Welcome to Vogue’s first-ever spa guide—a compendium of the 100 best spas worldwide, pulling from the expertise of our global editors. There is a lot out there in the world of wellness, and we are here to sort the cryo from the cold plunge, the infrared light treatment from the IV infusion. Or if your path is a more holistic one—there’s something for you here as well.
Why go here?
“The Bothy is the reknitting of all parts of the estate—it represents the vision of accepting and living by the natural cycles of seasons,” Bothy director Reka Seres-Erdei explains. The Bothy by Wildsmith is the recently opened spa within the sprawling 438-acre estate of Heckfield Place, in Hampshire, just an hour from London. Years in the making, the spa carefully fuses the Georgian history of the stately house with the type of impressive architecture that transports you away from the world.
To access the spa, you first pass through a beautiful walled garden, after which you are led to the 1,579-square-meter space that is a rural oasis promising to reset your mind and body. Think of a simple yet impeccable interior that isn’t looking to show off but is nothing short of faultless.
What’s the vibe?
Get ready to wind down. (For starters, you have to check your phone when you enter The Bothy.) The underground spa was the vision of Heckfield’s owner, Gerald Chan, and curated carefully by Wildsmith Skin’s general manager Katherine Pye. Based around nature’s circadian rhythm—there’s no cliché spa music but rather the sounds recorded over the course of a week from the grounds of the estate during lockdown. From the regenerative treatments that utilize the estate’s farm equipment (milk churns for its functional Farm Fit workout sessions), to cold-water immersion therapy in the lake, you’ll feel instantly grounded amid the landscape.
In addition to phones, children and alcohol are not permitted. The total number of spa guests is capped at 52, ensuring tranquillity and focus, while also avoiding the crunch of back-to-back treatments—for both guests and practitioners and therapists.
The history?
The grand Georgian house of Heckfield was bought by American billionaire Gerald Chan in 2002 and then meticulously renovated before its doors were opened to the public in 2019. Art from his personal collection lines the walls of the property, giving it a home-away-from-home feel, and his personal touch can be felt in the spa as well: fossilized limestone floors and sinks, antique Hampshire bricks from the original Bothy restoration, and the 29,434 hand-laid tiles in the swimming pool. Before The Bothy by Wildsmith was completed, a temporary “Little Bothy,” earned recognition as one of the UK’s leading well-being destinations.
What should you try?
Guests are recommended to allow three hours per session to take on board the reset concept, with treatment times centered around dawn, noon, and dusk to follow nature’s circadian rhythm. The treatment menu is a tight edit of wellness experiences, but Wildsmith Time (135 minutes) really showcases The Bothy’s purpose. Providing a bespoke reset, expect to feel reconnected through the Kinesiology principles and mechanisms of movement to “reveal the body’s requirements.” Essential oils—formulated to match circadian rhythms and the time of day—are used in the therapeutic massage. Also expect craniosacral holds, abdominal massage, and foot zone reflex therapy. Heed the candle that burns for exactly 20 minutes in the post-treatment room; it’s the minimum amount of time you should relax afterwards, to ensure that the reset sinks in.
How environmentally friendly is it?
The short answer is very. “It begins with the soil” is the motto at Heckfield Place, and sustainability is at the heart. The organic home farm, certified biodynamic market garden, and orchard all provide seasonal food from the land and livestock, even down to the milk and butter, which changes color according to what the Guernsey cows are eating at that time of year. There’s biomass boilers and water used from harvest rainwater and their own well—everything has been devised with sustainability at the forefront. There are woodlands with hundreds of trees planted and wildflower seeds sowed to increase biodiversity—there isn’t an area of their environmental footprint that has not been thought about. Be sure to make time to appreciate the house’s commitment to living respectfully off the land.
What else do we need to know?
The huge expanse of glass that allows for the wild meadow view from the pool—one of the largest opening windows in Europe—allows a unique inside/outside feel. Also try the hydrotherapy pool outside amid the woods and sample the seasonal food from the biodynamic market garden.
Who can go?
The Bothy is only open to hotel guests. Be sure to book and allow three hours to really soak up the special atmosphere they have created.
Booking details for The Bothy by Wildsmith
Address: 82WX+6J, Hook RG27 0LD, United Kingdom
Read more from Vogue’s Global Spa Guide.