USP If you know anything about Brussels, the spa’s name alone, Aspria
Avenue Louise, gives away immediately what a client might expect walking in.
The health club is not only located on Avenue Louise, the most fashionable
and upmarket thoroughfare cutting through the heart of the Belgian capital,
but it is adjacent to the most fashionable and upmarket hotel in the city,
The Conrad Brussels.
But don’t let that intimidate. Although the private club (which readily
welcomes non-members), is luxurious and chic, it’s relaxed and friendly
atmosphere will make you forget that there is a very good chance of running
into Peter Mandelson, Kim Clijsters or Hercule Poirot – any one of Belgium’s
“slebs” (OK, maybe not the first one).
Another perk is that it does not permit anyone under 16. That’s left to its
sister clubs elsewhere in the city: Aspria Rue de 'Industrie and Royal La
Rasante. Forming part of an exclusive European chain, the club’s philosophy,
to address a person’s mind, body and soul, is demonstrated through the
attentiveness of their highly trained on-site professionals from personal
trainers and nutritionists to beauty therapists.
AMBIENCE In a word, the club is low-key. The combination of luxury
without pretension, plus the no-kids rule, makes it a terrific “third
space”. Even at peak hours, the place is barely half full – if this was
London, New York or even Berlin, it would bursting at the seams and not a
place where you can leisurely roll in at 11am on a Saturday and settle into
a peaceful coffee and newspaper.
Just past reception is the cushy lounge and dining area, which leads to the
changing rooms on one side and stairs on the other which go down to two
additional levels, ie, the gym and then the spa, sauna and pool.
OK, confession time: It was difficult to leave the changing room. The club is
stylishly decorated in hues of brown and cream, with leather and marble
accents. The fitness and spa areas are modern and built with an open centre
so that there is a stunning view of the pool from above which simultaneously
allows a lot of light into the lower ground spa area.
But it’s worth a visit to experience the locker rooms alone. Where to begin?
They are spacious, well-lit, abound with plush towels and robes, have
self-locking dark wood lockers, a vanity room with individual spaces and
hairdryers and showers with multiple speeds. What more could a girl ask for?
QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE Although on the compact side, the spa’s handful
of treatment rooms are all tastefully furnished – some have mini-waterbeds
as treatment tables - and dimly lit with the requisite litter of candles. It
offers a variety of massages and face and body treatments using Carita,
Decléor and Aromatherapy Associates products.
I had the Turkish Delight. Not the sickeningly sweet bonbon, but 30 minutes of
an invigorating total body scrub involving the therapist exfoliating my skin
with rough gloves and soap, then “rinsing” with the most divine hot towels,
and finishing with a massage of hot oil.
There was nothing to say other than AAH and then aaahh. Wait, I confess again:
it was hard to leave the treatment room. Meanwhile, my partner was impressed
by the 16m, heated pool and even the Men’s Express (30 mins) facial – his
first ever. He found it relaxing, yet still, you know, manly, but he was
dismayed that it didn’t make him look 25 again. Nope, still 40.
IN-CROWD The club attracts guests of the Conrad (who receive a
discount) as well as visitors staying elsewhere. Most members, however, are
locals – ranging from ladies who lunch and expertly tanned members of the EU
Commission to your average young professional. And of course, the
aforementioned slebs.
FOOD Leave the moules frites, chocolate and beer to the restaurants and
shops (Pierre Marcolini Chocolatier, one of the best in the city is just en
face) outside. The only cocktails on offer are the freshly squeezed fruit
and vegetable juices anyhow. Aspria offers a range of fresh salads and hot
meals from breakfast to dinner, all carefully catered to a guest’s specific
dietary needs – No salt? No butter? No dairy? No problem. You can “have it
your way” and you don’t have to go all the way to America for it.
WALLET WATCH Once you get past the entrance fee, €50 for non-members,
€38 (£28) for members' guests, the club is very affordable. This gives
access to the lounge and dining room, gym, Jacuzzi, pool, steam room and
sauna. The spa costs are additional. Treatment prices range from €40 each
(for example, my scrub and his facial) to €75 for a one-hour Swedish
massage.
However, for a complete pampering, there are day packages with fantastic names
like the Me, Me, Me (€140) which over the course of 90 minutes includes the
Repose facial, a hand massage and the Aaahh foot and leg energiser treatment
which is said to make you feel like you're floating on air.
NEED TO KNOW Aspria Avenue Louise Institut de Bien-Être, Place
Wiltchers, Avenue Louise 71B, 1050 Brussels (+32 (0) 2 542 46 66; www.aspria.be)
For more than 230 independent spa reviews log on to timesonline.co.uk/goodspaguide
