The Best Massages in London, Because You Deserve It
You've been slumped over the laptop for too long now.
If three years of hot-desking, working-from-kitchen-counter and ignoring the HR department's offers of an ergonomic desk assessment have taught me anything, it’s that I really need a massage. (Or rather, I should really improve my posture, but one of these things is much more likely to happen than the other.)
A good massage is of course a treat, but a great one offers benefits beyond 60 minutes of lying down in a nice, quiet room. A therapist worth their salt will know to freestyle, finding the areas of tightest tension and systematically working them out, meaning you’ll feel lighter and looser in the days that follow.
If you don’t know your Swedish massage from your lymphatic drainage, it can be tricky to know exactly what to ask for these days. You’re in safe hands with an aromatherapy massage – that’s the one with nice-smelling oils and relaxing movement. Swedish is another common form of massage, generally using light, soothing strokes to boost circulation and energy.
For something more serious, it’s deep tissue you need. As the name suggests, this one is more specialised, with your therapist responding to your particular ailments. Stronger pressure works out knots and toxins buried deep in the muscles, relieving chronic pain and tightness. Sports massage is similar, but is generally performed by a therapist that specialises in athletic injuries, and focuses on that one specific area, rather than the full body. Thai massage is another good option, involving deep yogic stretching and pressure best suited to those with a slight sadistic streak.
Lymphatic drainage is a massage technique that's particularly popular at the moment, thanks to the way it works wonders on sluggishness and bloating. Your lymphatic system, which carries toxins through your body, isn’t powered by an internal source, meaning it can become stagnant (especially if you’re spending more time sitting down than you are standing up). Lymphatic massage manually boosts the body’s lymph flow using long, targeted strokes, helping you to feel reenergised. (To boost the effects, drink a lot of water in the hours that follow.)
The capital contains more spas per square foot than Prets these days, but you don't want to risk spending your precious evening on a sub-standard treatment. Save yourself the regret and book one of these tried-and-tested winners (and stop sitting in silly positions at your desk.)
The Best Massages In London
Dr. Barbara Sturm
Dr. Barbara Sturm's behemoth brand might be known for its no-frills facials (which are equally outstanding, by the way), but the flagship London clinic also offers a standard-setting lymphatic body massage – the perfect booking for anyone who wants wellness without the woo-woo.
Descend the stairs at the back of Mount Street's modern, marble-covered boutique to find a surprisingly serene clinic space, where Sturm's world-renowned menu of non-invasive treatments takes place.
The Sculpt & Tone is an energising, de-puffing treatment that works by manually stimulating your lymph using long, mid-pressure strokes, starting with the back and spending more time than usual on the legs and feet, helping to bring a stagnant system back into full flow. With fluid retention rectified, you can expect to feel lighter and less puffy in the hours and days that follow – just be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
Dr. Barbara Sturm, Lymphatic Sculpt & Tone, £195 for 60 minutes
Boon Sappaya
Finding a decent Thai massage in London has long been a tricky task, which makes the arrival of husband-and-wife operation Boon Sappaya all the more welcome.
Traditional Thai massage involves a precise combination of deep assisted stretches and famously deep pressure, usually performed without oil. The polar opposite to that soporific aromatherapy treatment, an hour or two here may not be the most relaxing, but the tension-melting results are a serious cut above.
Don't come expecting white-walled luxury or Instagrammable design: the space, buried in a Baker St basement, is true to Thai tradition (although with a heated massage bed instead of rattling air conditioner). But if you're hoping to relive – or likely, surpass – that revelatory treatment you had in the Land of Smiles, you're in the right place.
Boon Sappaya Traditional Thai Massage, from £38 for 30 minutes
Cowshed
If you're hoping to finally get to grips with that massage gun you got for Christmas, Cowshed's clever tech-boosted deep tissue massage is a wise booking to make.
Your therapist will use the high-powered Hyper Ice percussive gun to rigorously warm up tense muscles, prepping them to reap the benefits of targetted deep-tissue therapy. Combining precise, personalised relief with the famously cosy surrounds of Soho House's beloved spa chain, this a booking that ticks all the boxes. Luckily, non-members can book in at both the Primrose Hill and Shoreditch House outposts (meaning it'll make a great gift, too).
Hyper Ice Deep Tissue Massage, from £110 for 45 minutes
Akasha Spa, Hotel Café Royal
There’s absolutely no chance of you falling asleep during Therabody’s new massage at the Hotel Café Royal’s prestigious Akasha spa – and that's likely to either put you off completely or have you quickly making a booking.
The treatment involves targetted use of Theragun’s most powerful percussive devices to sort out the deepest of knots, tempered by notably more relaxing traditional techniques. Vigorous and satisfyingly effective, it'll work especially well on that stiff upper back you’ve been complaining about chronically.
Plus, if all that tension-melting has you craving something a little more pamper-y, there’s that world-class spa waiting for you just outside.
