USP Luton Hoo Hotel is a former stately home designed by architect
Robert Adam and landscape architect Capability Brown. The drive to the house
through aged oak and monkey puzzle trees in matured parkland implores you to
drive slowly to take it all in.
The spa occupies the old stable block, and while this more low-key building
has less wow factor than the hotel’s porticoed façade, it is attractive.
Buttermilk-painted buildings with racing green doors surround a courtyard
with gently bubbling fountains. The courtyard cost £10 million - an
estimated £5m of which was spent on the spa - of the hotel's total £60m
renovation project.
Although Luton Hoo opened in October 2007, my February visit to the spa was
very much still during the "soft opening phase". Membership for
Bedfordshire residents was yet to open and I had the place to myself (I
visited on a weekday and was told weekends were busier).
The benefits of visiting a new spa go beyond blissful solitude - with just a
few months of operation under its belt the spa was spotless – the huge
rain-soak showers looked never used and I think I might have been the first
person to wear my pristine white waffle bathrobe.
What will make this place special even if the wear and tear begins to show
through though, is its surroundings: beyond the new landscaping around the
spa building, which will look more attractive when the new plants and turf
bed in, is sweeping English countryside.
A drawback is the walk, or golf buggy drive to the hotel, which is too long to
make a dash for it in a bathrobe, so you need to shower and change at the
spa.
QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE Arrival at the spa reception is a little
disappointing if you’ve got accustomed to the grand proportions of the
hotel. The limits imposed by the building’s Grade I listed status means
walls could not be moved to create a reception larger than a stable. That
said, I was swiftly processed by an efficient receptionist into the changing
rooms – which got top marks.
The lockers had hanging space and a row of comfy stools faced a bench with
hairdryers and a large mirror. The afore-mentioned showers were roomy,
although with only three of them I wouldn’t want to share this changing room
with more than about eight or ten other women. Molton Brown soap was a nice
touch but hand cream and perhaps a facial moisturiser would have been a
welcome addition.
I’d recommend checking in at least 30 minutes before your treatment to use the
swimming pool, whirlpool, saunas and steam room (which was blissfully
mentholated), or relax on a lounger by the pool. The floor to ceiling
windows look onto landscaped gardens, woodland and tennis courts so you can
look onto pleasant scenery, but without the goldfish bowl feeling.
I had the Luton Hoo Spa 5 Senses Facial Signature Treatment (£115 for 70
minutes), which uses organic products that are tailor-made for the hotel and
inspired by the plants of an English country garden. I was torn between the
extracts of geranium, bay leaf and witch hazel to add to my bespoke facemask
because they all smelled so good. I went for a geranium/witch hazel mix,
which was freshly fragrant.
The cleanser, toner, scrub, steam compress and moisturiser all had a natural
rather than synthetic aromas, and didn’t contain any nasties according to my
therapist Becky. Although not all of Luton Hoo’s organic range is Soil
Association-accredited (some products contain small amounts of non-organic
ingredients), all products contains no parabens, sulphates, mineral oils, or
synthetic fragrances, which between them can clog skin and irritate
complexions, according to Becky.
As well as leaving my skin soft and moisturised, the treatment was relaxing –
it started with a foot soak and there was a scalp massage with warm oil and
hand massage while the facemask took effect. The lavender eye pillow also
encouraged me to nod off.
It's Robert Adam, not Robert Adams, and the current building is a debased travesty of his original design. It was remodelled for a diamond merchant a hundred years ago.
Oliver Chettle, Bedford,