Spa Experience Old Street and All 9 UK Branches Compared

If you are searching for Spa Experience Old Street, you have probably also seen references to branches in Surrey, Essex, Epsom and Somerset. Some of those are out of date. There are nine Spa Experience locations in the UK as of September 2026, and the differences between them are much larger than the shared branding suggests. One of them has no thermal spa at all. Two of them publish leisure centre hours rather than spa hours on their own pages. Old Street has the fullest thermal circuit in the group and is currently in the middle of a twelve week maintenance programme.

This page lists every branch with its address, its actual opening hours and, most importantly, exactly which thermal facilities it has, all taken from each location’s own page on 5 September 2026. Nothing here is a price, because the whole point of the chain is that prices move with promotions and by day of the week, and the booking engine is the only honest source for those.

What Spa Experience actually is

Spa Experience is the day spa brand run by GLL, the charitable social enterprise and registered society that operates leisure centres for local councils under the Better name. Spa Experience is a registered trading name of GLL (Trading) Limited, company number 04234158, a subsidiary of GLL.

That ownership explains almost everything about the experience. These are not country house hotels. They are spas built inside working municipal leisure centres, several of them in restored Victorian and Edwardian bath houses, run at a price point that is a fraction of a hotel spa because the building is already there and the operator is not extracting a profit for shareholders. The trade-off is that you are sharing a building with a swimming pool, a gym and a busy reception, and the atmosphere is closer to a good public bath house than to a rural retreat.

The treatment menu is broadly common across the group, described as over 50 health, beauty and relaxation treatments, using Comfort Zone and Tea & Tonic products. What varies enormously is the thermal side.

The nine branches

Old Street, Ironmonger Row Baths, Islington

Address: 1 Norman Street, London. Nearest station Old Street. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday 09:15 to 17:00, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday 09:00 to 17:00. The page also carries a separate female only timetable. Thermal facilities: saunas, aroma steam rooms, Turkish Baths comprising Tepidarium, Caldarium and Laconium, ice fountains, monsoon showers, a bucket shower, a plunge pool, a Hammam and a relaxation lounge.

This is the flagship and, on facilities, the most complete circuit in the group. It is set in one of London’s oldest Turkish baths, and the restored historical features are a genuine part of the appeal rather than marketing. It is also the only branch offering Sound Healing and Hammam Rituals, which appear as Old Street specific items on the chain’s own treatment navigation.

Check before you book. The location page currently carries two customer notices: essential maintenance works within the centre from Monday 3 August for approximately twelve weeks, with possible noise disruption Monday to Friday, and the passenger lift out of service from Wednesday 5 August for approximately three to four weeks while repairs are carried out. Twelve weeks from 3 August runs to roughly the end of October. If you are booking a weekday treatment for the quiet, or if step free access matters to you, ring the spa on the number on its page before committing.

Kensington

Address: Kensington Leisure Centre, Bomore Road, London. Nearest station Latimer Road, not Kensington High Street, which catches people out. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday 10:00 to 18:00, Tuesday female only 10:00 to 15:00 then general 15:00 to 19:00, Wednesday to Friday 10:00 to 19:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 18:00. Thermal facilities: aroma steam room, sauna, ice fountain, hydrotherapy pool, monsoon shower and relaxation lounge.

Kensington runs female only thermal spa sessions every Tuesday from 10am to 3pm, which is published on its own page and is the clearest single women’s session in the group. It is also home to the chain’s first Glam and Go beauty bar for express treatments, and it is the only branch listing hair treatments on the group navigation. GLL operates it in partnership with Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council.

Wimbledon

Address: Wimbledon Leisure Centre and Spa, Latimer Road, London. Nearest station Wimbledon. Car park at the rear via South Park Road, and your registration must be entered at main reception on arrival. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday to Friday 11:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday 09:00 to 17:00. Thermal facilities: aroma steam room, sauna, ice fountain, Hammam benches, hydrotherapy pool, monsoon shower, bucket shower and relaxation lounge.