Full Body Massage with Dual Theraguns, £189 for 60 minutes
Dreem Distillery x Holly Warren
Dreem Distillery is one of few CBD brands I readily recommend, due to the fact it uses powerful broad-spectrum CBD instead of the commonly used (and weaker) isolate. This essentially means you're getting a properly soporific product, with the power to alleviate insomnia symptoms and tense muscles (yes, studies have supported both of these benefits).
The brand's Among The Stars body oil is good when used at home, but in the hands of therapist Holly Warren, it's just short of a miracle. Warren (who considers herself an energy and body worker, not a masseuse) combines the oil with her intuitive, low-pressure techniques in this restorative treatment, which works not on the muscles but on the nervous system, inducing a deep meditative state. Don't expect a vigorous pummelling, but rather a sensitively approached treatment that leads to a remarkable night's sleep.
Find Holly at 180 Health Club - non-members can book via email at team@180healthclub.com.
Dreem Distillery x Holly Warren, £170 for 90 minutes.
Bamford Haybarn
Bamford’s West London flagship is described as a ‘holistic wellness outpost’, which will make perfect sense to you if you live in the store’s Sloaney catchment area.
But whether you spend most of the week mainlining matcha while wearing athleisure or not, the space’s treatment rooms are well worth a visit – in fact, some of the very best therapists in London can be found here. The brand’s latest treatment, B Balanced, is ideal for anyone who wants a little more than the traditional pummel-by-numbers massage. Designed for bodies (and minds) that have been thrown off-kilter by long-term illness or chronic stress, it’s a thoughtful, intuitive treatment that’ll make you feel lighter and looser in the days that follow.
The ancient healing technique of body tapping signals the start of the treatment, which – combined with guided breath-work – will silence even the paciest of minds. What follows is an outstandingly good full-body massage with long, attentive strokes, combined with the shock of ice-cold gua-sha and an application of invigorating muscle gel. Indulgent but equally beneficial, this is a genuinely transformative 90-minute escape from reality.
Bamford Haybarn B Balanced massage, £220 for 90 minutes
The House of Elemis
For something seriously soporific, it's a hot stone massage you need. This ancient technique involves using targeted heat, delivered via weighty heated stones, to areas of tension throughout the body.
You'll find one of the best at Elemis' flagship spa in the middle of Mayfair. In this truly relaxing treatment, hot stones are combined with hot frangipani oil (and a heated bed, no less) to soften even the most chronically clenched shoulders. Low-level lighting, unobtrusive ambient music and moderate pressure make this a treatment to book when you need chilling out, not revving up.
House of Elemis Hot Stone massage, £130 for 60 minutes
Ilapothecary
Almost immediately after opening, a shout out from Meghan Markle – apparently a loyal gong bather – threw Ilapothecary's first and only physical store into the big leagues.
Now, four years after the frenzy, the store has become a beloved West London mainstay, famed for its remarkably potent aromatherapy products and treatments, which are carried out in a cave-like room at the back of the building.
Here, you'll find a massage that perfectly straddles the practical/pampering divide, combining intuitive strokes with just enough crystal-healing energy to soothe the most chronically knackered soul. The therapists don't work to pressure or area requests: let them do their thing and they'll work out what you really need, working out those physical knots while rebalancing your mental state in the process.
Ilapothecary Beat the Blues massage, from £90 for 30 minutes
The Londoner
The most serene spot within a one-mile radius of the big Odeon in Leicester Square, The Londoner's subterranean spa is a made for wiling away afternoons – and the newly launched spa packages mean you don't need to be a hotel guest to enjoy.
Available Monday to Thursday, the Rejuvenate package entitles you to two hours in the spa, where private cabanas flank the serene swimming pool, hot tub and thermal rooms, before the main event: a remarkably thorough CBD Hibernation massage, which sees light, relaxing pressure graduate into the kind of kneading that'll ease the most bedded-in shoulder tension. Your therapist will use Ila's CBD Concentrate balm, which combines cannabis sativa seed oil with arnica to ease inflammation in overwrought muscles. (Thankfully, it smells more like shea butter than a teenage bedroom.) Where many hotel massage treatments are admittedly rather lacklustre, this one is highly targeted and remarkably effective – it's absolutely the best thing you can do in in the vicinity of M&M's World.
The Londoner Rejuvenate package, £170 for 60 minutes treatment and two hours spa access.
Masaj
Offering a truly modern approach to massage therapy, London's Masaj combines a get-the-job-done practicality with stripped back interiors that encourage shoulder-dropping from the moment you step inside.
Really, properly productive massages are the focus here, with the sports and deep tissue bookings being the highlight. Opt for full body, or let your therapist work on areas of particular tensions or injury. For those with hardly any time to spare, there's even a 3o-minute in-chair option.
Masaj, from £56 for 30 minutes.
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