The spa at the gorgeous Barnsley House Hotel in the Cotswolds is seriously blissful: a new stand-alone building (not a basement cupboard) in Cotswold stone with glass walls and views over the fields and a fantastic heated outdoor hydrotherapy pool (sadly not recommended for pregnant ladies).
Spa trends: the family way
Massaging the bump
Me and My Baby Therapy Rooms, Chelsea, London
Red Sea bliss for a pregnant Mum
The therapist was middle-aged, competent and silent – much better than a chatty school-leaver. The room was very calming - candle-lit and decorated with flowers, with cheesy flute music in the background – a pet hate, but maybe that’s just me.
The only difference between the mum-to-be treatment and a normal aromatherapy massage was that you lie on your side with a v-shaped pillow between your legs, turning over halfway through, rather than on your tummy. The oils smelt lovely and the massage itself was relaxing, but very light – the emphasis was definitely on relaxation rather than working out any knots or relieving back pain. And the bump was left well alone – possibly this is medically recommended, but my achy tummy muscles could have done with a rub.
Marks out of five: three
Best thing: the beautiful setting and uplifting atmosphere
Worst thing: the warbling flute music
Lucy Alexander
COMO SHAMBHALA URBAN ESCAPE
Location: Metropolitan Hotel, Old Park Lane, London (020-7447 1000, metropolitan.como.bz)
Treatment: Met mum-to-be overnight package, including pregnancy massage
Cost: £339 for the mum-to-be package, £80 for the massage on its own
Length: 1 hour massage
Products: Grapeseed oil
Pregnant ladies on self-indulgent shopping trips to Topshop Maternity at Oxford Circus might like to splash out on a night’s stay at the Metropolitan Hotel on Old Park Lane. It includes a double room (bring hubby or a friend), breakfast for two, a gift set of beauty products from Erbaviva (bath salts, massage oil and stretch mark oil), a maternity vest top plus 15 per cent discount voucher from HomeMummy (homemummy.co.uk) and, best of all, the massage. Dinner at Nobu and drinks at the Met Bar are definitely not included.
The hotel building is nothing special, and the view of the next-door Hilton from our window was uninspiring, but the staff are exceptionally helpful and friendly. Nowhere was this more evident than in the spa – a bland windowless basement, staffed by the wonderful Lisa, who will personalise the massage to your needs rather than churn out the same treatment for everyone. I was able to lie on my front, with the help of cleverly-arranged foam wedges which support the stomach, head and feet - very comfortable. The massage itself (back, shoulders, legs, arms and scalp) was both relaxing and, crucially, firm: knots were eased and tension dissolved.
Worst thing: the spa atmosphere and the hotel building itself
Lucy Alexander
AGUA SPA
Spa trends: the family way
Massaging the bump
Me and My Baby Therapy Rooms, Chelsea, London
Red Sea bliss for a pregnant Mum
Location: Sanderson Hotel, Berners St, London W1 (020-7300 1414, sandersonlondon.com)
Treatment: Rose Renew Facial
Cost: £75
Length: 1 hour
Products: Aromatherapy Associates
Agua is a bit like one of those dreams where you’re stranded in a labyrinth of endless white corridors, only nicer. The spa is a network of tiny rooms separated by swathes of white voile curtain, which is an improvement on the dentist’s waiting-room ambience of some spas, but does cause disorientation in the pregnant brain. The changing rooms are properly luxurious, but the treatment room itself was merely curtained off and therefore not as quiet or private as it could have been.
I’ve yet to come across a facial specifically for pregnant skin, but I sure as hell needed one, having developed a killer combo of teenage acne and red, sensitive patches, so I decided to see if a regular facial would help. It didn’t. This may be the fault of the pesky hormones, but the therapist didn’t offer to personalise the treatment or adapt it to my particular needs. It was all very relaxing and smelt lovely, but there was, for my taste, too much time spent on applying fragrant unguents and not enough on extractions, analysis or consultation.
Marks out of five: two
Best thing: the décor and changing rooms
Worst thing: the efficacy of the treatment
Lucy Alexander
THE VINEYARD AT STOCKCROSS
Location: Newbury, Berkshire (01635 528770, www.the-vineyard.co.uk)
Treatment: Mother-to-be Body Bliss
Cost: £70
Length: 55 mins
Products: ESPA and ISHI
Some women can barely eat while pregnant and some - like me - can barely stop. So what more appealing combination could there be than a restaurant with two Michelin stars, headed up by the scientifically-inclined chef John Campbell, with five-star hotel and brand-new spa attached?
The Vineyard, just outside Newbury in Berkshire, is an ultra-comfortable country house hotel, which offers an impressive roster of golf, shooting, fishing and opera as well as a 2,000 bottle wine cellar - meaning it should be no stretch selling even the most reluctant husband on the need to be taken there for pre-baby spa break. (An overnight stay can cost as little as £395 for room, dinner and use of the spa for you and a partner.)
Pregnant ladies and their loved ones will be ill-inclined to move, however, once they have settled yourself into the spa - a lovely light, bright, airy facility with a fabulous central pool that makes up for the pregnancy frustration of being barred from saunas and steam rooms. Not too large, not too small - this is just the place to catch up on your backlog of Gina Ford and Baby Whisperer reading, but choose your recliner carefully - some overlook the garden, others the car park.
The treatment list is extensive and varied but does rather continue the theme of culinary indulgence - with novel truffle, wine and chocolate therapies on offer. Many of these are appropriate for pregnant women, but I went with the specialist Mother to Be Body Bliss, which involves a deeply soothing all-over exfoliation, body wrap and foot and scalp massage.
