It begins with the soil. This is the mantra for Heckfield Place, a mindful, sustainable, luxury hotel located 45 minutes outside of London whose mission is to use nature to help restore and invigorate the essence of you. For Heckfield Place, nature is at the core of its establishment and thoughtfully present throughout the property. The house is positioned to align with the sun’s movement. Their farm-to-table approach to food, using what’s organically grown on the biodiverse land, provides guests with hearty, nutritious meals. This month, the Georgian family home in Hampshire is opening a new space within their scenic property, The Bothy by Wildsmith, led by a holistic approach to wellness. It will allow guests to go deep within themselves and become more grounded and connected through nature’s healing elements with an integrated approach to nature’s being through treatments and activities to rejuvenate the mind, body, and soul.
“The journey of The Bothy by Wildsmith started with a walk in the woods,” Reka Seres, Bothy Director shares exclusively with ELLE. “This quiet time spent in nature inspired a vision of a space that would help us return to the rhythms of the natural world—a space for healing and an antidote for our modern ways of living,” she explains.
The Bothy at Heckfield Place is a 17,000 square foot oasis featuring six treatment rooms, including two doubles, perfect for couples or friends. It has three movement spaces whether you want to engage in pilates, lift weights to strengthen your body, or even dance your stress away—intentionally titled, it’s about moving your body toward wellness. The Waters is a chlorine-free space that promotes relaxation and healing by using ionization and natural mineral ions, including copper, silver, zinc, aluminum, and gold. Head to The Oak Terrace for outdoor hydrotherapy in addition to thermal experiences including your traditional sauna and steam room, but also a temperature-and-mood-shifting Experiential Shower and a bucket shower for the perfect cold plunge to reduce your stress and inflammation while improving your sleep and mood.
After all your relaxation, you may be a little hungry, so enjoy The Sun Room—an indoor and outdoor space to enjoy plant-based eats straight from the property. And no worries, The Bothy Shop houses curated products and the entire Wildsmith Skincare line, so you can take the Heckfield experience home.
The Bothy is about connecting with yourself, which doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether it’s enjoying the grounds and looking at the rolling hills of Hampshire on a morning walk or engaging in the Wildsmith Time, a 135-minute full-body experience that incorporates Kinesiology and essential oil blends that costs £310.
It’s hard not to leave feeling better than when you arrived. “The Bothy is a shelter that allows us to reconnect with nature, alter and rebalance our perception of time and gently encourages a return to simplicity,” states Seres.
The Bothy goes deeper than massages and has unique offerings you won’t find in other wellness spaces. The Bothy offers a naturopathy session with their resident Naturopath/Master Practitioner, Ashmina. The session includes Iridology, which analyzes the structure and color of the fibers in the eye’s iris as a key indicator of the health of the organs in your body. Think of the iris as the photograph of what the brain knows about your body—past, present, and yes, even the future. This is a non-invasive way to understand your overall health and be more proactive. It can be a tool to help reveal many health issues, including allergic sensitivity, hypertension, and liver damage, to name a few.
“It is more than a ‘spa’; it’s part of the elegant evolution of Heckfield and the reknitting of all parts of the estate through experiences that integrate wellbeing and nature into every element—from our curated menu of healing, Wildsmith therapies that embrace ancient and modern methods, to our movement program that celebrates the Great Outdoors and a deep respect for our land and all that it provides for us,” explains Seres.
If you want to disconnect to reconnect with yourself, The Bothy at Heckfield Place is for you.
Beauty Director
Danielle James is the Digital Beauty Director of ELLE.com. Previously, she was the Fashion and Beauty Director of HelloBeautiful.com and MadameNoire.com. She’s bylined for The Cut, InStyle, Allure, Business of Fashion, Nylon, Essence, Good Housekeeping, The Grio, and Huffington Post. Danielle enjoys sailing, thrifting, Japanese whiskey, Naomi Campbell’s runway walk, and Rihanna in the comment section.
