South Lodge — This Spa Life

Overview

The newest baby from the Exclusive group (see: Pennyhill Park), South Lodge is an eco spa set in a whole load of grounds; you can literally see fields of daffodils from the indoor infinity pool and in a thoughtful touch; you’re allowed to pick these for your room, vases provided. There is a huge natural outdoor pool as well as a suite of thermal rooms, saunas and an outdoor jacuzzi. It’s based in Horsham, en route to Brighton, and would be the perfect stop gap on your next seaside jaunt.

Spa Brands

As per Pennyhill Park, the group has its own brand for massage but also use Omorovicza in the treatment rooms and Davines in their hair salons.

Prices

Massages start at £105 for 60 minutes Mon-Thurs but can only be booked as part of a spa day or stay. Spa days start at £145 and include a shorter massage.

The treatments

As well as the traditional treatments; massages, facials, wraps and scrubs, the spa also has a beauty bar with a nail salon (Jessica Nails) and a make-up services (Beauty by Mii). You could spend the whole day in the spa and finish off with make-up and a blow dry ready for dinner or a night out making it a brilliant place for a weekend away with girlfriends. There is also a catalogue of specialist treatments, one of which is a mud treatment which takes place in a bespoke mud room. We would love to try this on our next visit; it can be booked as an add on to most treatments.

The Vibe

The aesthetic here is very sleek, modern, concrete and wood; almost Japanese in it’s decor, but at the same time it’s still cosy and enveloping. Think American Psycho meets Gilmore Girls. There’s a huge indoor heated pool cocooned by warm concrete walling and low lights hanging over each day bed. At the end of the pool are floor to ceiling windows looking over the gardens and when it gets dark the whole room takes on a blue hue. It’s so warm we fell into a deep sleep had to be woken up to attend our massages. The post massage relaxation room is a must-see. It features four futuristic black relaxation pods which look like they’d be better placed in slow paced sci-fi movie rather than the South Downs. They have heat sensors, vibrate and play music while subtly alternating between coloured lights and releasing an aromatic fragrance, it’s about the most relaxed we have ever felt on a machine and we want to know where to buy one. The saunas here are infused with different herbs every day, there are marble lined salt steam rooms with heated seats and the outdoor jacuzzi sits next to a dozen cushioned wicker recliners facing an open fire pit so you can keep warm whilst in your robes. The outdoor natural pool wasn’t really our thing, but for the record, nothing cold at a spa is ever for us, so we didn’t spend too much time out there but we can see the attraction of a natural pool and on a hot summers’ day and would definitely partake in a drink by the side of it. IF gyming pre-swimming is your thing, the gym here looks like a Third Spa; in fact, it’s designed by the same people. It was mostly empty when we visited so do pack your trainers, it was well kitted out and looks over the gardens.

Our treatment

Although a bamboo massage sounds like a historical form of torture, the therapist manipulated her bamboo sticks to stretch out the muscles and knead deeper tissue and midway through we started to wonder why bamboo shoots aren’t used in every massage. We’re big fans of massages with objet here at TSL and feel like spas should offer more of these as it broadens the experience. Plus, we find when we’re super stressed and our bodies (especially backs) are sensitive, finger work can be painful.

Little extras

There is a genuine commitment to being eco-friendly here; they have literally built it into the framework of the spa and we were impressed at the levels they have gone to.

For example, the face wipes in the changing rooms are biodegradable, all pre-treatment forms are on tablets not paper, all brushes are bamboo and the onsite restaurant uses biodegradable products to serve pool side food. There is a movement to reduce all single plastic use, something that we strive to do at home but haven’t yet come to expect from our hotels.

Sleep Over

We checked in at South Lodge hotel which is just 100 yards away from the new facilities into a room called the Earl of Athlone which we were delighted to find had a roll top bath in the main room sitting just underneath a 75-inch curved TV, Dirty Dancing whilst sat in a bubble bath is surely the perfect night in. There are a range of rooms, suites, junior suites and a cottage onsite, all unique in design. Rooms start from £256 including breakfast.

Food

There is an onsite spa restaurant called Botanica but it does get busy with locals who can just come in for food so be sure to book ahead. The menu reads virtuously but the portions are filling and there are plenty of sides and desserts to satisfy you too. Try the ‘Wasted’ Burger – made from the leftover beetroot pulp of the vegetables used to make beetroot juice, it’s was meaty, juicy and served with skin on fries.

Best time to visit

We’d always recommend a weekday when it’s bound to be less busy, in the spa as well as the restaurant. But do call and ask which days seem less busy i.e. no big hotel groups or spa groups if you want total peace and quiet.

In the area

As we mentioned, the spa is en route to Brighton when travelling from London. If you were coming from elsewhere though, Brighton is just a 36 minute drive away and well worth a visit.

Packing list

Towel, robes and flip flops were provided here, we would highly recommend you bring a tote bag with you as well so you can cart around your book/lib balm etc especially if you are staying at the hotel because it’s an outdoor walk away making popping back an annoyance.

South Lodge Spa,

Surrey