Spa Utopia, Pan Pacific Vancouver Hotel, Canada
Recently, the Pan Pacific Vancouver underwent substantial renovation. As part of the revamp, it has just unveiled its rather spectacular eighth floor, where you’ll find a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, saunas and a sun deck with views over Vancouver Harbour. The hotel’s Spa Utopia has also been refurbished and now has a décor that resembles that of ancient Rome, with towering pillars and cascading waterfalls.
The spa offers relaxation rooms with fireplaces, steam rooms infused with essential oils and a dry sauna. Among the many luxuries are private suites for couples and intimate VIP Suites – each of which comes with a personal hostess, waterfall shower, private dining area and special robes and towels.
Spa Utopia treatments include bodywork and hydrotherapy, hand and foot care (complete with delightfully named ‘pedicure thrones’) and hairdressing services. Here, they also give more than a passing nod to male clients, too.
The Pan Pacific’s Café Pacifica can prepare dishes from a special spa menu for healthy dining before or after your treatment.
For more information, phone
+1 604 662 8111 or visit www.panpacific.com
The Park Hyatt Sydney
Iluka Spa, Park Hyatt Sydney, NSW
Five-star waterfront establishment Park Hyatt Sydney is celebrating the re-launch of its spa, Iluka, a haven of luxuriant relaxation, with the arrival of exclusive Italian beauty brand Comfort Zone. It will be the only spa in Australian to feature and sell the brand’s luxury products.
The re-launch is the result of a succession of changes at Iluka that include extended opening hours and the addition of a relaxation room, new treatments and a ‘man space’ option for male clientele.
Iluka spa is now ready to resume its role as a tranquil urban day spa occupying Sydney’s most scenic address. Superbly located on the top floor of the Park Hyatt, it affords dress-circle views of the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the harbour itself. What better place to unwind?
For more information, phone 02 9256 1633 or visit sydney.park.hyatt.com
Relaxing inside Chuan Spa at the Langham Auckland
Chuan Spa, The Langham Auckland, New Zealand
The new Chuan Spa & Health Club at the five-star Langham in Auckland provides state-of-the-art health and fitness facilities, including an swimming pool and gymnasium and a tranquil spa complex.
Chuan Spa is founded on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, which aims to restore harmony to the body. The Chinese word chuan means ‘serene course of water’, and the facilities at this namesake spa are modelled to reflect such harmony and flow, drawing on the principles of feng shui to create a haven from the outside world and embracing a natural aesthetic, with interiors in soft and calming hues.
The exclusive treatment facilities here include herbal steam rooms, sauna, a Jacuzzi, snail showers and an exhilarating ‘ice experience’. Among the treatments on Chuan Spa’s extensive menu is a three-hour Five Elements Rebalance: Chinese tea served in a private spa suite, followed by a seaweed petal bath, signature stone therapy massage and a foot-therapy massage and scrub.
For more information, phone + 64 9 379 5132 or visit auckland.langhamhotels.co.nz
A VIP couple suite at Willow Stream Spa in Singapore
Willow Stream Spa, Fairmont Singapore
Willow Stream Spa is one of the largest spa facilities in Asia, offering the best in spa and fitness services: 35 treatment rooms, sauna and steam rooms, a whirlpool and cold plunge pool, two free-form swimming pools, tennis courts, a fitness centre, a health-oriented restaurant and pool bar, Alligator Pear, where the chefs have developed a unique spa cuisine menu featuring low-fat, low-sodium and low-cholesterol meals.
For the ultimate in privacy and service, there are VIP couples’ suites, each with private shower facilities, a lounge and a spa minibar as well as the convenience of in-suite dining.
Among the many treatments offered are the 90-minute Willow Stream Elements, which draws on nature’s elements: earth (mud wrap), air (aromatherapy), water (mineral bath) and fire (warm massage); and the 60-minute Travel Recovery Massage, in which essential oils are used to help regulate sleep, rehydrate skin, relieve tension headaches and restore energy.
For more information, phone +65 6431 5600 or visit www.fairmont.com/singapore
A flower bath in the spa at Anantara Phuket
Anantara Spa, Phuket, Thailand
The recently opened spa at Anantara Resort & Spa, Phuket incorporates five treatment suites, some with splendid tubs for bathing rituals, as well as a suite devoted to the ancient Indian therapies of ayurveda, and a yoga sala. The signature massage at Anantara is a blend of Eastern and Western techniques and ingredients that lets guests experience the benefits of traditional Oriental medicine in comfort and relaxation. The therapist uses a customised blend of oils and massage specifically designed to stimulate circulation, provide deep muscle relaxation and clear energy blockages.
Special treatments for two include massages, facials and body treatments: enjoy them with your lover, friend, mother or daughters in one of the spa’s double therapy suites.
For more information, phone +66 76 336 100 or visit www.anantara.com
Enjoying the spa pool at Hepburn Bathhouse
Tried and Tested
Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa, Hepburn Springs, Australia
You can almost hear people sighing as they plunge into the therapeutic waters of the Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa. Just thinking about these mineral waters, discovered seeping through the hills of Hepburn Springs back in the 1830s, makes you feel good – but when you immerse yourself, it’s even better.
The Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa, a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, has undergone a AU$13 million makeover and now boasts a stunning contemporary design, with communal bathing areas and more than 30 wet and dry rooms, used for luxurious spa treatments.
Since Hepburn Springs opened its doors to visitors in 1894 with just two baths, the place has come a long way. Step through the front doors of this thoroughly modern bathhouse and you have a choice of communal bathing rituals or private spa treatments – a combination of both is recommended.
The communal area is divided into two areas: the bathhouse, featuring a relaxation pool and a spa pool; and, for those wanting a more secluded experience, the sanctuary, complete with underwater spa couches, an aroma steam room, a saltwater float pool and freshwater monsoon showers.
My favourites are the spa pool and the underwater couches; in the former, pure mineral water is heated to 35 degrees – the ideal temperature at which to enjoy a hydro massage while you recline and gaze out onto the establishment’s lush gardens.
Next I head to the private spa area for a mineral bath. Stepping into a warm, effervescent bath of azure crystals and algae petals, I feel the ‘waters’ working their magic. After a good soak, I am ready for my Oceanic body wrap, a decadent experience during which warm, mineral-rich Dead Sea mud is smoothed over my body before I’m cocooned in a comforting wrap – the mud, allegedly, helping to rejuvenate my tired skin. I even drift off to sleep, it’s all so relaxing. Next, I shower and enjoy a moisturising massage that leaves my skin soft and supple.
The impressive spa menu offers lomi lomi, remedial, Thai and hot-stone massages, shirodhara, Chinese cupping, Vichy shower, thermal and steam infusions, clay body wraps and outdoor massages. Water therapies offered include Soul Temple, Cocoon, DIY Steam Surrender and Crystal Rain, the latter a 45-minute treatment that takes place in the Vichy shower suite, starting with a ‘polish’ of sea-salt crystal and algae petals to exfoliate the skin, moving on to the water therapy and finishing with a hydrating emulsion to leave the skin soft and silky.
I depart Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa feeling genuinely rejuvenated, even noticing a new spring in my step. The secret, clearly, is in the waters.
For more information, phone 03 5321 6000 or visit www.hepburnbathhouse.com
By Sue Wallace
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Capital Gains