United Kingdom

In past lives, this limestone-clad, neo-Jacobean mansion served as a police academy and maternity ward. English-country-house obsessives, rejoice: In 2021, after a total reimagining by Ennismore, the brand collective responsible for Hoxton Shoreditch and Gleneagles, Estelle Manor opened as a five-star hotel and members club. While some parts of the property are members-only, non-members won’t feel a shortage of space. Guests enjoy the bright brasserie, weekend dim sum in the billiards room, an arboretum, a living room bar, and 60 acres of open land, stables, and padel courts. Classical Roman tepidariums inspired the spa, which features five thermal pools and treatments that draw on ancient healing traditions. The property is technically family-friendly, and there are activities suitable for all ages, but it should be noted that some bedrooms are off-limits for kids under 13.

Coined “The Bradden Method,” Sarah Bradden’s signature cosmetic acupuncture facial is both a spiritual reset and a sculpting face treatment. Each treatment is tailored to your needs (and every visit is different) and includes a mix of acupuncture (for face, neck, ears, or body), Reiki, reflexology, massage, LED light therapy, and activated oxygen therapy. You’ll leave with a goddess-like glow and a restored sense of balance and relaxation.

London-based Fatma Shaheen’s treatments at the flagship Matchesfashion’s townhouse in Mayfair are booked months in advance (fans include Naomi Campbell, Naomi Watts, Candice Swanepoel, and Irina Shayk). Her most-popular facial, the SDL Facelift, is pricey, but worth it, with ultrasound, vitamin peels, radiofrequency, and something called a Glow Pen—which combines microneedling with electroporation, a form of microcurrent designed to deliver active ingredients into skin. The results—lifted, glowy, sculpted skin—are unmatched. Skin Design London also offers services at John Bell & Croyden and 180 Health Club in London. And in January, they will also be offering an exclusive treatment, called The Freeze Glowlift during a 3-month residency at Selfridges.

Sister property to South Africa’s Babylonstoren, the Newt in Somerset is a country hotel on an 800-acre cider-making estate. The gorgeous limestone main house—the Hadspen—was originally built in the seventeenth century and remodeled for Georgian sensibilities in the next. Half a mile away in the Farmyard house, accommodations are a little more rustic, but still luxurious and considered. There’s a private cabin, too, built into the stone wall that surrounds the property. The restaurant menu features Babylonstoren wine and whatever is fresh picked from the garden, and the spa offers yoga, sound baths, a hammam, and a very cool indoor-outdoor pool.

Thirty-five minutes from London, Boys Hall is a restored 17th-century manor with seven charming bedrooms, each unique (three more are in the works). The property is in town but feels farther afield; the grounds are quiet and large enough to feel private. By day, sit out on the terrace with a book and a bottle from the hotel’s extensive wine collection—or book a winery excursion nearby (Chapel Down, Woodchurch, and Chartham are all good). At night, guests can settle into the dining room for slow-roasted vegetables and locally farmed meat and fish by a roaring fireplace.

The Scottish Highlands are every bit as moody, misty, and layered with history as the many TV series shot here would suggest. We love checking in to the art-filled Fife Arms to explore the wider Braemar area (which includes the Queen’s Scottish residence, Balmoral). Owned by international gallerists Iwan and Manuela Wirth, this extraordinary small former inn is brimming with works by Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Man Ray, and Lucien Freud. For budding creatives old enough to sleep on their own—or with a sibling—the Artist’s Studio room is the hideaway of dreams for imaginative kids, filled with easels, paint, and sketches. (You can take an expert-led art tour of the 16,000 pieces that dot the property.) In the surrounding area, aside from rivers, dense forests, and whisky distilleries, you’ll find the cottage where Robert Louis Stevenson began writing Treasure Island, as well as Braemar Castle and, of course, the aforementioned Balmoral Castle. (We strongly recommend booking one of the Fife Arms’ knowledgeable drivers to get a local perspective on this steeped-in-history area.)

Holistic healer Jasmin Harsono is the founder of the London-based wellness brand Emerald and Tiger. Harsono is a Reiki master, a sonic artist, and an intuitive guide. (You can get a feel for her bright, uplifting energy from this morning Reiki meditation.) Harsono offers virtual private and group sessions, which you can sign up for on her website. For more from Harsono, check out her book Self Reiki: Tune in to Your Life Force to Achieve Harmony and Balance.

We first encountered Melody Hekmat through Bodyism—a wellness club in Notting Hill a few doors down from goop Lab—and over the years, we have grown addicted to her powerful Jivamukti classes. Hekmat is the kind of gently encouraging teacher who knows how to get the best out of her students without overwhelming them, which helps explain why she’s so in demand around town. You can take her classes at Bodyism, Triyoga, KX, and Sanye Yoga Studio.

True intuitives are rare. Having someone know your thoughts, read your body, and decipher your energy without knowing you should be impossible, but it’s not. Knowles is a living, breathing intuitive who in her own mystic way suspends her hands over your body, somehow knowing the trigger points without actually touching you. Candles flicker and crystals get hot in your hands as you lie there waiting for Knowles’s reading (which she will record and send to you a day or two after the dust settles). Of course, these healing sessions are different for everyone, but our reading was spot-on. Knowles considers herself a clairvoyant, a reader, an intuitive, a crystal healer, and an author (her book The Power of Crystal Healing: Change Your Energy and Live a High-vibe Life is a must for the crystal-curious), and no two sessions are quite the same.

So much exercise is ticking a box. Cardio, done; strength training, done; yoga…not so fast. Yoga is supposed to be an immersive experience for body and mind, and so much of that transformative experience is dictated by the teacher. Emma Peel is one of those rare beings who describes herself as a yoga instructor, but really a session with her is like a master class in letting go. Two hours of yin with Peel involves holding stretches that go so deep, you feel it in your bones, while she recites poetry, speaks to the seasons, and plays the music that seems to crescendo with the tougher postures and soften with the gentle ones. Peel teaches all over London.