Hotel Wellness: Cutting-Edge Treatments In A Former Prison Cell

15.11.2023 - 09:09 / forbes.com

A former police cell is perhaps not the most obvious choice of place for a relaxing treatment, but that is where one of London’s leading facialists is found. Previously the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court and Police Station, NoMad London is not only one of London’s most stylish hotels, but it is also home to an ongoing residency by facialist Katie England, who works out of what was once a former holding cell for the Magistrate’s Court found on the first floor of the reimagined hotel.

Apart from the prison’s steel door, complete with locks and bolts, and the original subway tiles on the walls, the room’s former life is well-disguised. The room is softened with large-scale modern art propped against the walls, dusty pink velvet chairs, opulent drapes and golden lighting. There’s a glamorous bathroom and playing low as the soundtrack is New York-style jazz–as if you’ve suddenly popped into a holistic version of The Blue Note. Centre-stage is the treatment bed–a cosy, warm and cloud-like affair, where you can have Katie’s signature Natural Face Lifts, during which she uses buccal massage (a massage that takes place inside the mouth to release tension in the jaw and to stimulate face muscles), all while you are covered with a soft duvet to drift off to sleep.

Katie’s expertise comes after a decade in the beauty industry. Her approach is to design each treatment around individual clients, and she offers specialist knowledge and technical training in facial cupping, natural rejuvenation and facial contouring, intraoral massage, micro-needling and chemical peels. “By understanding each client’s lifestyle, commitments, skin needs and the overall outcomes they’d like to achieve, I set about to create ‘skin journeys’ that shine in many more ways than through the skin alone,” she says.

When NoMad London opened in May 2021 in London’s Covent Garden–directly opposite the Royal Opera House–it signalled the start of a new era of hotels for the city. Gone were the restrained confinements of the pandemic and, instead, in came a positive optimism for the future. This played out with New York-based interior designers Roman and Williams’s opulent and cossetting aesthetic for the hotel. There is artwork everywhere–in fact, more than 1,600 pieces are found throughout the property–and decadent touches, with jewel colours, velvet seating and hidden corners to retreat to. The sunken restaurant is a stunning centrepiece, carved out of the courthouse, in what is now a glass atrium full of hanging plants. It all adds to the sense that this is a place that has captured a carefree, jubilant mood of the post-pandemic time.

This vibe is also harnessed by Katie England–seen in the design of her treatment room, yes, but also in her