurvedic aromatherapy.

10. The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane

Best for: Daylight and views: the rooftop spa above Hyde Park.

The setting: The spa sits on the roof of Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, looking over Hyde Park and Westminster. The treatment rooms have floor-to-ceiling glass, and most have their own relaxation pod.

Heat, water and treatments: Two skylit vitality pools and windowed saunas for men and women, with nine treatment rooms. The Sky Suite, a double, has 180-degree views, a private steam shower and its own dressing and relaxation rooms.

What to book: The Sky Suite for two; or Sound Bath Serenity, a two-hour session with Sahana Sound that includes the spa facilities.

11. The Lanesborough Club & Spa

Best for: A hydrotherapy pool, a rasul for two and spa days with lunch.

The setting: The Lanesborough’s private members’ health club, at 2 Lanesborough Place by Hyde Park Corner, opens to the hotel’s guests and to anyone booking a spa day. A relaxation lounge leads to four treatment rooms and a double suite with its own shower and rasul.

Heat, water and treatments: Thermal suites beside the men’s and women’s changing rooms, with saunas, steam rooms and rain showers, lead to a mixed hydrotherapy pool with massage jets.

What to book: The spa day for two: a private steam rasul with warm mud, a 60-minute full-body massage, then a two-course lunch in the Club & Spa Restaurant. Selected treatments can be booked for 16- and 17-year-olds with an adult.

12. Community Sauna Baths, Hackney Wick

Best for: A sociable evening of sauna and cold plunge, run as a not-for-profit.

The setting: A not-for-profit, born in 2021 in the car park of Eastway Baths, 80 Eastway: wooden saunas, plants, a sunroom and, by its own account, almost as many cats as saunas.

Heat, water and treatments: Six wood-fired saunas and one electric, with cold plunges from 3°C to 15°C, whisky barrels among them. Sessions are booked by time, and the programme adds traditional aufguss, sound baths and breathwork; massage is offered on site.

What to book: A standard session: two or three rounds of heat and cold, as the baths suggest, with rests in between. Bring swimwear, two towels and a padlock.

Our advice

Our advice: book ahead, and look at the length of your treatment, since it often decides your time in the heat and water: at least 1 hour 30 minutes on weekdays and 2 hours at weekends at the Mandarin Oriental, 90 minutes at Claridge’s, 60 minutes at Biome. Arrive early (the Mandarin Oriental asks for 45 minutes) and expect the phone to stay in your locker; at AIRE it is not allowed at all. Pack swimwear for AIRE, the hammam at Ironmonger Row and the saunas in Hackney Wick, and your own towels for the Porchester. The Mandarin Oriental and the Porchester’s steam rooms and sauna are for over-18s. New to heat and cold? Two or three rounds, with a rest between each, is plenty.