In days gone by you might have wandered into a workout studio, listened to a bit of pop music, done a few lunges and curls and called it a wrap on your fitness routine for the week. These days, however, fitness is only one part of the equation at the coolest urban studios. Instead, it’s all about wellness there — of the most immersive and luxurious sort. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the Method’s newest three-storey club in Notting Hill.
The Method opened its first studio in Westbourne Grove in March 2025. In the year that followed it expanded rapidly, opening two studios in Paris’s 9th and 16th arrondissements, with plans to expand to New York. It also adapted its first location in London into a full-time Reformer studio, now called Studio R, and launched the Club, its latest location, down the road in April. “Increasingly people want more than just fitness, they want the exercise, but they want to do it in a beautiful space which makes them feel good,” the Method’s CEO, Katie Henderson, who worked in the luxury wellness and hospitality space for over a decade before her role at The Method, explains.
The Method Club is airy and bright, with curved walls
Expansive workout studios contain branded weights and exercise balls2026 Rachel Takes Pictures
Indeed, stepping across the threshold of the Club feels a bit like entering a temple — or a celebrity’s Malibu home. The space is bright and airy, with expansive whitewashed walls that I’m told by Henderson were designed specifically with guest’s circadian rhythms in mind. The building has also, according to the website, “banished hard angles in favour of enveloping curves and a considered palette” to help visitors feel more relaxed and receptive to the workout. Those curved walls are adorned with glowing neon works from artists like Tracey Emin and James Turrell. Inside the workout studios, aesthetics and atmospherics are just as important. Some classes are done in bright rooms kitted out with weights from brands like Bala and Method branded exercise balls. Other classes are done in darker rooms for a more immersive experience (particularly helpful for the dance class, where you might feel more comfortable letting loose under the cover of relative darkness).
The Method’s original class was a rhythm cardio dance class, which was devised by theteam as a way to make cardio effective, yes, but still enjoyable and fun. In the months that followed it expanded its classes, offering ten different styles of exercise including Reformer pilates, a class called Blast (a full-body strength and HITT workout), one called LSD (a resistance-driven mat workout) and another called Beat Power (a dance class geared for a hit of endorphins with your cardio). There is also a yoga class called D-Flow that brings together yoga and pilates for low-impact conditioning with a focus on mobility. Classes hold up to only 16 people, so instructors can make sure that they are keeping a close eye on form and class flow.
The Method’s original class was a rhythm cardio dance class2026 Rachel Takes Pictures
The dance studio has lower lighting for a more immersive experience
“A lot of high street classes demand a very high level of fitness and we wanted to create a place where anybody was welcome,” Henderson says. “We also wanted to create a space where you had a really good time. We didn’t want it to be one of these classes where it was all about beating personal bests, pain and pressure and pushing yourself.” In the classes you’ll find empathetic and experienced instructors. Some even have professional dance backgrounds having worked in Hollywood, West End productions and at the Royal Ballet, and still train actors and dancers for the stage outside of their work at the Method.
Though one of the most exciting developments at the Club is their new spa, the Lab, which is located in the basement. Treatments take place in chicly monastic rooms with blue LED lighting, where many of the therapists have developed bespoke treatments specifically for the Method. These include acupuncture with Renata Nunes (£200), a practitioner with over 20 years of experience who can combine the treatment with a manual muscle therapy inspired by TCM. There is also a Body Sculpting Detox with Iani Motta (£240) that is a firm-pressure lymphatic drainage massage inspired by Brazilian techniques, as well as a French body sculpting massage technique called Remodelage, created by Martine De Richeville, that is performed by the expert Massimo Riva (£190). A guided stretching session on offer incorporates myofascial release and synchronised breathing and there is soon to be a contrast therapy room with a large Swedish sauna and three ice baths, which can be paired with guided breathwork sessions.
The large outdoor terrace on the ground floor, where the new outpost of Nathalie Mayfair is based2026 Rachel Takes Pictures
Glowing neon works from artists like Tracey Emin and James Turrell line the walls2026 Rachel Takes Pictures
Back on the ground floor you’ll find the new outpost of Nathalie Mayfair, where svelte guests kitted out in perfectly co-ordinated activewear can be seen enjoying salads on the large outdoor terrace. You can even match your smoothie to your fitness class. The Muscle Recovery smoothie has anti-inflammatory ingredients like banana, turmeric, black pepper and ginger and, according to the team, pairs best with a Beat Cardio or Blast class. Meanwhile the Longevity Shake, which has cocoa, cinnamon, chia seeds and maca is designed to promote skin elasticity and joint health, and is best paired with the D-Flow yoga class or a dance class.
