The City’s Ajala Spa

There’s something about a City spa that’s just pure indulgence. The feeling of leaving my packed Aldgate office with all the suits, but disappearing instead for a massage rather than the usual bag of nuts at the Duke of Somerset is novel – and the relief is tangible.

Ajala Spa, in the basement of the Grange Hotel, hides within the flickering shadows of St Paul’s and bustling Carter Lane, home to many a City bar. Nestled between London’s financial district, the spa is an oasis of calm: and thanks to perfect beer garden temperature on the evening of my visit, almost empty.

The luxury five-star Ajala is in the basement of the City hotel, and from the offset, takes you to a place far, far away from EC4, where there are pastries, fresh water with lemon and flowering teas. Its clean, bright ambience is immediately calming.

I had the Ajala mandarin and grapefruit aroma massage – a super-relaxing and invigorating half-hour treatment, using the fruity oil. It was as vigorous as it was peaceful: the masseuse’s hands worked quickly, which makes a change from the usual massage, which tends to be a bit softly-softly (interestingly, there are two beds in the treatment room, so it’s even good for couples.) I resisted the urge to fall into a deep sleep twice. Commendable, given the soft music and lighting of the beautiful treatment room.

Half an hour later, I emerged with an almost post-coital glow, pink in the face and smooth in my joints, with the attentive staff looking after my every whim.

The spa facilities within Ajala are no less luxurious. The steam room (which smelt divine, rather than of sweaty feet), sauna, hamman, laconium and Jacuzzi line the rich, 18-metre blue pool, which on a quiet Wednesday night was the perfect tonic to a life spent behind a Mac. Even the changing room offers big, fluffy white towels and soft chairs to relax in.

While I didn’t get to sample it, Ajala boasts a ‘sun therapy lounge’, perfect for those shorter days and longer nights, or those with SAD (me). Guests can choose sunlight from various countries (Balinese sunset, anybody?) and the sun lounge will replicate it, but without the harmful rays. That’s one reason enough for me to pay it a return visit.

The supreme sense of relaxation that literally emanates from the spa stayed with me for several days afterwards – proving there is such a thing as leaving the day behind without the aid of a cold Sauvignon.

Ajala Spa
Grange St Paul’s Hotel
1 New Bell Yard
The City
EC4 V 5AJ

Tel: 020 7074 1010