Wellness
Spas, hammams, thermal baths, retreats and recovery. A category that attracts more marketing language than almost any other, which is precisely why it needs plain description.
What was done, how long it took, what it cost, and whether anything measurable changed afterwards.
Published here
Cloud Twelve
Cloud Twelve — Before Wellness Became a Family Affair
Long before family-focused wellness clubs became a London proposition, Cloud Twelve was combining spa treatments, complementary healthcare and childcare in a quiet Notting Hill mews. We went as non-members, and the massage was one of the best we have had.
Edit No. 37
Other Fold Sauna Co.
Other Fold Sauna Co. — A New Kind of Neighbourhood Meeting Place
A wood-fired sauna in the grounds of a Jacobean manor house is bringing communal bathing to West London, with a welcome absence of the ceremony associated with conventional spas.
Edit No. 34
Nowhere Baths
Nowhere Baths — The Case for Doing Nothing
Singapore rarely encourages you to do nothing. Trains arrive, lifts open, food appears, meetings begin — and even wellness now comes with a purpose attached: recover faster, sleep better, live longer. Then there is Nowhere.
Edit No. 33
From the archive
Earlier wellness pieces, from Edits 01–26. These were published on Vitae and still live there.
Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı
Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı — The Ritual That Never Needed Reinventing
Built by the Ottoman Empire's greatest architect for an admiral who began his life as a galley slave. Derelict for centuries, then rebuilt to the exact specification of the man who designed it.
Edit No. 26 · on Vitae
Monart Destination Spa, Co. Wexford
Ireland's Great Escape: Monart Destination Spa, Wexford
Ireland's only adults-only destination spa. 100 acres of private woodland near Enniscorthy. Condé Nast top three spa retreats worldwide. The thermal suite is included.
Edit No. 16 · on Vitae