A Wellness Sanctuary In Central London

Five-star boutique hotel The Mandrake is known for its beautiful interior design, art collection and luxurious space where guests can relax in comfort in artfully curated surroundings. Art, style and comfort meet in The Mandrake’s 33 luxurious rooms, suites and an award-winning Penthouse.

Founded and owned by entrepreneur and art collector Rami Fustok, the Fitzrovia hotel has carved out a reputation for combining art, culture and design, and even housed the unique Minor Attractions during Frieze Week in 2024, billed as ‘not an art fair’ and designed as a selling event for emerging contemporary art, with emerging and established galleries taking over hotel rooms to present contemporary art. The Mandrake also presents a constantly evolving curated programme featuring artists, performers, exhibitions and events. Guests can sample modern South American food with European influences inspired by Fustok’s travels in the Yopo Restaurant and Yopo Bar or try cocktails made with ancient herbs and botanicals on the outdoor Jurema Terrace.

The Mandrake’s owner Rami Fustok personally curated the hotel’s art collection in order to ”set the stage for a dance between the Shadow and the Soul”, and the eclectic collection includes Kour Pour’s ‘Tsugigami Tiger’, Ryan Hewett’s crouching cyborg, spiritual paintings by Italian artist Francesco Clemente and the alchemical iconography of tattoo artist Thomas Hooper.

Despite its central location in the West End of London, the hotel offers a welcome escape in Fitzrovia from the hustle and bustle of nearby Oxford Street, and the opening of its new Damu Spa means that guests and visitors can add wellness to the experience. The Mandrake Spa is named after Damu, the Sumerian god of healing and transformation. Damu symbolises restoration and renewal, and the treatments on offer in the spa are derived from ancient wisdom and innovative science. Damu’s treatments are designed to support holistic health and are inspired by Mesopotamian mythology, which stated that Damu symbolised transformation and transition.

Damu is billed as the world’s first immersive spa and I put this claim to the test by trying out the immersive Origin Pool, which offers a sensory healing treatment integrating water haptics with low frequency vibrational therapy. The treatment was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and left me feeling revitalized after a particularly stressful house move. The origin pool immersive experience is the first of its kind and is enhanced by sound and chromotherapy to elevate the healing process whilst the body is at zero gravity. While I floated in a circular pool, music and vibrations were accompanied by abstract images projected on a circular screen above my head, with an immersive soundscape and heavily salted warm water that combine to create a feeling of rebirth, euphoria and holistic renewal.

The spa interiors were designed by Tala Fustok Studio with an emphasis on capturing the essence of shadow and light, using natural materials and a sandy brown and cream palette, the luxurious dressing rooms feature black mosaic tile detailing and natural products. The Mandrake exclusively partnered with the Marina Abramović Longevity Method on the Damu spa. Longevity is a leading trend in spas and wellness for 2025 and Damu spa is the only hotel globally to offer natural drops created by master Dr Nonna Brenner and endorsed by Marina Abramović as her secret to Longevity.

I also tried out a rejuvenating mud treatment in Damu’s dimly lit Mud caves, designed with micro cement walls and rugged textures to create a womb-like escape from the city. The ‘Damu Ritual’ is a multi-sensory experience involving a steam room and rain shower followed by the application of mud sourced from the Austrian Alps and enriched with medicinal plants in homage to Damu. After the treatments guests can drink fresh mint tea in the high-ceilinged, plant-filled Tranquility room–created in collaboration with award winning landscape architect Bas Smets and including rare botanical specie such as albino Birds of Paradise and BeachSpider Lilies–whilst listening to a soothing DAMU soundscape composed by Pierre-Arnaud Alumni.

Damu’s combination of ancient wellness rituals, natural therapies and state of the art technology means that guests can experience rejuvenating and reinvigorating treatments that leave you feeling mentally and physically rebalanced.

Treatments at Damu spa start at £130 and can be booked here.