Review: British Airways Terminal 5 Elemis Spa

At the First Wing, we made it early in the morning. All of this rush was to make it to our appointments at the Elemis Spa. I’d been to the spa many times before, but it was the first time my wife Shipra was going to be able to go through, so it made sense to get her to try it out. When we booked our tickets, I reached out to British Airways via the YouFirst page to book our Spa appointment at a reasonable time (8 AM). However, I was told the slots were full already and to arrive at the airport and then book a slot.

Given I’d gone through this drill many times before, sometimes you could get a chair/therapist and sometimes you won’t. So we had a preference to get this done beforehand itself. So I gave British Airways pushback on this about how it was unreasonable to expect us to come and book a seat at the hour given we had so less time at the airport.

British Airways came back confirming us for a 7:00 AM and a 7:20 AM appointment after a few rounds of to and fro, so we would have wanted to stick to those times.

When we arrived at the spa reception, the receptionist was, of course, playing with her phone. The other one was the Shower Room attendant and was working to get people over to the Showers as quickly as the buzzers could ring.

British Airways Terminal 5 Elemis Spa

For whatever stupid or egoistic reason, the attendant who was responsible to assign masseurs to the slots decided that she won’t allow the both of us in the Spa together.

I’d booked myself an Aviator facial, while Shipra decided to go for a Jet Set Polish. So it was perfectly possible to get both of us different crew at the same time. Shipra went first instead of me, so the attendant decided to give my appointment to someone else, after having me fill up the release form.

Here is the full menu for your reference.

British Airways Terminal 5 Elemis Spa Menu

British Airways Elemis Spa Salon

Soon enough, Shipra was with an attendant, getting her nails shaped up and polished. Talk about the need for a touch-up paint job on your nails before heading into your anniversary trip. We guys won’t get it.

In the meanwhile, I went around looking at the whole Spa, taking pictures. The Spa has always been very well equipped with a large set of salon tables in the middle for you to do your own makeup if needed and the grooming menu on offer.

British Airways Elemis Spa Salon

Behind the long tables were chairs, presumably for facial treatments.

British Airways Elemis Spa

Lining up the walls was a nice fireside couch for two. Of course, no one in waiting at 7:30 AM in the morning here.

British Airways Elemis Spa

Most of the treatments at this Spa, however, happen in Massage Chairs, in individual cubicles which there are about 6 of in the main lounge and 3 in the Spa in the satellite Terminal 5 B Lounge.

Each of these booths is equipped with an intelligent massage chair, which is so good that I do want to take it home every time I sit in one. At least one booth has a backrub massage chair. This time, I thought I was going to be giving the chair a miss given I was taking on a face treatment, however, that was not the case.

After Shipra’s 20-minute treatment was completed, which included commotion due to a BA employee falling sick and hence being brought into the Spa for a check-up by the doctor on hand, they called for me as soon as the masseuse had completed the appointment (originally on my appointed time!)

I walked into a room with a hanger, the smart chair (yay!) and was asked to be seated. That meant dropping the jacket on the hanger, losing the shoes and then getting into the chair. For the times I don’t secure a human treatment, I do try and take the chair massage at least, given it is good!

British Airways Elemis Spa Massage Chair

The masseuse who attended to me was very good, and after getting me started with a 15-minute intelligent treatment on the chair, which was a lottery indeed, set about working with a set of hot towels to get the facial started.

British Airways Elemis Spa Massage Chair

Over the 15-minutes we chatted about Brexit, the U2 concert and the future of British Airways while she deftly went about helping me being at ease and treat me after a rough 15 days on the road for some skin care.

The treatment ended very well, and usually, the spa attendant comes about to hand you over a few samplers of Elemis products right after. However, this was not the case this time around either for me or the wife. So, we went out of the spa and headed back to the Concorde Room for some breakfast.

Bottomline

British Airways’ Elemis Spa is one of the best features of BA when you travel, even though their seats are uncompetitive. The Spa has existed for a long time and has the capacity for a lot of travellers unlike how at some other F class lounges where they just have the capacity to accommodate one or two passengers at a time. So, if you are out and about the BA lounges, do try and see if you can get a massage or treatment, given it is one of their best offerings on the ground.

The other lounges exist at Terminal 5 Arrivals with a large battery of showers, Terminal 5B with a few massage chairs which can be booked at the main T5 lounge itself, and at Terminal 3.

Have you been to the Elemis Spa with British Airways? How has been your experience?