Set within a historic converted bath house; the leisure centre opened in 1901 and retains many original features. After Old Street this is the most complete thermal circuit in the group, and it is the one to choose if you want the bath house character without the Old Street building works.

Waltham Forest, Walthamstow

Address: 170 Chingford Road, Walthamstow, London E17 5AA. Nearest station Walthamstow Central. Thermal spa hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 21:00, Friday 10:00 to 21:00, Saturday and Sunday 09:00 to 19:30.

Inside the New Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre, and the branch that markets itself to the Essex borders. Note the hours: 9pm on weekdays and 7.30pm at weekends make this comfortably the latest closing thermal spa in the group, which matters a great deal if you want a spa evening after work rather than a day off. If a twilight session is what you are after, see our guide to twilight and evening spa packages.

Waltham Forest is also where the chain has launched SKIN by Spa Experience, a non invasive sculpting and lymphatic drainage facial range.

Woolwich Waves

Address: 49 Woolwich New Road, London SE18 6EU. Woolwich Arsenal on the DLR and Woolwich on the Elizabeth line. Nearest car park is the Tesco, with three hours free. Facilities: two treatment rooms for massage, facials and beauty therapies, plus a boutique thermal spa with sauna, steam room, relaxation lounge and private changing areas.

The newest branch, opened alongside the Woolwich Waves centre. Understand what “boutique” means here: sauna, steam and a relaxation lounge, and no hydrotherapy pool, ice fountain or Turkish bath rooms. It is a good local spa and it is not a thermal circuit in the Old Street or Wimbledon sense.

Two data traps on this page. The opening hours shown are labelled “Facility: Centre” and read 06:30 to 22:00 on weekdays, which are leisure centre hours rather than spa hours. And the contact number given carries an 01823 dialling code, which is Taunton in Somerset. Use the online booking system or the Help Centre rather than assuming either is the spa’s own.

Swiss Cottage

Address: Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre, Adelaide Road, London. Nearest station Swiss Cottage. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00, Saturday 09:00 to 17:00, Sunday 10:00 to 17:00. Thermal facilities: none listed.

This is the single most important thing on this page. Swiss Cottage is described by the chain as a boutique spa and its own location page lists a full menu of massage, facial and beauty treatments with no thermal spa section at all, unlike every other branch. If you book Swiss Cottage expecting a sauna, steam room and relaxation lounge to sit around in before and after your treatment, you may be disappointed. Book it for a treatment, not for a thermal session, and confirm with the spa first if the thermal circuit is the reason you are going.

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

Address: Gosling Sports Park, Stanborough Road, Welwyn Garden City. If you use the on site car park you must give your registration to the spa reception team on arrival. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): Monday to Friday 07:00 to 19:30, Saturday and Sunday 09:00 to 17:00. Thermal facilities: hydrotherapy pool, laconium, sauna and two aroma steam rooms. A towel is provided.

The only branch outside a city centre and the only one that opens at 7am, which makes it the one option in the group for a genuine before work session. It also has a double treatment room bookable online, in spa or by phone, which is the practical answer for couples, friends or a mother and daughter visit. See also couples spa days and mother and daughter spa days.

This is the branch people mean when they search for a Spa Experience in Hertfordshire, and it sits within reach of St Albans and the surrounding towns; our Windsor and St Albans spa days page covers the alternatives nearby.

Belfast

Address: Boucher Road, South Belfast. Nearest station Belfast Central. Hours (week of 31 August 2026): closed Monday, Tuesday to Friday 11:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 to 17:00. Thermal facilities: sauna, steam room, saunarium, cold plunge pool, hydrotherapy pool and monsoon showers.

The flagship in Northern Ireland, inside the Olympia complex. Two things to note: it is closed on Mondays, which no other branch is, and the cold plunge pool is a recent addition that the branch is actively promoting. Between the saunarium and the plunge, this is the most contrast-therapy oriented of the nine.

City Baths, Newcastle

Address: Northumberland Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8SG. Thermal facilities: Turkish Baths comprising Tepidarium, Caldarium and Laconium, a waterfall bucket, a Hammam and a relaxation lounge.

