Chuan Spa is the city's go-to destination for luxury pampering based on traditional Chinese medicine, but this summer it has launched a treatment with a South Pacific islands theme.
The Polynesian Spa Ritual was developed by Thalgo, the French brand famed for its high-end line of products developed from marine plants and algae.
With Chinese, Swedish, Thai and Indian treatments dominating the luxury spa landscape, it's refreshing to see another variety putting down a marker at the Langham Place Hotel.
After relaxing in the steam room and sauna in the changing rooms, you are brought out to a tranquil waiting area, where the therapist takes you to one of the many spacious treatment rooms, with an added bonus of being offered your choice of the type of music you'd like in the room.
The Polynesian Spa Ritual starts with a 30-minute 'island' body scrub that invigorates the skin and removes dry, dead skin cells. Sea salt, white sand from the beaches of Bora Bora, vanilla and coconut shell provide the exfoliating grains in the Thalgo range. This part of the treatment is refreshing, the products smell fantastic and your circulation feels stimulated.
After showering off the scrub and returning to the massage table, you begin a blissful hour of relaxing Mahana body massage, which incorporates a slow rocking motion derived from a traditional Polynesian technique. The massage is meant for deep relaxation and doesn't have the hard specific pressure of sports or Chinese massages. Instead, the therapist applies long, smooth, expert strokes to the body.