USP
After a £75 million refurbishment, the hotel opened its May Fair spa, a basement collection of treatment rooms, wet and relaxation areas and gym, kitted out in an Asian-inspired theme.

Ambience
Why do so many big-deal hotels suffer from low self-esteem? The May Fair was opened by King George V in 1927 with Queen Mary in attendance. It’s located minutes from Green Park tube in the middle of one of the most elegant and architecturally impressive, not to mention wealthy, parts of London. So why is its spa selling the get-it-anywhere pre-fab vision of luxury pampering: Asian theme, sand-and-stone colour palette, ethereal piped-in music and Buddha sculptures? To be sure, the May Fair does its version nicely: behind the reception desk water trickles down a slate wall with a face sculpted on it, heated floors obviate the need for slippers, recessed spotlights illuminate sculptures of small boys holding bowls and the staff is friendly and accommodating, gliding about in black pantsuits with mandarin collars. But with such history to build on, you could imagine something wonderfully retro, evoking its legitimate claim to history.

Quality of Experience
I felt a bit like a gauche guest upon my arrival. I was booked in for the first slot of the day and turned up early to unwind and use the facilities. But nobody was at the front desk and the place looked deserted. After five minutes of shuffling my feet and inspecting the water feature, I had to get a concierge to find an attendant. By the time I had stuffed my winter coat, handbag, backpack, clothes and boots into a shrunken changing locker I was feeling like I didn't necessarily fit the spa's demographic, who must be busy, skimpily-dressed women who never arrive early and carry only a mobile phone for company. The sauna wasn't hot yet but the steam room was billowing huge hot clouds so thick I literally had to inch in with my arms oustretched to find my way.

Perhaps the thing the May Fair does the best is its wet area. Usually spas give over a space the size of a small nation to showcase a barrack's worth of showers alongside hot rooms, cool rooms, not-quite-so-hot rooms, a-little-bit-cooler rooms and so on, which adds up to a lot of ways to get wet. Here, a scaled-down versions offers only the best bits: a nice warm rainforest shower, a shocking cold bucket you deploy with a rope pull, a sauna, a steamroom and fresh ice chips to eat or rub all over, if that’s your thing. As a result I didn't feel like I had to loiter in this area for hours so that I was "taking advantage". Instead, after a steam and a quick (hot and cold) rinse, I settled onto the heated marble lounger with a cup of herbal tea and a handful of almonds and dried apricots, before my therapist collected me.

The spa offers an array of rubs, scrubs, pedicures and skin treatments alongside procedures such as oxygen therapies, micro-dermabrasion facials, and Botox and red vein treatments. If you want to get your face injected in the basement of a place in the business of renting rooms for the night, that's your business. I decided on the Swedish massage - a spa staple and one that May Fair maintains it does very well. And indeed it does: the room was the perfect temperature, the cotton drape was impossibly soft and my therapist Monica plucked my muscles like they were guitar strings. Amidst all the fancy wraps and quasi-scientific cellulite treatments, lots of spas are let down by their massages. But after a stressful week is there anyone who doesn't love to submit to the stern thumbs of a good masseuse? A treat came right at the end of my session as well - there was a break in the lotus music and the theme song to the film American Beauty came on.

Food and drink
Herbal teas, lemon water and dried fruit and nuts are laid on in the relaxation room. And while I lay wilting on the heated marble lounger after my massage, the therapist brought me a saucer of tongue-tingling mango and passionfruit sorbet. I would have enjoyed trying out the stylish Amba bar and grill on the ground floor with windows overlooking the street and open kitchen if I’d had time.

In Crowd
Business folk during the week, leisure travellers on weekends. Two women from North England were sauna-ing when I was there, but it feels more like a place for people focused on the treatments rather than socialising, unless you plan to hit the bar upstairs together afterwards. They have treatments recommended for men.

Wallet watch
My traditional Swedish full-body massage cost £90 for 60 minutes. There is a hammam and mud bath, with mud bath for one costing £50, for two £80; body treatments such as the Green coffee body wrap for cellulite and the Lithocal seaweed body peel cost £90 for 60 minutes. And day spa packages ranging from the Detox package, the Jetlag Reviver and the Mucho Macho for men, cost £165 to £300.

Need to know
May Fair Hotel, Stratton Street, London W1 (0207 629 7777; www.radissonedwardian.com). Its owner the Radisson Edwardian operates 12 independent hotels in England and is not the same as the massive Radisson hotel chain.

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