VR massage at The Oddly Satisfying Spa Ridgewood, New York, USA 90 minutes US$40 Spa treatments have been paired with virtual reality at New York’s Oddly Satisfying Spa. The three-day, pop-up spa featured a curation of relaxing experiences inspired by the rise of #oddlysatisfying internet content which has seen millions of people on YouTube and Instagram tuning in to watch videos such as slime making and marbled cake glazing.
Treatments included a massage with a VR headset projecting appropriate 3D simulations – as a roller massaged the back, people watched a ball rolling through a field of tall grass, for example.
In the fog-filled digital steamroom, people used hand controllers to manipulate cosmic images in the headsets. Other experiences included drinking placebo cocktails and touching tactile surfaces and objects.
Co-creator Tyler Pridgen says the spa is a response to digital anxiety. “We have to have a sense of digital wellness. In the same way that we would only put good food into our body, we also need to put good media into our brains.”
Virtual reality added a new dimension to massages
digital steamroom
Other experiences included sand cutting
Music-centric spa menu Select Hard Rock hotels 50 and 80 minutes US$150 (€130, £115) and US$210 (€180, £160) The reinvented Rock Spas at select Hard Rock hotels feature a fully immersive music-centric spa menu, based on amplified vibrations, pressures and patterns.
The Rhythm and Motion treatments include Synchronicity, a rhythmic massage performed to a “masterfully blended” soundtrack. Vibrations ripple through the massage table’s embedded subwoofer speakers as beats from a pendant speaker above send pulses through the body, leaving guests feeling energised and invigorated. Other treatments include the Smooth Operator dry brush experience and a Wrap Mix envelopment.
Earlier this year, Hard Rock also launched the Rock Om in-room yoga experience combining original DJ tracks and on-demand fitness instruction.
Massages are based on amplified vibrations and DJ-blended soundtracks
Eat, Pray, Love author hosts spa workshop 1440 Multiversity, USA Three days US$550 (€468, £414) excluding accommodation Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, is to run a workshop to help people get started with creative pursuits at the US holistic resort 1440 Multiversity this September.
Participants of the Brave Magic programme will hear about Gilbert’s creative life and take part in experiential workshops to unlock their own potential – exploring “pathways to expressing yourself and your story”.
Gilbert says: “Something I find myself saying to people all the time is to ‘start knowing’. What are you waiting for? To know what to do? Let’s work together and open your eyes for you to ‘know’.”
She will co-host Brave Magic with Cheryl Strayed, author of best-selling memoir Wild. The duo’s workshop at 1440 Multiversity last year was a sell-out success.
California’s 1440 Multiversity is a self-care spa where guests explore wellness through learning, connecting and healing therapies (see SB18/2 p76).
Authors Gilbert (left) and Strayed (right) focus on creativity
Civana gives back to wellness professionals Civana Carefree, Arizona, USA From US$99 (€85, £75) per night US wellness hotel Civana is launching a Healers’ Vitality Program which extends a discounted Friends and Family rate to wellness industry professionals.
The Healers’ Vitality Program slashes the daily room rates by an average of US$100, with prices starting at US$99 (€85, £75) a night in high season, plus an Experience Fee of US$25 (€22, £20), which includes eight to 12 complimentary fitness classes.
“In order for our wellness industry to thrive, we need to support the healing professionals who give to others every day,” says Kevin Kelly, chair and CEO. “They deserve an affordable respite to recharge and be inspired.”
The programme is open to individuals in the health and wellness field including spa and wellness staff and those working for product companies.
Room discounts and free fitness classes are included
Personalised culinary concept at Velaa Velaa Private Island, the Maldives Personalised per ingredients and number of courses null,Velaa Private Island in the Maldives has introduced a personalised approach to gourmet cuisine. At the start of each day, diners choose from a range of fine ingredients, such as Japanese bluefin tuna, Maldivian lobster or Anjou pigeon. These then form the basis of their own personalised tasting menu.
The Essence of Taste concept is available to diners at Aragu – Velaa’s signature restaurant which serves contemporary European cuisine with an Asian twist. Cost depends on ingredients chosen and number of courses.
“I like to surprise my guests with flavour combinations they have never experienced before and perhaps have not even imagined are possible,” says chef Gaushan de Silva. He’s worked at some of the most notable Michelin starred restaurants in Europe and was once the private house chef at the Royal Palace in Jordan.
Guests choose their own ingredients for dishes
Meals can include organic tofu
Peninsula Hot Springs celebrates Aboriginal culture Peninsula Hot Springs, Australia Prices vary and many activities were complimentary Didgeridoo sound meditation, smoking ceremonies and a bathe-in cinema experience were all part of NAIDOC week celebrations at Peninsula Hot Springs in July. The eight-day programme was developed to recognise the rich living culture of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders.
In a special workshop, Aboriginal elder Aunty Anne Warren shared her knowledge of traditional cultural clay rituals and people got a chance to paint themselves, friends and families in natural Australian earth clays.
An earth clay experience was led by an Aboriginal elder
Bathers meditated during a didgeridoo rendition
Singing bowl artistry at Four Seasons Vietnam Four Seasons The Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam 150 minutes US$330 (€283, £250) Sound healing therapist Oanh Ngo has taken up residency at Four Seasons Vietnam, the only property in the country to have a complete eight-octave set of crystal singing bowls. Singing bowls work by producing vibrational frequencies to induce a deep meditative, peaceful state and under Ngo’s guidance all treatments at the hotel’s Heart of the Earth Spa now incorporate the practice.