It was slightly alarming to find myself lying on a large piece of plastic throughout, but the reason was clear (and I didn't mind at all) as soon as I had the sensation of warmed oil being ladled on my long-suffering back. This alone was far better than any pregnancy massage I've had, and worth at least a day trip - but was even more pleasurable given that I was then able stumble off to my modern suite for a snooze before presenting myself, temporarily back to pre-pregnancy state of grooming, for a fabulous dinner hours later.
Spa trends: the family way
Massaging the bump
Me and My Baby Therapy Rooms, Chelsea, London
Red Sea bliss for a pregnant Mum
Marks out of five: Four
Best thing: Food, food, glorious food - and the unstuffy staff who make dining at the Vineyard a pleasure.
Worst thing: having to waddle along a public corridor from the spa to the treatment rooms in another wing. Imagine a rather large bump, hidden only by a lamentably small robe. Ghastly!
Judith Heywood
ELEMIS DAY SPA
Location: 2-3 Lancashire Court, London W1S 1EX (0870 410 4210, www.elemis.com)
Treatment: Nurturing Massage for Mother-to-Be
Cost: £90
Length: 1hr 15mins
Products: Elemis
After battling through the ordeal that is a shopping trip to Mothercare on Oxford Street, it took only a few seconds in this pedestrianised oasis of boutiques and eateries (plus Armani Casa and the Handel House Museum) off New Bond Street to feel instantly better.
The Elemis Day Spa, tucked away right at one end, is not a retreat at which you can pass the day, wallowing in a communal pool. This is a compact little operation, given over completely to a warren of treatment rooms staffed by a very professional team that prides itself on time-keeping. That makes it perfect for those mums-to-be who need some soothing but still have a schedule to maintain.
Elemis has rather kindly devised a pregnancy massage that involved lying (on the floor) on beanbags - batik-covered, in keeping with the warm, dark and very Oriental style of interior decor at this London outpost. As there is not too much lying on your back, and none on your front, and it's a simple job to adjust the cushions to give support here or there, it is possible to have this massage right up until your final weeks of pregnancy.
The therapist used rosewood-infused Japanese Camellia Oil as she massaged gently away to the tune of pipe music; there was a particular focus on long-suffering shoulders and feet. Just over an hour was a cruelly short time for such delightful nurturing (Elemis also offers such tempting marathons of indulgence as the four-hour £350 Moorish Ceremony of Dreams) and it transpires that it is recommended that this relaxation massage is recommended fortnightly throughout the pregnancy.
Next time I intend to invest in some of the other treatments recommended for pregnancy. One of them, the Tahitian Dream Float, involves lying on a sort of waterbed while having your feet massaged. Fifteen minutes on it, my therapist said, was the equivalent of two hours of sleep. Extra sleep, now there is something you could sell to pregnant woman.
Marks out of five: Three
Best thing: The wonderful, spicy aroma that pervades the whole building - little has smelt more soothing to a nauseous and exhausted mum-to-be.
Worst thing: A popular spa, Elemis gets lots of visitors and part of the building are looking a little run down.
Judith Heywood
Spa trends: the family way
Massaging the bump
Me and My Baby Therapy Rooms, Chelsea, London
Red Sea bliss for a pregnant Mum
GRAYSHOTT SPA
Location: Headley Road, Grayshott, Surrey GU26 6JJ (01428 602000, grayshottspa.com)
Treatment: Various
Cost: From £395
Length: Two night stay
Products: Guinot, Aromatherapy Associates, Decleor, Jessica and others
Grayshott Spa, deep in Surrey, has a slightly institutional feel about it - and, oddly, this is central to its appeal. This is a proper health spa, which has been in operation since 1965, and while it has lightened up on old-fashioned ideas such as "diet" food and cheered up the long, hospital-like corridors, it still takes its job seriously. It's been long popular with showbiz types - Dame Judi Dench and Sir Roger Moore have famously visited - but is low-key enough to be perfectly comfortable for large, lone expectant mothers on the prowl.
You can visit for the day but the far more appealing deal is the 2, 3, 4 or 7 night maternity packages (from £395 per person for two nights): the suites are large and luxurious, with fabulously soft beds, and the meals - in two different restaurants - are healthy yet perfectly tasty. You might think you will have trouble filling the hours, but there are 47 acres of landscaped grounds to explore, should sipping herbal tea and reading the papers pall, plus evening films and talks and an absolute encyclopaedia of therapies, from facials and massage to Alexander technique and personal training sessions. You can be tested for food intolerances and have hypnotherapy to stop smoking - if there is anything that you need sorting out, this is the place to come.
I scheduled in a mix of indulgence and self-improvement. The Pregnancy Pampering Treatment - which is a facial, plus exfoliation and massage on face, back, feet and ankles, using fabulous Guinot products (£90 for 80 minutes) - was a comprehensive treat, but I was even more impressed by the ultra luxurious Aromatherapy Associates Rejuvenating Rose Cocoon Body Wrap (£60 for 50 minutes), an indulgent treat that is a reminder how transporting old-fashioned smells can be.
But it was the reflexology treatment with a maternity specialist (£50 for 40 minutes), along with the free health consultation on arrival with an experienced nurse and chat with a dietician (£55 for 30 minutes) - that left me feeling far more seriously cared for than my countless antenatal trips to the GP.
Marks out of five: Five
Best thing: That the calmly efficient therapists take the time to educate you on the products and techniques being used