Set in beautifully restored Turkish Baths, and the only branch in the north of England. It is the one place in the group where you can choose between a traditional Turkish bath session and a conventional treatment.

Check the hours before travelling. The opening hours table on the City Baths page is labelled “Facility: Centre” and was showing no times at all when we checked on 5 September 2026. Ring or use the booking system rather than turning up.

Which branch to pick

For the fullest thermal circuit: Old Street, then Wimbledon. Both are historic bath houses with the widest range of rooms. Old Street has the building works caveat until roughly the end of October 2026.

For an evening after work: Waltham Forest, open to 9pm on weekdays. Old Street, Wimbledon and Belfast all run to 8pm.

For an early morning: Welwyn Garden City, from 7am, is the only realistic option.

For a women only session: Kensington on Tuesdays, 10am to 3pm. Old Street also publishes a separate female only timetable.

For a treatment rather than a soak: Swiss Cottage or Woolwich Waves. Both are treatment led with limited or no thermal facilities.

For contrast bathing: Belfast, which has both a saunarium and a cold plunge pool.

What to expect, honestly

Set your expectations to the format. These are spas inside leisure centres, so the changing rooms are busier and plainer than a hotel spa, and the relaxation lounge is a room rather than a wing. Weekend afternoons are the busiest slots in every branch and a weekday morning is a completely different experience for the same treatment.

The upside is real: several of these are architecturally significant Victorian and Edwardian bath houses that a commercial operator would have turned into flats, they are on the Underground rather than at the end of a long drive, and the treatment quality is generally well reviewed. If you have only ever done hotel spa days, this is a different and in some ways more interesting thing, closer to a Turkish bath tradition than to a wellness resort.

A few practical points that apply across the group. Bring flip flops, because you will be walking on wet tile between rooms. Check whether a towel is provided at your branch; Welwyn Garden City states that it is, and the others are worth confirming. And arrive early enough to use the thermal rooms before your treatment rather than after, which is both better for the massage and the way the timings usually work out. Our what to wear to a spa day guide covers the rest.

For alternatives at a similar price point, see spa days in London, and for the wider picture, the best spa hotels in England.

Frequently asked questions

How many Spa Experience locations are there? Nine, as of September 2026: Old Street, Kensington, Swiss Cottage, Wimbledon, Waltham Forest and Woolwich Waves in London, Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, Belfast, and City Baths in Newcastle. Pages elsewhere still list branches in Epsom, Surrey, Essex and Somerset; those are not on the chain’s own current locations list.

What facilities does Spa Experience Old Street have? Saunas, aroma steam rooms, Turkish Baths comprising the Tepidarium, Caldarium and Laconium, ice fountains, monsoon showers, a bucket shower, a plunge pool, a Hammam and a relaxation lounge. It is the most complete thermal circuit in the group.

Is Old Street the same as Ironmonger Row Baths? Yes. The branch is formally Spa Experience at Ironmonger Row Baths, at 1 Norman Street in Islington, and the nearest station is Old Street. The historic bath house features were restored as part of the refurbishment.

Does Spa Experience Kensington have women only sessions? Yes. Its own page publishes female only thermal spa sessions every Tuesday from 10am to 3pm, with general sessions resuming at 3pm. Old Street also publishes a separate female only timetable on its location page.

Who owns Spa Experience? GLL, a charitable social enterprise and registered society that runs leisure facilities for councils under the Better brand. Spa Experience is a registered trading name of GLL (Trading) Limited, company number 04234158.

Is there a Spa Experience in Belfast? Yes, on Boucher Road in South Belfast, with a sauna, steam room, saunarium, cold plunge pool, hydrotherapy pool and monsoon showers. It is closed on Mondays, which is unique among the nine branches, so check the day before travelling.

Sources

• Spa Experience: find a spa near you
• Spa Experience: Ironmonger Row Baths, Old Street
• Spa Experience: Kensington

All facilities, addresses and opening hours on this page were taken from each branch’s own location page on 5 September 2026 and are the published week of 31 August 2026 timetable. Hours change seasonally and by facility, so confirm on the branch page before travelling.