Yes, I know - you’d have thought I was spa’d out after all the indulgences in China, but after the flight from Beijing I was feeling a bit rumpled, so decided to go and have a look, as the spa was perfectly placed between my arrival and departure gates.

The ladies were so nice I couldn’t help booking in for a 15 minute scalp and neck jet lag massage.  Although it was a bit spenny after all the super cheap treatments in China, it  meant I also got half price entry to the spa and my robe, towel and slippers (which again you keep - I came back from China with a lot of slippers!) were free, so I only had to add on the price of a swimsuit rental (don’t ask me why my bikini was at the bottom of my case, I packed several time zones before!)  (You can go naked for treatments, but you do need swimwear for the spa itself.  Be warned, the ladies swimwear is a nice basic Adidas one piece, the gentlemen’s rentals are Speedos.)

Anyway, after sitting crumpled in a small seat for 8 and a half hours, slipping into a natural mineral water pool with jacuzzi - oh my... feels incredible.  Although it’s only wide enough for about three strokes - who cares, it’s heaven!  Then you can lie on the full body shelf and let the jacuzzi bubbles massage your feet, your back - every stressed, tired bit of you.

In between the different heat rooms I just let my body relax and unclench on a heated hammam couch, while the lovely ladies here brought me fruit, and pointed out the fresh juice and water dotted around the place.  It is worth remembering it is really important that you keep well hydrated as both long haul flights and any spa treatments can be dehydrating!  (Okay, safety note done!)

The “reflexology” paddling pool is nice and cold, so it is  refreshing, but not much to write home about after the reflexology pools at the Mandarin Oriental - or even my shower floor at the Double Happiness Courtyard (oh yes I had been spoilt!)  But what is great are the distinctly Scandinavian heat rooms.  I couldn’t be bothered with the Sauna, but the Steam Room (or Steam Sauna), with another very good Kneipp Hose was well worth it.

The Stonebath was fun, if a little gimmicky, but I fell in love with the Brechelbath.  Yes it was totally cute and kitsch, but after immersion in Chinese culture it was great to try something different.  This was my favourite and I spent a good long time in here soaking up that wonderful air (especially fabulous after a few days of Beijing’s famous pollution.)

I dipped back into the pool and the Brechelbath until I really was all spa’d out.  By this time one of the lovely ladies had also come out and told me that my flight had been slightly delayed, so not to worry about the time, and that they would come and give me updates.  Now this is what you are really paying for - after four flights where I was too tired to sit down and relax just in case I fell asleep, in Helsinki I got to lie down on a heated hammam, enjoy fruit and juice, close my eyes, safe in the knowledge that I wasn’t going to sleep through that last call.

When the time came for my massage I felt that I’d already had my money’s worth.  Then, either because that’s the way they do things in Helsinki, or because they didn’t have many customers, my 15 minute massage turned into more of a 30 minute one - score!  First of all I had heated pads put on my back - so lovely, and a gentle pressure stimulation of my back.  At first I wasn’t that impressed after the exceptional acupressure massages in China, but then I turned over (and it was lovely to be in the hands of a professional Finnish masseur - very straightforward, very assured), and had the most wonderful gentle stimulation of my face and neck - somehow she managed to hit all the points, especially around my sinuses, that get painful when I fly.  Just superb.

Although I had planned to get dressed they told me that my flight would be at least another 40 minutes, so let me lay back down  - this time on the super comfortable leather loungers - and brought me white tea with honey. 

A little while later I was ready to get dressed, pour on the body lotion and float onto my plane.  And it was just as well I did stop in the spa, as I was sitting in front of two small babies who didn’t stop crying the whole flight from Helsinki to London - and I still fell asleep.  It was so nice to get back home and instead of having that horrible grubby, I’ve been up all night, long haul feeling, I just felt like I had been totally pampered and went straight to sleep.

If you can’t afford to fly first class, or even if you can, I highly recommend you add this first class spa to your trip - it will improve your flying experience so, so much.  Probably the best money I have ever spent in an airport.

I will just mention one downside to this spa - it is fairly new and so still seems to be the domain of business class flyers, who are nice enough, but one or two seemed to be under the impression that it was okay to rustle the newspaper, use a mobile or even a laptop in the relaxation area.  But don’t worry - I explained to them gently that it wasn’t.