The Wahanda Blog

One of the most glorious things about The Sanctuary Spa is that it stays open late every night of the week, so you never have to cut your spa day short. It also means that after a busy day at work, you can still fit in a spot of pampering before bedtime. That’s why Wahanda decided that instead of nipping out for a lunch-time treatment, we’d take an evening trip down to the Covent Garden spa for some after dusk indulgence (plus – with two Evening Bliss packages as our competition prize this month, we thought it only fair we went to check it out first – all in the name of research of course).

Renowned in the spa world, this women-only wellness space has been dishing out treatments for thirty years and continues to impress spa-goers, boasting a wide mix of regulars intermingled with plenty of spa newbies. We know this because when we arrived for our treatment at 6.30pm, we’d never seen so many eager faces, fervent to discover what was on the other side of the changing rooms. In fact, it was so busy, it was bordering on beauty bun-fight, but it was explained to us that it was all down to the fact we’d arrived during the cross-over period from day to evening sessions. As a result, Wahanda quickly opted for a tour of the spa post-treatment to avoid the rush and were shown to our treatment room instead.

We’d been booked in for one of The Sanctuary’s signature treatments, the ‘Invigorating Sento’ – a Japanese-inspired therapy designed to leave the body detoxed and the soul sparkling. Using The Sanctuary’s own range of products (that’s all they use in the spa) the treatment began with a full body exfoliation to slough away dead skin cells and unblock any energy flows lurking beneath the surface. Performed on a massage table, the therapist popped on some loofah mitts (which you get to keep at the end so you can keep up your scrubbing at home) and began the rub-down.

Scrub over and we were asked to take a shower in the treatment room’s own little cubicle before lying back down for part two of the treatment – the massage. More of a pressure point massage combined with stretches, this was similar to acupressure and although relaxing, it wasn’t the usual long, flowing strokes you might associate with a massage, so be warned if that’s what you’re after. Great for releasing tension, our therapist had already asked if we had any major problem areas or concerns at the start of the treatment, but she made sure that the pressure was ok throughout. Using her strength to push and pull our limbs, we could definitely feel our body begin to respond to the treatment and you could almost feel the tension fizzle away. Then, to end the treatment, a slathering of soothing moisturiser was layered on to condition the skin after our earlier scrub.

Despite feeling like a snooze could be on the cards, we chose the spa tour instead and were shown all the main areas – including the koi carp pool where women were supping on wine and tucking in to tasty treats from The Sanctuary’s menu. Instead, we followed our ‘health, beauty and happiness’ mantra and went for a dip in the exercise pool, followed by a session in the steam room and one of their many Jacuzzis – pure bliss. And when it was time to leave, we still managed to spoil ourselves rotten in the changing rooms which were brimming with their latest products – perfect if you don’t have time to squeeze in a treatment on your visit.

To find out more about The Sanctuary, click here or to enter our competition to win one of two Evening Bliss spa packages, click here.