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Chuan Spa at the Langham Hotel, Regent Street - 4 bubbles
Europe's first Chuan Spa (there are several throughout the world) is in the five-star Langham hotel in central London. Offering treatments based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. This spa will appeal if you're looking for some Eastern ambience in central London, alongside a gym, dramatically different heat experiences, and a swimming pool (with chandeliers).
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?
Any special features?
Who do you think would like it?
Why did you give the spa this rating?
Would you go again?
First impressions?
The Langham is a London institution, a grand dowager of a hotel on Regent Street, all very grand. I was reminded quite how grand in the entrance lobby, which is all marble and chandeliers.
The spa is at the back of the building, and, in fact, has its own separate entrance on the corner of Cavendish Place. On reflection, if you are not staying in the hotel, this is the way to go. On further reflection, this might be the way to go even if you are staying in the hotel. The journey through the hotel involved going upstairs, along corridors, down in a lift, and I had to be rescued and pointed in the right direction when the signs ran out.
On arrival, though, I found myself in a high-ceilinged room with chandeliers, and a Chinese-style wooden wall enclosing some white recliners.
How did they welcome you?
Efficiently. Perhaps a little too efficiently. A black-uniformed member of staff took my name, located my appointment, and escorted me to a lounger area where I filled in a consultation form and a questionnaire.
The spa's signature treatments are based on the five Traditional Chinese Medicine elements: fire, earth, water, metal and wood. The idea (briefly summarised here) is that these elements have to be in harmony within your body for your physical and emotional well-being. To determine which elements you need to harmonise, you fill in that short questionnaire. This enquires: "Which season do you prefer the most?" and "Which colour do you prefer?", for example. The question that exercised me severely was: "Do you have a tendency to...?" with the options being: shout, laugh, sing, cry, groan. I spent a few moments considering whether I had done more shouting or groaning in the past week.
While I was contemplating, I was served a cup of "metal" tea, which was the "element of the day". I would love to have known why. Questionnaire complete, a member of staff took me down the stairs, past the gym, and into the women's changing room.
The changing room is small at first glance, as tall lockers with a small wooden bench beneath are ranged on three sides round a central marbled mirror column, which is also home to the hairdryers. With several people using the mirrors, it felt very compact. I squeezed through to my locker. Inside nestled a robe, towelling slippers, and a multitude of small pink cardboard boxes, containing everything you might ever need or want at a spa: comb, shaving kit, dental kit, cotton buds and pads, and a loofah. Lovely.
The changing rooms open out beyond the lockers, into an area with hand-basins on another marble slab, an empty refrigerator (what on earth for?), showers, a small sauna and a steam room. Although the spa was very new when I visited, there was some water damage to the ceiling by the steam room, which was a shame. There were plenty of fluffy white towels on shelves, and more pink boxes, should you run out.
Once she had allocated me a locker, the member of staff left. I was a bit bemused, as I didn't know where to find the pool or heat experiences, so decided to start with the gym. At least I knew where that was.
What happens next?
I changed into my trainers and worked out how to lock my electronic locker. The gym is a reasonably sized light and bright room, with Technogym cardio and resistance equipment. You can enjoy running, cross-training and cycling, and there are also free weights. I cycled away, particularly enjoying the variety of magazines on offer. A tray of headphones (clean) and another tray (used) mean that you can enjoy your accompanying audio experience hygienically.
Emerging from the gym and looking for some water, I encountered a member of staff by a bank of refrigerators containing bottles of water and fruit juice. I enquired where I should go when it was treatment time and was pointed upstairs. "There's also a pool, you know," she suddenly said, pointing to some glass doors. I had known that, but no-one had shown me where it was. Now that I knew, I helped myself to a bottle of water (not just any old water, mind, but Isklar, Norwegian glacial mineral water!) and went to the changing rooms to don my swimsuit.
It was only on the way back past the refrigerators to the pool that I noticed a sign on one of the doors announcing that all bottled beverages would be charged at £4. I think this is a bit of a cheek as water is the one thing you need on a spa day; I've never had to pay for it before.
The pool itself is very enjoyable; it's down a flight of stairs into what used to be a bank vault but, if you're staying in the Langham, you can also take the lift directly down to the pool level. The 16-metre pool is freshly done in blue mosaic with a dramatic, cascading light feature above. There is a shower you can use to rinse yourself before bathing, but it's not always used, I can report. A sign might prompt more take-up. The pool definitely has the feel of a swimming rather than leisure pool; there are some chairs where you can park your towels, but no loungers. These, you find upstairs, which I did, after my sensible swim.
The loungers are through another glass door in a separate thermal area. The two ceramic-tiled heated loungers accompany a vitality pool (like a large Jacuzzi with bubbling jets) and, my favourite, a Himalayan rock salt sauna. The sauna is fairly small, but nicely hot, and the intense orange light behind the rock crystals is pretty mesmerising.
I completed my thermal experiences with visits to the sauna and steam room back in the changing rooms, pausing only to show another frazzled soul how to work the lockers. The heat experiences were suitably hot, and the steam room has a bubbling fountain to calm the mind, as well as twinkly lights of different colours. Nothing puts me in the mood for spa more than a bit of steam and twinkly lights. The showers have various pressure options, and have conditioner as well as soap and shampoo (a boon for all of us with long hair).
