Wellness centres grow to provide healthy lifestyles
Nothing succeeds like success and, in the past few years, success has been synonymous with wellness. From providing little more than massages and facials, spas have grown to take in body treatments, a revitalised holistic approach, and even medical procedures.
Independent day spas have sprung up in city centres, and few five-star hotels nowadays are without a spa. At the start of the boom, resorts converted existing space into spas, but more recently they have taken to designing entire spa villages alongside the property.
The foremost example in Asia is Chiva-Som, which occupies a prime beachside location in Hua Hin, Thailand. The resort takes its cue from its spa philosophy, with cuisine attuned to healthy - yet gourmet - eating, and an array of programmes that include destressing, detoxing, fitness, physical renewal, yoga classes, weight management and pampering that covers everything from traditional Thai massage to organic coffee scrubs.
Just across the Pearl River, the medi-spa business is about to get a huge boost with the opening of the MaloClinicSPA in Macau this summer. Set within the Venetian casino and hotel complex, at just under 8,000 square metres, the facility will be the largest in the world, with six operating theatres and 58 treatment suites. The holistic menu encompasses preventative and curative dental and medical care, spa and beauty treatments, cosmetic anti-ageing, leisure and fitness, and lifelong wellness.
More low key and thoroughly bucolic, The Farm at San Benito, two hours' drive south of the Philippines' capital Manila, spreads over 48 hectares and offers prevention and recovery programmes. The natural body detoxification techniques aim to reduce toxins, boost overall immunity, encourage mental clarity leading to improved lifestyle habits, and can have a profound impact on understanding relationships.
One of the oldest established treatment centres in the world is the town in Belgium fittingly named Spa. People suffering ailments have been taking its mineral rich waters since the ninth century.
A new complex called Les Thermes de Spa has opened, with 60 luxurious treatment rooms where guests can choose from thermal and beauty treatments, including Niagara baths, peat packs, facials and hot stone treatments.
