Mandarin Oriental, Knightsbridge - 5 bubbles

A couple of hours at The Mandarin Oriental chased away our reviewer's post-shopping headache and put the spring back in her step. It's spa perfection within easy reach of Harvey Nicks!

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"I was very fortunate to be bought vouchers for the Time Ritual as a birthday gift from my fiancée. And what a fabulous present it was! For any guys reading this if you want to gain serious brownie points this is the way to go...for the ladies I would start dropping hints now! I absolutely loved everything about it and thought it was by far the best spa experience I have ever had (certainly in the UK).
Before my actual treatments started I used the pool, steam room and sauna. This was a really lovely relaxing start and would highly recommend that you arrive early enough to be able to do this ahead of your treatments. I was booked in for 4pm on a Saturday afternoon but I was the only one using these facilities at that time. In fact I only saw a couple of other ladies during my whole visit. This allows for a real sense of calm and of course privacy.
My therapist was superb (sorry can't remember her name) – I wish I could have regular treatments with her. My treatment started with the foot ritual (cleansing of the feet) during which she discussed my needs and how I was feeling physically and emotionally in order to help determine which treatments would be best for me. I was very impressed that she had been informed that when I made the booking I had mentioned that the day of the treatments would be 2 weeks before my wedding. Needless to say I had been extremely busy & stressed and was really in need of some pampering ahead of the big day. The treatments prescribed for me were a full body exfoliation, a fully body massage followed by a mini facial during which I also had a scalp massage. OMG – it was amazing. I didn't want it to end!
I had always been sceptical of professional exfoliations thinking that it was something that I could easily do myself but this was amazing. The salt scrub was so thoroughly applied and my skin was left beautifully soft. After the exfoliation I took a shower to remove all traces of the product. The shower room was beautiful, spacious etc – no plastic clingy shower curtain here! The full body massage was amazing. She really focussed on my problem areas – very tight shoulders & water rention/poor circulation in my lower body. I can't quite describe how good this massage was....I just didn't want it to end.
After my treatments were finished I was led down to the relaxation area where I was encouraged to stay for as long as possible. I munched on some fruit and drank lots of water. Wrapped myself up in the blanket and couldn't believe the pure bliss of it all!
This is an expensive spa but the quality is so far above anything else that I would say it is really worth it. The results were visible – my skin looked refreshed, my fine lines had disappeared (temporarily) and I felt truly relaxed. The staff are all truly professional, very knowledgeable & skilled. If only I could return there on a regular basis! My now husband is very chuffed with himself for this getting me a gift that brought me so much pleasure...hopefully so chuffed that he'll repeat it again one day!"