Email Sunday Times Travel with your travel queries

A busy patch at work has left me feeling frazzled. Could you suggest a weekend spa break from London? Gillian Cooper, Wimbledon


A Sunday Times travel expert responds: Clearly, you don't want to add road rage to that list so you’ll want somewhere within easy reach of the capital. Fortunately, one of the UK’s most lavish destination spas is only about an hour’s drive from London's fume-filled streets. The spa at the Four Seasons Hampshire (01252 853000, www.fourseasons.com/hampshire, doubles from £190 room only) is in a converted Georgian stables where the brickwork and beams meld stylishly with acres of oak, slate and glass, creating a Claudia Schiffer level of apparently effortless natural glamour. There’s a great indoor/outdoor pool and its Espa treatments have a spiritual edge that should realign your chakras nicely. For the total bliss-out, I’d recommend the Hydration Spa Day that includes a body scrub, massage, facial and lunch, and costs £220.

If that price has raised your blood pressure, a more affordable alternative is Champneys (08703 300 300, www.champneys.com). It has several centres that are easily doable for a weekend but its spa in a former Rothschild mansion in 150 acres of parkland in Tring, Hertfordshire, would be my pick. It’s just emerged from a £14m renovation that added a state-of-the-art gym, cardio-fitness theatre and a 25-metre pool as well as some luxurious new treatment rooms. A one-night break costs from £160pp, full board, with one 25-minute facial, one 25-minute massage and up to 20 complimentary fitness classes.

Other possible options are Pennyhill Park (01276 471774, www.exclusivehotels.co.uk) in Bagshott, Surrey, which has an impressive range of thermal cabins (go from icy cold to steamy hot, all for the good of your circulation) and a great organic restaurant. Or the newly revamped Grayshott Hall (01428 602020 or visit www.grayshottspa.com), also in Surrey, and a favourite with luvvies such as Joan Plowright and Judy Dench.

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