Behind The Scenes At London’s Luxury Wellness Spaces

By Angelina Villa-Clarke

Gone are the days when you had to travel across the world to access the latest state-of-the-art health treatments in mountain-high spas or track down specialist experts in Swiss clinics to try the newest wellness therapy. Post-Covid, the health and wellness industry has exploded the world over, with more innovations than ever before, with the sector becoming a major driver for tourism.

According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness trips have grown by 30.2% annually, from 2020 to 2022. “Since the pandemic, wellness tourism has resumed a rapid growth trajectory as it recovers from the 2020 downturn, growing at a pace that is 27% faster than the overall tourism growth rate from 2020 to 2022. What’s more, in 2022, the 819.4 billion wellness trips taken (both internationally and domestically) represented 7.8% of all tourism trips—a much larger share of the market than just a decade earlier. Wellness trips are projected to rise to 8.3% of all tourism trips by 2027.”

In the midst of this surge, London has become an unlikely wellness destination in its own right, with a new tier of luxury specialist clinics and curated spaces having recently opened. Taking a leaf out of New York’s book, where private members’ wellness clubs have been popular for a while (check out: The Well, Continuum Club and Remedy Place, as examples), London is hot on its tail with new hubs offering holistic health benefits and longevity-promising treatments.

The HVN in Knightsbridge, for instance, harnesses what it calls ‘conscious wellbeing’. Under the guidance of medical director Dr Tanya Philips, it offers a wealth of cutting-edge treatments (think: aesthetics, acupuncture, osteopathy and Fotona laser facials) as well as age-old rituals and pampering therapies all in a dreamy, biophilic space with birdsong as your soundtrack.

The Galen Clinic, which also opened in 2024, is found in Harley Street in a listed building with art-lined walls and glamorous interiors. Drawing on ancient Greek—or Galenic—philosophies, its brand of ‘progressive wellbeing’ focuses on diagnostic approaches with individualized treatment plans that aim to treat the whole person rather than an isolated ‘problem’.

Also found in Knightsbridge is Surrenne, which describes itself as ‘London’s next generation wellbeing and longevity members’ club’. The longevity clinic has partnered with tech pioneers Virtusan and ‘best-in-class’ wellbeing practitioners, for advanced therapies, as well as offering the first Tracy Anderson studio in the UK.

Remedi London, aptly found in one of the city’s fastest-developing quarters of Nine Elms, is perhaps the most sharply focused of the new openings in town. It centres around biohacking, the latest buzzword in the industry, and an approach that encompasses a range of ways for people to make incremental changes to their body, diet and lifestyle to improve overall health and wellbeing.

Founded by Dr Nima Mahmoodi, a leading aesthetic practitioner, and integrated medicine practitioner Yasmin Shirazi, Remedi focuses on their belief that “to operate at our optimum, we should have a 360 degree holistic approach to our physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual aspects. Nurturing these different dimensions will ultimately help you live the most fulfilled life.”

As a consequence, the serene space, which stretches over two floors and is punctuated with art sculptures and delicate chandeliers, offers a wide range of therapies and treatments to treat a number of concerns.

“The central ethos of Remedi is based on the notion of time,” Dr Nima says. “Whether that is emotional, physical or internal. For example, if someone is looking to turn back the effects of time on their physical appearance, we can offer various cosmetic treatments to help, such as the HydraTite Facial. Maybe they want to be more present, in the here and now, so they can access mindfulness classes and workshops or book in for a session on Rebalance Impulse bed. Sometimes, we also have to go back in time to deal with certain emotional blocks that prevent us from moving forward. For this, we offer another tier of therapies, such as hypnotherapy and Kundalini yoga, so guests can step back into their own power.”

Not wholly a clinic nor a spa, Remedi was conceived, says Dr Nima, following the lockdown of 2020. “I took a step back from just offering just aesthetic treatments. I wanted to apply a more holistic approach to what I do by nurturing all the different dimensions of wellness. And this is where the idea of Remedi came to mind: a sanctuary whereby people can rise to be the truest and best versions of themselves.”

As a consequence, there’s a whole gamut of treatments on offer: from sound therapy to diagnostic testing; integrated medicine to IV therapy; acupuncture to osteopathy.

“Biohackingis at the heart of it all ” says Dr Nima. “It is about optimising human performance, health and wellbeing using science-backed technologies and data-driven self-experiments. Whether you’re suffering from insomnia, anxiety, muscle aches or lack of energy, these biohacking options can help you become the best version of yourself. Biohacking and regenerative treatments are here to make sure our biological age (the rate at which our cells are ageing) is lower than our chronological age (the number of years since birth).”

Signature treatments include a state-of-the-art infrared sauna (complete with TV so you can watch Netflix while you sweat). Unlike a traditional sauna, the infrared version not only induces intense sweating for detoxification, but it also promotes heart health, boosts circulation, reduces muscle soreness and improves skin tone. The sauna also has an inbuilt acoustic resonance therapy system, which emits healing sounds with gentle vibrations to induce deep relaxation.

Remedi’s Rebalance Impulse is another cutting-edge device. Based on applied neurosciences, the 30-minute cognitive session combines a range of exercises and techniques, such as breathing, guided mental imagery, cardiac coherence, sound therapy, mindfulness training and binaural synchrotherapy, to tackle a host of health concerns. You lie on a futuristic looking bed, which uses colour therapy to relax you in sync with the mindfullness programmes and practices you can hear through your headphones.

As one of London’s leading aesthetic practitioners, Dr Nima also offers the latest skin treatments, such as HytraTite, a version of the popular HydraFacial, except it also uses radiofrequency to leave skin visible hydrated and tighter. Deemed the ultimate ’red-carpet facial’, it is popular with A-listers and Hollywood actors to have before an event as it gives a long-lasting glow coupled with firmness.

Referencing the medical word of ‘remedy’, Remedi’s name also stands for ‘REcreating ME Differently’, reveals Dr Nima. “We truly aim to do exactly this,” he says. “Whether it is from sound therapy to raise our inner vibrations or changing our negative thought patterns and ‘rewiring’ our brain—when we nurture ourselves from within, what manifests on the outside will flourish as a result.”

“There has been a huge shift in the wellness and longevity space,” he continues. “Medical aesthetics in particular is moving towards a more regenerative approach; rather than masking the ailments, we are looking at creating an environment that prevents disease. So essentially, we are looking at transitioning from a curative to a preventative approach. We ultimately want to provide people with the knowledge and tools to truly live their most fulfilled lives. London is a good place to start.”

Via Forbes