The Treatment
What do Bono, Beyonce and Russell Brand have in common? They've all sought refuge from prying eyes at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath. On the Monday following the Glastonbury Festival's infamous weekend mud slide – still slick with Red Bull – I check into Bath's most iconic residence after U2 booked out the entire 45-room hotel for the band and extended entourage. There's something about checking in after a major act has just checked out; no matter how jaded the staff, there's always a bit of shell shock in the air. Despite the recent Fort Knox-like security measures, the hotel is back to the height of gracious living by the time I pull in for the spa's popular Black Sand Jewel Massage Ritual. My therapist begins by rubbing me down with a Tahitian black sand scrub, releasing the most intoxicating verbena aroma into the air. After hosing me down on a marble slab in the wet room, she leads me up to a cozy massage suite to conclude the treatment. I'm dubious at the sight of her hands – I've seen Cabbage Patch Kids with bigger palms – nevertheless she performs a made-to-measure body massage, customizing to my pressure preferences. It's a heavenly sojourn of scent and sensibility, fragrance and full body release.
The Benefits
The spa selected Anne Semonin's black sand body scrub for its combined benefits of white salt and black sand (from French Polynesia), and the excellent hydrating properties of jojoba, calendula and sweet almond oils. Mineral salts revitalize skin and eliminate dead surface cells, rendering the skin velvety soft, smooth and simply glowing.
The Spa
The Royal Crescent, occupying two central buildings in the world's finest surviving Georgian crescent (the buildings are laid out in that shape), is the most austerely situated luxury hotel in the World Heritage City of Bath. In the middle of the most beguiling street in Britain's most cherished city, this hotel harks back to the age when Bath was the cultural epicentre of the civilized world. The buildings were first occupied in 1775 and evoke the patrician air of a Jane Austen novel.
While the hotel is stylistically coherent with its commitment to period antiques, the owner went with a contemporary feel for the Bath House Spa. Created from a converted coach house and stables, the facility embraces both ancient and modern spa culture.
The walk from the main crescent to the spa is an aromatherapy session in itself – beds of knee-grazing lavender, pods of poppies and tiers of thyme. A dip in the pool is more sacrament than workout, all soaring ceilings, stonemason thick walls and a chapel-like hush. Enjoy cooling plunge tubs, steam and sauna facilities, treatments ranging from fruit enzyme wraps to the Rolls Royce of facials, the Royal Experience Ritual. Dinner at The Dower House is not to be missed, from a Pimms foam amuse bouche to a glorious barn-reared Creedy Carver Duck. For Canadian anglophiles or history buffs titillated at the thought of a sleepover in a Regency masterpiece older than Canada itself, the Royal Crescent is sure to please.
The Basics
The Royal Crescent Hotel at 16 Royal Crescent, Bath; 01225-823333; www.royalcrescent.co.uk; $180 for 85 Minutes.
Si Si Penaloza Special to The Globe and Mail