UK-based private hotel group von Essen is to open a new riverside hotel with a subterranean spa in Battersea, London, in mid-2009.

Launching in June, the seven-floor boutique property will comprise 70 bedrooms; a rooftop restaurant and the spa. Covering two levels below the hotel, the spa will include treatment rooms, a hydrotherapy pool and an aromatherapy sanarium. Details: vonessenhotels.co.uk