Rachel Lorente: Women's Balance at Chapel House, Penzance

Down the stairs at Chapel House

A small chalkboard sits on the windowsill at Chapel House, one of my favourite places to stay in the UK, propped on a wooden easel next to a little bronze figure in a sou'wester. On the afternoons Rachel Lorente is working, it says "Treatment in progress... thank you for being quiet" in careful white capitals, with an arrow and a hand-drawn heart underneath, and I found myself lowering my voice and treading quietly as I walked past it.

The arrow points down to the lower ground floor of Sue's Georgian townhouse on Chapel Street, where the walls are painted a deep petrol blue. Rachel's room is at the end of a short corridor, behind a heavy curtain printed with jungle leaves and animals. Candles in ribbed glass bowls throw wavering stripes up the walls, and a copper-shaded lamp leans over a pale blue armchair with a pot of tea or water beside it. The treatment bed is made up with chocolate towels and a paisley throw; a towel/flannel warmer glows red in the corner, and a wooden box of essential oils, fifty or so dark bottles in neat rows, sits open on a stool.

Rachel calls it her cosy womb space. Being half underground, it stays warm in winter and cool in summer, and you hear almost nothing of the street above.

Rachel, and why women

Rachel set up Women's Balance to treat women only, from the hormonal shifts and big decisions of adult life to pregnancy and the months after a birth, mothers who give most of themselves away, and women going through perimenopause and menopause. She believes women's nervous systems are overstimulated, our minds defragmented at times, and anyone who has lain awake at two in the morning running through a to-do list will know what she means.

She is a certified aromatherapist and also offers reflexology, organic facials, pregnancy massage and biodynamic craniosacral therapy, a gentle hands-on practice with its roots in osteopathy, done fully clothed. She is warm and unhurried, and talks about her room at Chapel House with obvious affection. "I feel so lucky to work here," she says.

The Well Woman Rejuvenation

'Rachel's treatments are as good as the rooms at Chapel House, and that's saying something' Lulu

Rachel's signature treatment lasts a luxurious and leisurely two hours, which I love!! Most hotel spas have cut their massages to fifty minutes, and it takes me at least half that to stop thinking about emails and my to-do lists.

The treatment starts with your feet in warm water with Himalayan salt and rose petals while Rachel talks you through some slow breathing. Then comes dry skin brushing and a long full-body massage with Neal's Yard oils, blended from bergamot, geranium, rose, clary sage, frankincense and patchouli. Aromatherapists have long used clary sage and geranium for hormonal ups and downs, and frankincense gives the blend a resinous, churchy smell I really like.

The second hour moves to the face, with an Inlight Beauty facial, a long gua sha massage and a scalp massage that went on far longer than I expected. She finishes with full reflexology, which brings you back down through your feet before you climb the stairs and walk home along the harbour. It costs £120.

I came out feeling looked after, nurtured and properly grounded. The bed is heated and, under a pile of warm towels, I drifted off more than once. If you overthink, spend too much time in your own head or are simply worn out, I would book this before anything else on her list.

Oils that change with the weather and your mood

Rachel uses only organic, synthetic-free products, and for facials she uses skincare from Inlight Beauty, also made in Cornwall. Her blends change with the seasons or your mood. In summer, when salt and sun dry the skin, she leans toward gentle exfoliation and moisturising oils; in winter, she works against the back-and-forth between central heating and the wind off Mount's Bay.

The seasonal blend is only her starting point. If Rachel feels you need something different that day, she goes back to the box of fifty-odd oils and picks others to suit you. In fact, in a previous treatment, the blend was lavender, green mandarin and cypress oil, because that's what Rachel felt I needed.

If two hours is more than you have time for, the craniosacral sessions are worth a look, particularly if you are carrying an old injury or a long stretch of stress. Rachel rests her hands on your head, back or ribs for minutes at a time, which she describes as listening through the hands, and helps the body let go of tension held from injuries, illness and difficult experiences.

Booking

The Well Woman Rejuvenation costs £120 for two hours and can be booked at womensbalance.co.uk, along with Rachel's other treatments and seasonal rituals. Gift vouchers are available. You can also reach her on 07712 576664 or at rachel@womensbalance.co.uk, and on Instagram at @womensbalanceholistic.

Chapel House is on Chapel Street in Penzance, a few minutes' walk from the harbour and the station. If you are staying the night, ask for the hot tub and sauna in the garden as well (they need an hour's notice) and keep the evening free.

As of 27 October 2026, I live in Penzance and am incredibly grateful to be just a minute's walk from Chapel House and Rachel's wonderful treatments.