It might sound cruel, but the place I really want to while away Mother’s Day – or at least the afternoon – is deep underground at AIRE Ancient Baths near London’s Embankment, floating and wallowing in series of fresh and salt water pools. Some may prefer to be pampered by their children, but in all honesty I can’t think of a bigger treat than being sans children and phone for a couple of revitalising and relaxing hours.

Part of a group of spas across the world, AIRE Ancient Baths takes its inspiration from the bathing traditions of the Greeks, Romans and the Ottoman Empire, but reinvents them in the spirit of serious modern luxury. The London outpost of AIRE can be found beneath an 18th-century townhouse (once home to JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan) near the Embankment, an underground space originally built as wharfs where boats transporting goods up the river could unload. The beautiful, vaulted brick structure may originally have been home to scenes of bustling commerce, but it lends itself incredibly well to the tranquil, slightly mysterious atmosphere AIRE have created.

The spa is arranged around a series of pools inspired by the varying temperatures you might find in a Roman bath: the tepidarium (warm bath), caldarium (hot bath), frigidarium (cold bath), plus a steam room and a ‘flotarium’ or salt water bath. A 90 minute or two hour experience at the baths will see you moving between the various pools in the order that pleases you; you can also include massages and other treatments in your session: a member of the team will come and find you and send you off in the lift to a treatment room, so there’s no stress trying to find where you need to be. I’d highly recommend the 30 minute ancient relaxing massage, which focusses on the back of your body. It’s the ideal length and means you have ample time to explore the pools in a 90-minute session.

As you enter the baths, you are encouraged to cease thinking about time; phones are strictly prohibited, and occasional bells are used to signal approximately how far through the session you are. I must admit I found myself pleasantly unaware of the time of day – or even day of the week after an hour or so. There are no loud noises or splashes, the light is dim and the staff in attendance have a hushed and reverent tone, with the general effect more in line with a temple than a bath house. The architecture has the same effect; this has considerably more gravitas than the usual glossily luxurious underground spa and it has a particularly soothing, almost humbling, effect.

The way the baths are constructed means there is little space for active swimming, but you can float gently around the larger pools, interspersing the experience with steams, plunges into the cold pools, and periods of rest in the relaxation area. I particularly liked the Steam Room – so steamy, in fact, that it was hard to see the layout of the room, which served to only heighten how relaxing it felt. A niftily placed cold plunge pool at the end of the room allows you to cool off without even leaving the space – and there is a another one just outside if you fancy a change of scene. Equally good was the salt-water ‘floatarium’ – majestic in its proportions and so salty that you’ll find it impossible not to float when you lie on your back.

It is difficult to overstate how peaceful the place is. And the effect it will have on a slightly frazzled mother, who is more used to being covered in sticky fingers and paint. It’s an entirely other world and will leave you in that perfect state of being both relaxed and energised.

Prices at AIRE start from £95 for a 90 minute session in the baths. Book at beaire.com