A spa of style and substance

Milliner-to-the-stars Philip Treacy designed the interiors of Galways g Hotel in Ireland - but as LUCY WHITE discovered its g Spa is its crowning glory...

It’s remarkably easy to forget, when you’re in Galway’s five-star g Hotel, that you’re located on a busy intersection on Dublin Road. On the outside the building looks like a conference centre but on the inside it’s a kaleidoscope of hot pink, princely purple, sumptuous metallics, Art Deco style furniture, mirrored surfaces and swish reflective black marble - all that you’d expect from milliner-to-the-stars and Co Galway boy Philip Treacy (although, we’ll ignore Princess Beatrice’s Royal Wedding hat…), who designed its interiors. So in vogue is this 101-room boutique hotel, in fact, it even has a suite named after Linda Evangelista, whose divine image adorns many a wall.

Unsurprisingly then the g Spa - and specifically its thermal suite - is equally easy on the eye: A flock of white origami swans hang from the high ceiling; a veneer of grey; water swishes over black marble, and blue and green lighting at once soothes and reinvigorates. Part nightclub, part temple, it’s one of the most ambient and contemporary wet rooms I have ever visited.

Equally high-tech are the tepidarium loungers, the hydro-jets and the rain showers that change colour and effect to suit your mood. A wall of hot air hits you as you first enter the suite, and the vitality pool is bathwater-warm at 36-degrees; temperatures designed to quickly help ease tired muscles. But it doesn’t take long for your body to adjust - and then suddenly you’re in the steam room or sauna, both of which are spacious and feel ‘airy’ thanks to full-length glass windows that look out onto the pool, unlike most claustrophobic chambers.

Suitably relaxed, I headed into one of the eight treatment rooms (which are fairly conventional, although you can choose what colour lighting you’d prefer) for a 55-minute ESPA Intensive Facial where my therapist assessed my skin concerns and advised a rehydrating procedure that began with a thorough cleanse and ended with a face mask, via a gentle exfoliation and acupressure face massage. I drifted away on the scent of rose scented oils…

Although, I must admit, I could have done without the sales pitch on ESPA products at the end of my treatment. Having only minutes earlier been in the spa’s steam room and heated degree pool – and had drank wine during dinner the night before, and not nearly enough water – naturally, my skin was more dehydrated than usual and needed to be rehydrated.

However, overall I discovered substance and style at this handsome spa. Even though rain pelted down floor-to-ceiling windows in the Zen-like relaxation room after my treatment – where reclining beds are electronically operated, and have integrated music channels with personal headphones – there was an overriding sense of beauty and wellbeing.

So, hats off to Philip Treacy for this impressive oasis in a busy part of Galway city.


www.theghotel.ie