A sparkling experience at the Malvern Spa

By Herefordshire Life on January 20th 2012

Oh bliss! The chance to forget about deadlines and relax in the heady aroma of essential oils as I am massaged from head to foot by expert hands – it doesn’t get much better than this.

In fact, I’ve never stretched to a head-to-toe massage before (previously choosing, when I have decided to treat myself, the less extravagant back, neck and shoulder option). However, all that has changed thanks to my trip to the Malvern Spa, where my partner and I enjoyed a day of pampering which we intend to repeat.

This modern, airy spa complex is the perfect place to relax and unwind and get away from the hurly burly of real life (which comes right up to the door, as the spa, complete with hotel, health club and restaurant, is smack bang in the middle of a business park). But from the moment you step into the reception, you change down a gear. Before that, even. The voice on the options menu message when you ring to book your appointment is, in itself, strangely soporific!

I choose a 60-minute full body bespoke massage with fine massage oils from the exclusive REN range and ask that it should be designed, in particular, to relieve stress. My therapist uses the gorgeously-scented Moroccan Rose otto oil and it truly smelt heavenly, soothing and uplifting at the same time. I didn’t realise how tight my neck muscles were until she got to work on them. But it’s an indication of how relaxed I am by the end of the session that, when she starts on my feet, where I would normally be writhing in ticklish agony, I am so laid back I didn’t even murmur.

This one-hour treatment is wonderful in itself and leaves me feeling very fragrant, but for an even more luxurious treat, I notice that the Malvern Spa also offers a 90-minute REN Moroccan Rose Ritual which includes rose scrub to buff away dead dull skin before your massage and rose body cream applied all over your skin afterwards. You’d certainly come up smelling of roses.

Left to relax after my treatment, draped in a warm towel and drifting off to the lilting tones of the obligatory calming music, my eyes are suddenly drawn to a pile of different sized bamboo canes in the corner of the room and I remember that I could have opted for an entirely different experience. It’s not something I have come across before, but apparently, a powerful bamboo massage would relieve stress, strengthen my muscles, drain my lymphatic system and reactivate my circulation.

Alternatively, I could opt for a hot stones massage, where volcanic stones are worked along the spine, shoulders and back to help ease and soothe away any tension or aching muscles. Or maybe I could have a guilt-free chocoholic treat with the spa’s new chocolate back therapy – a body scrub and massage with dead sea salts, essential oils and warm 100% pure cocoa butter. Mmm, my mouth is watering. These are just a few examples of the extensive range of spa treatments available here, and in all three cases, my curiosity may yet get the better of me.

But that is for another day – meanwhile I am happy to while away a few more hours in the wonderfully relaxing ambience of this luxurious environment – in the company of my unusually chilled-out partner who has just been enjoying a combo massage, chosen from a menu of men’s treatments, which has, I am told, involved a mini massage and (that’s why his face has a new healthy glow) a mini facial treatment.

Both feeling thoroughly spoiled, we lie back in the post-treatment relaxation suite and watch the mesmerising flames of a gigantic fire as they flicker on a wall to wall screen at the end of the room. Then, finally rousing ourselves from half-stupor, we decide to investigate the Brasserie, which is situated alongside the grand salon, with its high atrium ceiling and 200-year-old olive trees growing in pots. I’ve never had lunch dressed in a robe before, but it doesn’t seem to be frowned upon here. The light lunch menu is excellent, with lots of tempting dishes. My choice, crayfish salad, is delicious and refreshing and my partner, who chooses the charcuterie platter, raves over the accompanying rosemary and sea salt bread, to the extent that we feel compelled to
order extra.

We take coffee in back in the grand salon, where guests can relax in their robes in comfy, enveloping sofas both before and after their treatments. The whole atmosphere is unhurried, but we suppose by now it must be time to explore the further delights of the spa.

It’s not hard to see why this spa has been given the Good Spa Guide’s five bubbles. I’m definitely not a water baby and I loathe busy swimming pools, but now I’ve discovered the calm oasis of the only 20-metre indoor-outdoor hydrotherapy pool in the UK. There are bubble massage stations, the pool is warm and inviting (apparently kept at 35°C) and it’s going to be hard to tear me away from this. Outside, twilight falls, street lights twinkle on the hillside and the stars start to come out. We are lucky that it is a mild, dry winter night, but, immersed in warm Malvern spring water, with only our heads in the colder air, it’s a moment to savour.

Meanwhile, I discover a series of powerful water jets near the middle of the pool, where, holding on to a safety bar, I am pummelled and splashed and come as close as I ever will to the thrill of white water rafting.

After this exhilaration, I investigate the thermal suite, with its four separate heat experiences. In the salt grotto, you are enveloped in salt steam, in the crystal steam room, essential oils fill the air with relaxing aromas and then there’s the Kelo sauna, the first of its kind in the UK, constructed from naturally fragrant wood found only in the Arctic Circle. My favourite, however, is the herb sauna, which radiates a soft heat with a higher humidity than the harsh dry heat found in a standard sauna.

After the thermal experiences, there are two ways to close the pores in your skin – the bucket shower – for the brave, as it instantly drenches you in chilled water – or, my preference, the ice fountain, where you rub handfuls of cold ice on your skin and can moderate how much and how quickly. That is, of course, unless your companion kindly decides to help out.

But if I take the ice cold shock with much more equanimity than I usually would, that’s a mark of how much I have enjoyed the day. I can’t think of a better way to relax and enjoy time with a partner so as a Valentine’s treat, a trip to the Malvern Spa comes highly recommended.

You could make your own choices of treatment, as we did, but this year, the Malvern Spa has two special packages on offer. The Romantic one night break, available on February 12 and 14, includes dinner, bed and breakfast, a box of chocolates, a bottle of Champagne and a single red rose in the room for your arrival, as well as time to relax and enjoy the facilities. Also included is one express treatment per person from a choice of back, neck and shoulder massage, express facial, mini manicure or mini pedicure. The cost of £129 per person is based on two people sharing a double or twin room. The Romantic two night break (£179 per person and available from February 11-14) is a similar offer, but includes two nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation with dinner on one evening.

A sparkling experience at the Malvern Spa

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