Flesh-Eating Fish Pedicure and Hands-Free Shopping at Bentalls

I’m in a shopping centre, legs immersed in an open tank, tiny fish attacking my naked feet.

It’s like a scene from Piranha, except this is actually a relaxing beauty treatment known as the Zoola Fish Pedicure and the fish are toothless Garra Rufa (native to Turkey), the ‘cleaners of the ocean’, that specialise in sucking dead skin off heels and soles.

‘If you spread your toes, they’ll get right in there,’ one therapist recommends.

Thanks for the tip. I nod and lock my toes together.

‘Feels like bubbles, doesn’t it?’ says another.

Sure, if bubbles had eyes and fast-moving tails.

Actually once you get over the initial freak-out it’s quite relaxing, sort of ticklish vibrations like a high-powered, fish-lipped jacuzzi.

About 5 minutes in, I started feeling pretty cool, almost Bond-like, as strangers stopped to stare in awe at the woman being nibbled alive.

The fact there was already an 8-year-old boy having his feet treated in the opposite tank did undermine my ‘bravery’ somewhat.

And I certainly wouldn’t have taken the plunge if fellow blogger Super Amazing Mum hadn’t got in there first!

We were among a group of 10 bloggers invited to a VIP tour of Bentalls Shopping Centre in Kingston last week. I used to live in Kingston when I was younger and the name Bentalls called up memories of shopping for school uniform with my mum.

Bentalls today is a far swankier joint than I remember from the ’80s with 4 floors filled with all the major luxury and high street brands, as well as top nosh spots like Carluccio’s, Satori Sushi and Krispy Kreme.

After dropping our kids off at the World of Children creche, we were led on a whistle-stop tour including Virgin Active gyms (nice changing rooms!), super cool Scandinavian brand Polarn O Pyret (a big hit with the mums) and the fabulous educational games and toys shop Fun Learning, described as the ‘next stage on from Early Learning Centre’.

I was impressed by the range of shops at Bentalls and by the relaxed vibe. It’s ideal for Christmas shopping as you’ll still find everything under one roof, but it’s much less hectic than some of the better known malls.

After a blissfully babe-free couple of hours in which time we got to browse some shops, and some of us had our eyebrows waxed and our feet descaled (bada boom) by fish, it was time to pick up the kids. The creche is bright and airy and packed with toys and games including Wii so the boys had a blast.

The tour was over, but we stuck around for lunch at Frankie B’s diner and scoped out the Children’s World department where they host regular activities like storytelling. The parent and baby rooms are unisex with loads of changing stations, kid-sized basins and toddler seats (for keeping your babe safe while you use the loo).

All in all, we had a great time at Bentalls and didn’t want to leave, not least because it was lashing down with rain outside. It’s only about 20 minutes via South West trains from Waterloo, Clapham Junction or Vauxhall and the centre’s an easy 2 or 3 minutes walk from Kingston station.

I have friends who live in the area so I’ll definitely be popping back. As for the fish pedicure, it’s worth it for the experience and my feet were noticeably smoother. Although next time I’ll probably stick with the old foot spa and pumice stone!

** Thanks to the event organisers for the day out and the goodie bag packed with treats.

Bentalls (The Bentall Centre) in Kingston, KTI ITP is open 9.30am-6pm (Mon-Wed, Fri), 9.30am-9pm (Thu) and 11am-5pm (Sun). Visit www.thebentallcentre-shopping.com

Visit Zoola Fish for more on fish pedicures