Review of Dao Spa, Victoria

Dao Spa, Victoria - 4 bubbles

Perfectly positioned to de-stress London commuters, these smart and men-friendly treatment rooms offer authentic and effective therapies. Dao is a small spa so sensibly concentrates on a small range of Eastern-inspired well-being treatments, all delivered with professionalism and providing good value for money.

First impressions?

How did they welcome you?

What happens next?

Which treatments did you have?

What were the treatments like?

How did you feel afterwards?

What happens afterwards?

Long-term effects

Was it worth it?

What else could you have?

What do you wish you'd known before you went?

Who do you think would like it?

Why did you give the spa this rating?

Would you go again?

First impressions?

Dao is about two minutes up Buckingham Palace Road from Victoria station, a good stop-off on the way to an exhibition at Buck House perhaps (if they've overlooked you for the garden party again). Easy to miss, as the signs are very discreet. I was just walking past the shop-window frontage when I saw the name on the windows: a very sober dark brown look.

How did they welcome you?

Very efficiently. Pak To (Adrian) Cheng, the manager, was in the ground-floor reception area, and greeted me by name when I had barely got one foot in the door. Adrian is a capable and friendly host in a smart suit, well-versed in a kind of old-school courtesy and charm.

What happens next?

Adrian led me downstairs to the treatment area. It's a low-ceilinged suite of basement rooms, dominated by a relaxation area with very comfortable, broad, leather-upholstered chairs (like Business Class airline seats), with narrow side-tables dividing them, on which were piled some very elderly magazines (quite a few from 2007). Globe lighting on the spaces between the chairs changes colour in a restfully fascinating way.

There is a kitchen area just off the relaxation area, into which various members of staff kept retreating, and where Adrian made me a pot of Japanese green tea. The tea came on a little bamboo tray with a thick earthenware cup. The tea was malty and very smoky, a little like the scent of tea-smoked tuna, but very relaxing, too. I had arrived quite early, so I read my paper and drank a couple of cups of tea. I was not given a consultation form to fill in.

Which treatments did you have?

The Thai yoga massage (60 minutes, £55; 90 minutes, £75).

What were the treatments like?

This was my first ever yoga massage, so naturally I was a little hazy as to what it would involve. Katya, my masseur, explained to me that yoga massage is an interactive process that involves a great deal of extension of the muscles, as well as pressure, and that I might well feel a little achey afterwards. Katya left me to change into a white T-shirt and a pair of altogether fetching beige "Thai fisherman's trousers", a little like a judo costume. They come halfway down the lower leg, are quite voluminous around your bum to allow plenty of room to move, and you tie them loosely around your waist.

The treatment room was a grey windowless cell, extremely quiet, and with candles dotted about the floor. In the centre of the floor was a large mat, with a folded towel as a headrest. Muzak played, but there were no other accoutrements. No lotions, oils or water. This is as pared-down as body treatments get.

Katya has trained in Thailand. In the early stages of the treatment, she explained that the principles of the massage are thought to date back as far as the time of the Buddha himself, Prince Siddhartha Gautama, whose personal physician treated him in much this way. The manipulations and stretches of the various muscle groups are designed to balance the body's qi, as well as put them to work in ways they don't normally do so.

I lost count of all the positions I was grappled into -- there must have been well over a hundred -- but suffice to say this was one of the most extraordinary and deeply satisfying treatments I have ever had. Katya has astonishing levels of physical strength. By the end of the treatment, she looked quite exhausted, and yet had another client only minutes afterwards.

Just occasionally, the extension or compression positions were grimacingly difficult, but not often. Most of the time, it was actually entirely heartening to find that I could still press my upper leg flat to my chest, and then rotate it, or be pinioned in a kind of arm-lock face down, and then raise the whole upper part of my body off the floor. There is an exhilarating mixture of muscle workout and massage in the routine, but even the massage is nothing like ordinary deep-tissue massage, involving as it does a sort of bullying pressure along the lines of the muscles, pulling them and spreading them laterally.

I was amazed at the end to find I didn't feel any aches or strains anywhere but, sitting ramrod-straight and cross-legged, I felt supremely supple. Katya told me I had a very flexible body, which was in itself a wholly joyous and unexpected discovery.

How did you feel afterwards?

Supple, relaxed, very grounded, and just damn good about myself.

What happens afterwards?

Katya left. I got dressed again, and went back to the relaxation area, where Adrian reappeared to ask how I'd found the whole experience. I could happily have sat there for another hour, drinking water, now feeling very slightly trembly but very "treated".

Long-term effects

There's a definite suppleness and sinuousness about my movements. If I still went out clubbing, I'd be having a blast on the dance floor.

Was it worth it?

Every penny.

What else could you have?

Dao offers a good range of 30-minute treatments: ideal for office workers. You could make the most of your lunch hour or try a treatment after work. In 30 minutes, you can have reflexology, Indian head massage, and head and shoulder massage, as well as Tui Na.

If you've more time, you can indulge in the blissful sounding Japanese hot stone therapy or the more traditional Swedish and deep-tissue massages. You can also have Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture (which includes a consultation to determine what you want to achieve from your treatment) and cupping, which is believed to stimulate the flow of blood, lymph and energy.

What do you wish you'd known before you went?

I'd no real idea what to expect from Thai yoga massage, but that actually made the experience all the more surprising and satisfying.

Who do you think would like it?

Stressed London commuters; the spa is open until 8pm, so time for a treatment before your train home. Anybody who's into Eastern spirituality. Dao offers a distinctly more male atmosphere than most spas or treatment rooms. And they sell smart boxer shorts upstairs, too.

Why did you give the spa this rating?

We gave Dao 4 bubbles. Really, though, Dao is a 4-bubble spa with 5-bubble treatments. This was the second time we'd been invited to visit, and the Tui Na experience we had first time round was equally authentic, effective and well worth the price. The facilities at Dao are quite Spartan-looking in the eastern way, but that suits the treatments. Just don't expect any gyms or pools. The chairs in the relaxation area are luxuriously squashy, but essentially Dao doesn't offer a pampery ambience.

See more on how we rate the spas

Would you go again?

Definitely. My working life treats me to rather more of Victoria station than anybody really needs so, if I have time before my train, I can imagine nipping in for a yoga massage on the way home.

We visited Dao Spa in April 2010

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