Thai Square Spa, Covent Garden

On my birthday (Tuesday) I was lucky enough to go into London's Covent Garden for a massage, not just any massage, but one at the award winning Thai Square Spa, which is one of those hidden gems you feel lucky to find and will never forget. Once through the door, you leave behind the hustle and bustle of a busy London tourist area and instead you find yourself transported to an oasis of calm and beauty.

Bringing traditional Thai treatments to London, everything within the reception area is one that exudes luxury, mystical and authenticity. The Thai Square Spa is the only traditional Thai Spa experience within the UK, something the staff are quite rightly proud to share and explain with their clients. The friendly manner and kindness shown to me upon arrival was nothing short of perfect. There are rules you must follow such as turning off your mobile phone and as I was taken to the changing area, again I was asked to remove my shoes and replace them with flip flops before being shown to the locker room where I was to change into my spa gown. 

Then within my treatment room, I was refreshed with a cool glass of water and then the treatment began with a traditional floral foot soak, my feet were plunged into a terracotta bowl of soothing warm soapy water with rose petals and herbs, by which point I was feeling incredibly relaxed within my surroundings.

My treatment was a Ritual Massage, one of the signature treatments and it is the first treatment to use the Royal Rachawadee massage oil from the spa's brand new lifestyle range iMantara, which is available to purchase at the spa or from the website.  The Ritual Massage encompasses various massage techniques from the East to soften, soothe and balance the senses. Once on the massage table, with my head looking directly down into a bowl of water with floating flower petals, I found my self slowly drifting away. My therapist, who was clearly an expert managed to work out how much pressure to apply to different spots on my body without me wincing or being in any pain, though at sometimes, when a knot was found it was slightly uncomfortable until it was worked out - then it was a feeling of bliss.  Having my back, legs, arms and neck massaged was out of this world and then my feet, something I thought I would have huge issues with, but instead found it absolutely amazing (I hate feet) and incredibly soothing before my head was then massaged.  The entire hour flew by and I could have quite happily stayed there all afternoon, it was so amazing.

Once my treatment was over, I was taken to the relaxation area, handed another glass of cool water and was left to take in my surroundings.  Little things like this made the experience all the more fantastic.  There was no pressure to hurry up and leave, I simply laid back on one of the relaxation chairs until I felt ready to move.

The spa itself has been voted Best Spa in the UK by national newspapers and magazines and you can see why, the experience is the best I have ever had and I left feeling as though I had been there the whole afternoon instead of one hour because I felt so refreshed and relaxed as I left. 

The following morning when my alarm rudely woke me, it was an incredible feeling to not have aching shoulders or lower back pain, I was instead wide awake, alert and ready to tackle rush hour.

I had the Ritual Massage, £75, but the spa offers a range of treatments including couples packages, treatments for men and maternity ones too. All of these packages are detailed here - www.thaisquarespa.com