Desperate to fix her poor sleep, L360’s Evelyn Richards signed up for a new treatment making waves in London’s wellness circle.
“Careful, we’ve had clients report that they fell asleep on the way home afterwards,” the receptionist says with a conspiratorial smile. We’re standing in the airy, cloud-white foyer of W London’s Away Spa, six floors above the bustle of Leicester Square. It’s intended as a warning, but to someone who’s spent their adult life chasing sleep, it sounds more like a welcome promise. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping for,” I reply, only half joking.
Like many people embarking on the annual ritual of pledging self-improvement for the New Year, I entered 2026 with the resolve to sleep better. An overactive imagination is useful in my professional life, but nocturnally it’s disastrous. So, when I discovered Away Spa’s Saturn Returns Treatment — the sleep therapy du jour with London’s wellness elite — I booked myself in immediately.
The treatment, created in collaboration with spiritual guide Caggie Dunlop and Irish skincare brand Seabody, promises a 90-minute journey into ‘deep, functional rest’. Seabody, founded by cellular biochemist Dr Helena McMahon, is known for its seaweed-infused formulations brimming with marine bioactives.
Read more: ‘I tried 9 hacks to help me fall asleep — here’s what worked’
What happens in The Saturn Returns Treatment?
Before any oils or poultices appear, guests are encouraged to make use of the steam room and sauna. Both times I’ve visited the spa, I’ve been the only person in these little pockets of heat — the sort of luxury that makes you forget, momentarily, that you’re above a thrumming tourist hotspot. By the time I’m led into the treatment room, I’m already half melted.
The ritual begins with breathwork, including a technique I can only describe as ‘extra sip breathing’: inhale until you’re utterly full, sneak in one extra sip of air, then release it all with an exaggerated sigh. It sounds ridiculously new age, like something from a corporate mindfulness workshop, yet it works. My limbs loosen, my worries drift out the door.
Then comes the sound bath — created by a drum filled with metal beads gently tilted back and forth, soft oceanic waves roll through the room as I lie face down, primed for surrender. My therapist works methodically from the feet upward: legs, back, arms, stomach, face, scalp. It’s a slow, hypnotic unravelling.
The attention to detail is striking: hot towels, warm oil and the unusual sensation of massage interspersed with heated seaweed and lavender poultices. At the end, I’m told these little bundles exfoliate, detoxify and nourish, thanks to their infusion of minerals and antioxidants. But during the treatment they simply feel like warm kitten paws kneading away at my stubborn, tight knots.
The closing sequence is almost womb-like. A restorative head massage, then a cocoon of Seabody’s deeply moisturising Sleep Body Balm, before a rose quartz mask is placed over my eyes. The weight is gentle, steadying — like someone is resting their palms on my face in a gesture that says: you’re safe, you can let go now. Quartz, I’m informed, was chosen for its associations with comfort and home.
Read more: What does crystal healing mean, and how do I do it?
Although I didn’t stay overnight, guests can fold the ritual into the wider Saturn Returns Stay, an overnight package designed to stretch that post-treatment serenity into the next morning — a tempting proposition for anyone less disciplined than I was about returning to real life.
The spa’s ethos extends into the W’s social spaces, where guests can order Saturn Sips — a range of three non-alcoholic cocktails crafted with Everleaf’s botanical aperitifs and themed around grounding, energy and renewal.
Is The Saturn Returns Treatment worth it?
At £250, the treatment is undeniably indulgent. But for those of us who’ve spent years circling the slippery concept of rest, it offers something tantalising: the suggestion that deep sleep isn’t an impossibility, but a muscle that can, with the right coaxing, remember how to relax. As I drifted out into the glow of Leicester Square afterwards, I realised the receptionist may have been right to warn me.
I was, for once, dangerously close to dozing off on the way home.
The Saturn Returns Treatment is available exclusively at W London’s Away Spa. Book at marriott.com
Feature image: W London
