Spa Experience Review ~ Welwyn Garden City

Who are Spa Experience?

Spa Experience is a spa concept put together by Better, one of the UK’s leading leisure providers and social enterprises. They pride themselves on offering high end experiences for a reasonable price.

Where are they?

They have currently have six branches in London (Kensington, Bethnal Green, Swiss Cottage, Wimbledon, Old St & Waltham Forest), as well as branches in Hertfordshire (Welywn Garden City – which we reviewed), Surrey (Epsom) and Northern Ireland (Belfast).

How much is it?

Monthly memberships start from £49.95 per month, however one off visits to the Thermal Spa start from as little as £10 for 180 minutes!

Our thoughts…

The ‘Juggling Skates’ team were invited to check out the facilities at Spa Experience first hand. Jessica visited their Welwyn Garden City Spa on a mid-week lunchtime. This is what she thought..

First Impressions

The Spa itself is serene, clean, professional and beautifully furnished. You feel like you’re in good hands the minutes you step into the peaceful, attractive reception – flowers and comfy, stylish sofas with a friendly welcome from a smart professional. a smart professional.

Arrival

On arrival you receive your tote bag for the day – including a comfy robe, flip flops, towel and padlock for the lockers before being shown the spa corridors off which the waiting lounge (low-light, free coffee/ herbal teas, water, apples, comfy loungers), treatment rooms and changing room can be found.

Changing Area

The changing room and showers are clean and modern – complete with hair dryers/ straighteners and good-sized lockers. Only requests would be a) shampoo/ conditioner in the showers (I’d forgotten mine – bit of a disaster post an oil message, I ended up having to use the shower gel!), plus b) more private cubicle changing provision (and maybe slightly more notice when being informed a male attendant would be coming in imminently, whilst I was semi-naked!).

Spa Area

The spa area contains a good sized pool – complete with an in-pool seating area of jets, two good-force waterfalls and a whirl pool. Loungers around the outside made for a nice relaxing magazine-reading spot after trying out all the respective saunas/ steam rooms. Two glass sides allow for lots of natural light and for you to see out onto the gardens (albeit not that scenic, but at least not overlooked).

Thermal Spa Experience

I wouldn’t say I’m a ‘sauna’ person, but I actually really enjoyed these. I worked my way through all 4 of the thermal areas – and was delighted to find I actually had most of them to myself! I loved the aromatic ones and lying back on the warm tiles, inhaling the steam. Whilst skeptical, I even took the poster-advice of a cold shower between each – and found it surprisingly refreshing!

Treatments

The highlight of my visit was my amazing La Sultane De Saba Ayurvedic massage (£90 for 90 minutes) Ninety minutes of total relaxation in a candle-lit, beautiful treatment room. A full body scrub of black (seaweed-esque?) bits – massaged everywhere, very throughly, before a quick shower and then a full-body poultice massage (bit weird, admittedly – two funny pads pressed on you, up and down your body) before the full body and neck/ shoulder/head oil message during which I totally zoned out. Gabbi (I think!) was super professional as she moved silently around me and the room, gently instructing me to turn over as required and super-discreet/ sensitive with towel placements to save any self-consciousness (which I am prone to in these circumstances!). The aromatic oils and gentle waves/ breeze/ music soundtrack combined to leave me feeling so refreshed and relaxed as the experience came to a close.

Verdict

I absolutely loved my Spa Experience and can’t wait to return. A Spa Experience gift voucher will now be top of my gift-list for upcoming birthdays/ christmasses!

Thank you so much to all the staff and for the opportunity to enjoy this experience.

We were invited to visit Welwyn Garden City Spa in exchange for this review.