The Bentley Hotel, London
Helen Warwick enters a world of opulence in central London
Helen Warwick enters a world of opulence in central London
London may be saturated with hotels, but a hotel with a hammam? Well that's a rare find. Descend to the subterranean levels of this lavish bolthole, however, and you'll discover its grand, marble-clad hammam where guests wallow in steamy surrounds before being rubbed down with a mitt and bubbles of foam while lying flat on the central marble table. It really hits the spot when you're on the groggy side and craving a detox.
Some guests may go for the Oriental Hammam — a full body cleanse, an Ayurvedic Spiced scrub, a pure Rassoul Lava Clay mask and a warm body wrap to remove impurities, smooth and condition the skin. Others can't get enough of the Combination Hammam, which starts with a cleanse before a full body exfoliation and a Swedish massage.
I'd been experiencing serious tension in my shoulders in recent months, while a sore neck from the gym had been playing up. Having consulted with the therapist, she suggested I indulge in a Deep Tissue Massage to lesson the strain. Tailored to my needs, she worked the knots and tension that had been giving me grief for some time — painful in parts, but in a satisfying working-its-magic kind of way. And I almost hopped out of the spa with a renewed energy, and ascended the lift to my room for the night.
Classic opulence awaited me, luxuriantly hued in creams with a large marble bathroom, dark wooden furniture, crystal chandeliers, a puffy bed with silk bedspread and glossy curtains — all pristinely polished.
The lobby at this member of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts LVX Collection makes quite an impression too, with glammed-up ladies mingling over afternoon tea and business-types clinking whiskey glasses beneath artful chandeliers and soaring patterned ceilings. And you can't quaff at its in-the-thick-of-it location either — on a residential road in Kensington, yet steps away from the well-heeled King's Road and shops and nightlife of Knightsbridge.
