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Spa review: Hydrohealing, London

There's water, water everywhere in the treatments at this Notting Hill spa with a focus on health

Hydrohealing, London
216a Kensington Park Road
Notting Hill
London W11 1NR
020 7727 2570
info@hydrohealing.com
www.hydrohealing.com

I don't know how many times I'd heard or read dubious claims about ionised foot bath treatments, where the feet are simmered in a salt bath, causing 'toxins' to be released through your skin and into the water, turning it yellow or brown, depending on just how toxic you are. So it's especially refreshing to meet a therapist who isn't afraid to cut through the spa bunkum.

'Don't worry about the water changing colour,' says the reflexologist performing my Hydroflex treatment at Hydrohealing in Notting Hill, London, as I immerse my feet into the warm frothing tub. 'It's just the ionization of the salts in the water. It's not toxins like some places tell you.'

This slightly more scientific approach at Hydrohealing might be attributed to its founders, two pharmacists who developed the spa around the theme of water as a pure element and an essential part of the human body. There are no manicures, no facials, no makeovers. Instead, all the treatments use water to address ailments and promote well-being.

The most medicinal treatment on offer is the Hydrocolonic, the spa's most popular treatment, in which water is channelled via the help of a machine up into the large bowel to purge waste. (It's performed by registered practitioners in specially designated rooms with an ensuite loo.) Flotation therapy is also on offer and even claustrophobes can try the stress-reducing treatment here: The flotation rooms house massive bluegreen tubs that are open instead of covered, thus avoiding that 'hemmed-in' feeling. Customers can also opt for colour therapy - small coloured lights above the tub - if they don't want to float in pitch black.

I had Hydroflex, a detoxifying reflexology therapy that starts with the salt bath in which a small cylinder emits very low electrical impulses. I could feel tingles from time to time from the slight charge flowing through the water. That was followed by a session of reflexology, where the therapist pressed points along the bottom of my feet to promote relaxation and stimulate natural healing in the body. There's nothing like a strong-thumbed woman digging into your soles to make you realise just how horribly you treat your feet. After months of traipsing round London in 3-inch heels or pounding them in my weekly Body Combat class, at last they got the attention they deserved. I can't really remember which part of the foot did which (maybe I need to go back for a refresher?) but afterwards my feet felt thoroughly kneaded and my stress seemed to have leaked out in the bath.

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