Review: Aqua Sana Forest Spa at Elveden Forest Center Parcs

Soaking in a steaming hot tub on a chilly day, surrounded by trees in the middle of a forest is one of the highlights of the Aqua Sana Forest Spa at Elveden Forest Center Parcs.

The refurbished and rebranded wellbeing centre is less than an hour’s drive from Cambridge but feels completely remote once you step through the doors and has been designed to make the most of its woodland setting.

Following a £6.5m revamp, this atmosphere sets it apart from other spas as every experience considers how to conjure the sense of being in the forest.

The Aqua Sana Forest Spa is huge and even on a busy day - we visited on a weekend - never feels crowded, with four spa zones and 25 different experiences including saunas, steam rooms, sensory showers, relaxation rooms, reflexology footbaths, waterbeds, an outdoor pool, hot tubs, a forest walk, pre- and post-treatment relaxation areas, as well as an express beauty area, and a café bar with outdoor terrace.

Many of the rooms have floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the trees and even in darkened relaxation areas there are rainforest sounds of birds echoing through a leafy canopy.

On arrival, guests change into swimsuits and robes and step straight into the centre of the ring-shaped spa which has an open air pool at its heart. Large enough to enjoy a leisurely swim, the pool is open to the elements but luxuriously warm at 32 degrees, with seating at one end that proved a perfect place to sit and catch up with friends before heading off to explore.

Surrounding the pool is a wide range of things to try. Guests can explore immersive and sensory experiences which have been inspired by the natural world – from volcanos to hot springs, forest glades to mineral caves. If you want to spend the whole day here, you won’t run out of things to do.

If you are craving the relaxing experience of baking dry heat, the Nordic sauna has a temperature of 70 degrees and humidity of just 3 to 15 per cent. This rustic, Finnish style sauna has huge glass windows with views into the forest where we spotted squirrels scurrying up the trees. It’s a great area to relieve muscular aches and pains and the Alpine wood décor and authentic Nordic music complete the experience.

Alternating between hot and cold is part of the fun of the day, so we headed next into the aptly named ice cave where handfuls of ice were available to rub onto tingling skin to cool it down. This fun room is actually moulded to look like an igloo, which brought a smile to our faces.

We visited on an autumnal day and hands-down the best experience was the salt steam room (temperature: 45 degrees / humidity: 90-100 per cent) which was large and dark, offering heated tiled benches and clouds of jasmine-scented steam. We returned here many times throughout the day, especially after venturing outside to the hot tubs and then running back inside, shivering. It felt like the warmth was reviving us each time. Other steam rooms included the Alpine steam ( infused with menthol and eucalyptus) with huge amethyst crystal and colours resembling the Northern Lights; and the volcanic steam room, which was scented with black amber and citrus.

However, there were so many different experiences to try and we didn’t want to miss out. After a delicious lunch in the restaurant - a shared vegetarian Mediterranean platter with feta cheese, stuffed vines leaves, sun dried tomatoes, olives, bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping - we were ready to dry off and try out some of the upstairs rooms.

These were the ‘nesting’ experiences, many of which are brand new and incorporate the forest theme. One especially relaxing area was literally called The Nest. It was a sauna with individual body-contoured wooden loungers looking out onto the forest canopy, although after about ten minutes of intense heat we did need to go out and get a glass of water.

But the place that worked the most magic on my friend, who often suffers with insomnia, was a darkened room with a row of individual heated waterbeds, covered with fake fur blankets. There was just enough daylight to read so I settled down to enjoy my book, but my friend almost immediately fell into a restful sleep. I reluctantly woke her up after an hour but this was probably the most restorative part of the day for her.

Other experiences on offer in the forest immersion area were loungers with twinkling projections on the floor to create the feeling of being ensconced within the forest canopy; the forest view immersion offered oversized beds to curl up on while watching a projection of the forest transporting you through the four seasons; and a forest meditation area replicated forest sky scenes, slowly turning from day to night.

Finally, I tried out the Elemis Pro-Glow Smooth Facial at the end of the day. If you’re having a treatment, try to book it toward the end of your spa session so you don't wash away any of the products used. The facial also included a scalp and shoulder massage, which left my hair looking like Bridget Jones after her headscarf blew off while she was in a convertible car but left my skin glowing and hydrated for a full week afterwards. Alternating hot cloth cleansing with moisturising and a deeply satisfying peel-off mask, the Smooth Facial genuinely improved the appearance of my skin tone and was a luxurious way to end the day.

Visit: aquasana.co.uk/spa-locations.html#elveden