Spa 303 At The Hilton

CITY-BASED spas have a tougher job than their countryside counterparts. Creating a soothing ambience of harmony and balance is fairly easy if you're surrounded by fields and your clients are already in chilled holiday-mode. Getting people to calm down in the middle of the working week at a spa only steps away from the city-centre frenzy is a mite harder. Especially when they're running late and haven't finished half the stuff they were supposed to before leaving the office.

This is how it was when we visited Spa 303 which opened last month at the Hilton Hotel. It's in the space formerly inhabited by Heaven Spa, but it's a completely new team, new management, and new set of treatments. (But that same ace view from the swimming pool.)

We went along to try out the facial and body treatments on the Daycation package that the spa is selling with a £25 saving for Confidential readers. It sounds like the perfect way to get that Zen-like holiday feeling without actually leaving Manchester.

You start your daycation in Podium breakfasting on patisseries or taking afternoon tea. Then you take the lift up to Spa 303 to lounge around by the pool, detoxify in the sauna and steam room – and have one of the spa's exclusive Jeanne Piaubert treatments. Later you head back down to Podium for lunch or dinner.

Sadly, we weren't allowed to 'test out' out the whole daycation package. (Presumably, they didn't need us to tell people how good Podium is; it's not exactly breaking news.) But here's what to expect from the treatments.

The Jeanne Piaubert Firming Body Treatment
Sarah Tierney

After a particularly intense (read: painful) anti-cellulite massage at a spa a few months ago, I've become nervous of body treatments designed to make you more toned and firm. Thankfully this one wasn't of the fat-hammering kind. The toning work was done mainly by the products rather than by the therapist, Esther, who instead concentrated on giving a flowing, intuitive massage (one of the best I've had in Manchester, in fact).

The first stage uses Jeanne Piaubert's Grain Fin body scrub to exfoliate using two sizes of microbeads – one to get rid of dead cells, the other to refine and smooth. Meanwhile silk and peach extracts soften the epidermis. After showering my skin felt satiny soft. But that was only half the treatment.

The second stage is a full body massage using the Jeanne Piaubert Integral Body Lift which sells at about £60 a bottle. Developed by the Methode Jeanne Piaubert Laboratories, it is designed to contour the skin as though it's been 'lifted'.

I think you'd have to use the cream daily for a month or so before you get visible effects. The benefit for me was more the silky smooth skin I had at the end – and the luxury of almost falling asleep on a massage table in the middle of a Tuesday. Given how tense I was on arrival, that's quite an achievement.

The Jeanne Piaubert 45 minute Radiance Enhancing Facial
Lynda Moyo

As soon as I read the slogan for the Jeanne Piaubert brand, I was sold. ‘Beauty has its method’ highlights the fact that this a brand with benefits beyond just smelling nice. Jeanne Piaubert herself, was actually a trained chemical engineer, so I was told by my therapist, Geraldine. The facial is actually as well thought out as the ingredients in each product.

Beginning with the Stimuloval – a tool used to massage and awaken the skin – Geraldine followed this up with the Green Paradise Cleanser and Green Paradise Toner. As this was my first treatment, the Green Paradise range was perfect as it’s known to minimise any risk of an allergic reaction with its gentle ingredients. Geraldine was spot on. As the range is hypoallergenic and paraben-free, skin is left feeling fresh and clean without that tight, stripped sensation.

As my skin type is naturally very dry, Geraldine offered me a bespoke exfoliation which contains walnut microspheres mixed with Nourilys SOS replenishing oil. The walnut exfoliates your skin paving the way for the Nourilys oil to feed through and nourish. It has the same benefits as a facial scrub but this particular method works in the same way as a mask so as not to damage the skin. After it’s massaged into the skin it’s then left to set before being lifted and brushed off. Luckily for me, Geraldine is also a reflexologist so as I didn’t want a head massage whilst the Nourilys was sinking in, she treated me to a reflexology massage on my feet. Now that’s a whole other article in itself!

You shouldn’t really touch your face mid facial, but I couldn’t resist after the mask. It felt supple and soft, as though a tired layer had been lifted off, but without the abrasiveness of a chemical peel. My new skin was then treated to the very plush Radical Firmness lifting-firming facial cream. Normally my skin feels flaky and dry when it’s been deep cleansed, but this particular cream has been designed to address this problem. It contains Shea butter and borage oil – known for its natural, sumptuous healing powers. Beauty really does have its method.