For members of the Club, a £442 per month fee gets you unlimited fitness classes at any Method location as well as unlimited contrast therapy access, guest passes and priority bookings for classes and at the Lab. There is even an upcoming 4-day member’s retreat at the Como Alpina in the Dolomites planned which will include classes from The Method and recovery wellness sessions at the hotel’s spa. Members also have access to the large airy lounge on the third floor with its own private balcony looking over Notting Hill. There, the club hosts special member events and speakers throughout the year.
The Method is based in a three-storey building in Notting Hill
So, sure, you could have a great workout wandering into a class on any high street. But would you really be investing in your wellness, or indeed your joy, if it didn’t involve a little dance cardio, some contrast therapy, a bespoke treatment to soothe your tired muscles and the appropriate smoothie for your journey home?
Single fitness class for £35, membership begins at £442 per month, themethod.com
Five other one-stop ‘wellness’ shops in London
1. Surrenne
Inside the Emory hotel in Belgravia you’ll find Surrenne, the gym meets spa meets pool, where you could easily spend a whole day luxuriating. The destination is home to a large gym kitted out with Technogym gear as well as the only Tracey Anderson studio in the UK, where the cult pilates-style sculpt classes are conducted in heated rooms with springy floors. After exercising, guests can visit the 22m indoor pool, illuminated by skylight and featuring underwater speakers, before stopping off in the sauna and steam room, and later the spa for treatments ranging from Lyma laser facials to sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Finish the day off by grabbing a nutritionist-developed bite at the attached café.
surrenne.com
2. Lanserhof at the Arts Club
The Arts Club is known for its chic restaurant and lovely rooms, but now a stay can be optimised into a wellness experience thanks to the club’s partnership with the Austrian clinic Lanserhof. The clinic has a data-driven approach to wellness, which includes everything from metabolic testing to functional screenings that help inform the treatments and workouts that are suggested for you. This means that you can use your time effectively and address root causes of everything from inflammation to acne. They can even use this information to prepare you for big sporting events like your first marathon. The spa is home to a huge range of massage therapies from Thai and shiatsu to deep tissue and lymphatic drainage. Over on Dover Street you can also couple the information from Lanserhof with the perfect facial at the Augustinus Bader Skin Lab (another partner).
lhtac.com
3. 180 Health Club
180 Health Club is a hub for London’s top wellness practitioners. There is a rotating cast of the capital’s most acclaimed wellness experts offering everything from high end nail art to Qi Gong instruction and even body rolling — a facial release technique using silicone balls. There is also a permanent stable of top-notch experts, from the celebrity-loved laser facialist Natasha Clancy to reiki with Jasmin Harsono. At 180 Studios all this can be coupled with a bite in their 1970s inspired restaurant upstairs at Soho House, and a visit to the contrast therapy room to tackle the inflammation from those indulgent meals. There is also a newly renovated gym in the basement where you can try self-guided sessions on the high-tech gear, or opt for one of the many expert led-classes — from a lengthening tower pilates classes to HIIT sessions.
180studios.com
4. Rebase
Right off Marleybone’s busy high street you’ll find Rebase, one of London’s top luxury bio-hacking destinations. It’s here, after one of the studio’s yoga classes, you can get down to business on optimising your health with anything from a cryotherapy session to a myofacial release message. It’s typical to see busy Londoners working in the hyperbaric chamber on their laptops before they head in for a lymphatic drainage massage or vitamin infusion. There is also a large café serving up coffee, smoothies and snacks designed with macros in mind to help support your wellness journey from the inside out. Guided breathwork and contrast therapy sessions in the sauna and cold plunge are popular, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself sweating next to a celebrity on your next visit.
rebase.com
5. KX
KX has been around since 2002, when it began offering high-end exercise and spa services all under one roof. You can spend an afternoon getting fit at one of its many classes, but you can also dive deep on your wellness with everything from personal training to a visit to the gym or one of the centre’s many fitness classes — which range from combat cardio and HITT to dance, cycling, pilates and barre. KX is also home to a spa with a huge selection of optimisation-friendly technologies, many of which have been made bespoke for the gym. You can try cupping and acupuncture as well as massage therapy. There is even high-tech lymphatic drainage in the form of the T-Shape machine, which uses a combination of mechanical massage functions with radiofrequency to tackle cellulite. The restaurant at KX offers all manner of healthy options to complement your sessions (while not skimping on the fun stuff like caviar, caramalised onion steak sandwiches and line-caught calamari).
kxlife.com