Where? L'Institut de Guerlain is in the five-star Shilla Jeju Resort, on Jeju Island in South Korea.
What's so special about it? Opened in April last year, it's the first L'Institut de Guerlain Spa in Asia. Relaxing therapies are combined with anti-ageing French cosmetic treatments, many offered in special rooms or suites for couples and VIPs. It's already developing an upmarket clientele that includes golfers such as Nick Faldo.
What is there to do? Relax and succumb to any of the 30 treatments. After a consultation, guests are led to a private room where they put on crisp cotton robes and slippers. The next stop is a large relaxation room that feels much like a plush hotel lobby, where guests sink into sofas for a 15-minute foot massage. For main treatments, choose from a menu of body therapies, hydrotherapies, facials and reflexology programmes.
What about the atmosphere? The surroundings are luxurious and exclusive. Vases of fresh flowers set the ambience, soft music from a Bang & Olufsen sound system floats through the rooms, and the fresh scent of pine trees wafts along the corridors.
What's on the menu? The extensive menu includes four different kinds of facials: Express, Complete, Intensive and Beautyssime (an anti-wrinkle treatment using retinol to make the skin glow). The Body Polish consists of an invigorating body exfoliation followed by pressure-point therapy under a Vichy shower. The Intensive Body Therapy programme is a stab at arresting ageing, while frightening-sounding Lymphatic Drainage Therapy entails your being put in a hydrotherapy bath and having your body pampered by sequence-controlled air jets. Guerlain's Nutrition and Lifestyle Assessment is a personalised review of your diet and lifestyle, while the Travel Prescription programme involves a three- hour, pre-flight treatment with hydrotherapy, body polish and complete facial.
Tell us more. All therapists are trained by instructors from Guerlain Paris, and will tailor treatments to meet your needs. The focus is on a holistic approach towards health and relaxation.