I had no idea what the spa's policy was on what to wear for the treatment, and no-one had told me, so I put on my underwear and robe, and went upstairs, to the loungers beneath the chandeliers, to wait. Each lounger has a side-table, on which rests, in a coloured silk bag, a personal set of headphones. Very stylish.
I attempted to immerse myself in a state of contemplative calm by listening to some birdsong or waves through my headphones. Unfortunately, they didn't work. At that moment, my therapist, James, arrived, did some investigating, and found they didn't work for him, either.
Now, I have had many, many spa treatments. I know that therapists are fully trained in the art of professional draping, so that my modesty will be preserved at all times. So, I had no problem with a male therapist. However, if you are not comfortable with this, simply state your preference on booking, when your therapist is confirmed.
James took me through a wooden door, where a calm corridor with a Buddha contains the treatment rooms. I was very attracted to the one marked "Heaven". The treatment room itself was dimly lit, decorated in neutral tones, and all neat and clean.
Which treatments did you have?
I had the Chuan Spa signature Harmony Massage (60 minutes, £90).
What were the treatments like?
Interesting and challenging. Your treatment is customised to your "element". After scrutinising my questionnaire, James pronounced that I needed "water", so he would concentrate on areas to do with my bladder and kidneys. Hmmm.
I would have liked more "story-telling" here. What are the five elements? What does needing "water" mean? What was in the "water" oil that I was going to be massaged with? Chuan Spa has such a distinct and different approach to its treatments that it would have been a good idea for someone in the spa to put those treatments in context. But I got no explanation from anyone at any stage along the journey.
The treatment itself was excellent, a full-body oil massage using a variety of gentle and strong pressure techniques designed to "stimulate meridian harmony". I very much enjoyed the relaxation effect. James was careful to avoid areas that were sensitive to strong touch, but I appreciated the power of touch where it was needed. The heated treatment table also made me deliciously warm.
I had hopped onto the treatment table wearing my bra and pants, as I had received no other instructions (and had not been consulted about disposable underwear, as is usual in an all-over massage, to prevent the oil getting onto your clothes). So, when it came to massaging my shoulders, James had to ask me to pull down my bra straps ("for better access to your trapezius"). And when I turned onto my front for the back massage, he had to undo my bra strap.
When I had to come back to earth, James told me to dress in my own time and to make my way to "contemplation corner". Where? I could only assume that this was the lounger area again.
How did you feel afterwards?
A lot less tense. Nicely balanced. Ready for the world.
What happens afterwards?
I went through to the "contemplation corner" as instructed, and attempted some contemplating. James brought me a tray with a teapot, a cup, and a plum, and informed me that the headphones were now working. The tea was refreshing. My contemplation was marred, however, by a merry conversation echoing from the floor downstairs, and the street door just behind me opening and closing as people came in and out to enquire about appointments. There wasn't any birdsong or waves on the various headphone channels, either, to drown out the ambient sound. As the contemplation corner is the area where people are collected for treatments, too, the atmosphere did not encourage me to linger.
Long-term effects
The massage left me feeling a lot lighter and brighter.
Was it worth it?
The treatment prices are about average for central London, but the more exotic therapies are correspondingly more expensive.
What else could you have?
A wide variety of massages. As well as the signature massages based on the five elements, you can try Chinese massage, Thai massage, or deep-tissue massage. You can also have Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments, including acupuncture, cupping and moxibustion.
Also on the menu are facials using Thalgo and Babor products, wraps, scrubs, hydrotherapies, and hand and foot therapies (the Chuan "reflex remedy" sounds particularly appealing, drawing on reflexology and pressure-point principles).
There are specific treatments for men, and a separate couples suite you can book to spa in privacy.
Although the emphasis on wellness, you can also enjoy "manicare", "pedicare", waxing and specific beauty treatments ("with extractions").
What do you wish you'd known before you went?
To demand a tour of the spa. But I shouldn't have had to ask.
Any special features?
The Himalayan rock salt sauna is definitely worth a visit. Very unusual for central London.
Who do you think would like it?
Fans of Eastern wisdom: Chuan Spa is the first hotel spa in London to incorporate Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into its signature treatments, its approach and its ambience.
Langham guests, obviously.
Anyone who wants to private relaxation time; this is a spa in which you can feel very comfortable alone.
Why did you give the spa this rating?
We gave Chuan Spa 4 bubbles because the facilities are excellent, the treatments original and professional, and the spa is distinctively different. What kept the spa from a perfect 5? The lack of a coherent customer journey. My day did not feel like "a serene course of water" but as if I were bouncing along haphazardly from a cup of "metal" tea, to sauna, to pool, to treatment without any explanation or shepherding. If the spa can get the customer care right, it will be a destination in its own right.
See more on how we rate the spas.
Would you go again?
Certainly. After all, I know what to expect now.
We visited Chuan Spa in April 2011.
See also:
* Contact details for Chuan Spa
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