A menu highlight is the 2.5-hour Nam Hai Earth Song massage which begins with a spicy cleansing smoke of agarwood, a sound and breath ritual and a Vietnamese scrub. These are followed by a deep pressure massage using gem-tipped tuning forks and a fully immersive sound bath using the crystal bowls.
“When I play them I feel at peace and it helps me to deeply connect back to myself as well as to our Mother Earth,” says Ngo, who studied natural healing at Australia’s Karyna Centre for Transformation before training in the artistry of singing bowls.
Oanh Ngo
Gem-tipped tuning forks are used in the massage
The hotel has an eight-octave set of crystal singing bowls
Su-Man Hsu takes up residency at the Sanderson Agua Spa, the Sanderson, UK 60 minutes £250 (US$332, €282) Celebrity facialist Su-Man Hsu, who’s treated stars like Naomi Campbell and Sienna Miller, has become a resident specialist at the Sanderson’s Agua Spa in London, UK.
Hsu’s Skin Reborn Sculpting Facial has been likened to a “natural version of Botox” and includes her own massage techniques – developed over her years of experience in dance, pilates, shiatsu and Oriental facials – as well as her own skincare range.
“In my career as a facialist, I have touched and treated over 10,000 faces,” she says. “Being able to transform people and bring them to a better place makes me truly happy.”
Jacqueline Kneebone, regional director of spa and retail for Sanderson’s owning company SBE, adds that Hsu’s “expertise and revolutionary techniques fits extremely well with our ethos.”
Hsu joins a range of expert therapists who are residents at Agua Spa, including Eve Lom.
Agua Spa at The Sanderson, UK
Su-Man Hsu
Growing interest in 'wellness meeting' packages Mandarin Oriental hotels worldwide US$10,000 (€8,505, £7,540) A number of spa resorts are taking wellness a step further by launching corporate guest packages which combine spa treatments with other health-focused offerings.
This could potentially be the solution to enticing the MICE market – an audience spas typically struggle to capture – over the threshold.
Recent examples include Fairmont Quasar Istanbul’s Mindful Moments and Como Metropolitan London’s Healthful Meetings.
Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental’s Mindful Meetings initiative has launched in its 31 hotels worldwide. The five key wellness dimensions of the package include nourishment, movement, stillness, connections and wellbeing. Enhancements include healthy and energising menu choices, yoga sessions, guided meditations, digital wellness and jet lag tips, massage and movement breaks, custom spa events, expert health talks and group exercise activities. A promotional rate of US$10,000 (€8,505, £7,540) per group or event runs until 30 September.
Mandarin Oriental is rolling out its Mindful Meetings worldwide
Illuminating water story at Bad Ragaz Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland 90 minutes CHF595 (US$600) including accommodation The story of the famous spring waters and the elements at Switzerland’s Bad Ragaz spa resort will be depicted in a stunning 90-minute multimedia light show every day from June to September.
Light artists will project 1km wide 3D effects and images with millimetre precision on the rock face of Tamina Gorge, the source of Bad Ragaz’s waters. The 36.5?C thermal springs are the most valuable asset of Bad Ragaz (see p88) and are used in its numerous pools and treatments. They were discovered 800 years ago by Benedictine monks and have a wide range of positive effects on the body.
The Light Ragaz project is a collaboration between the resort, Zurich agency Projektil and local tourism and government authorities.
The resort is offering a one-off Light Ragaz Special of CHF595 (US$600, €512, £453) a night until 30 September.
The light show lasts 90 minutes
Bürgenstock reveals rejuvenation programmes Bürgenstock Resort, Switzerland Four nights CHF2,140 (US$2,156) Dermatologists and cosmeticians have created a trio of healthy beauty and ageing treatments at Switzerland’s newly refreshed Bürgenstock resort.
Delight Pro, Bodyforming Pro and Rejuvenation Pro all focus on revitalisation. The most expensive, the four-night CHF2,140 (US$2,156, €1,840, £1,630) Bodyforming Pro, includes a coffee peel and coffee bean oil massage, a body tone wrap by SkinCeuticals, an Icoone laser therapy body forming treatment and a cryotherapy session.
The treatments are a signature offering at Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, a new Matteo Thun-designed hotel, medical centre and spa which forms part of Bürgenstock’s CHF550m (US$544m, €516m, £438m) reopening (see SB18/1 p62).
Resort managing director Bruno Schöpfer says: “With Switzerland’s excellent reputation in medicine and this spectacular setting on the lake surrounded by these beautiful mountains, we believe guests will be drawn here for both rejuvenation or simply a healthy getaway.”
Cryotherapy is included
Bürgenstock’s new wellness hotel
Bürgenstock’s new wellness hotel
Writing for renewal at Grayshott Grayshott Health Spa, UK Seven nights £2,750 (US$3,633, €3,120) UK destination spa Grayshott Health Spa has taken a fresh approach to health with its new enrichment retreats. First in the series is a week-long Writing for Renewal and spa retreat. One to one sessions, group discussions and creative journal writing take a ‘mindfulness to writing’ approach and explore the themes of love, hope, desire, work, loss, chaos and confusion.
Inner Resilience, a retreat to support physical and emotional wellbeing, and Creative Well Being, which uses Emergenetics personal profiling and creative arts for personal development, complete the series.
“People are more inclined to open themselves up for self-reflection in a trusted, safe, healing environment – modern life gives us so little time or space for any depth of exploration,” says general manager Sheila McCann, who used to run Chiva-Som in Thailand. “Today, people want to be transformed by their holiday and health experiences and we see this as a real need in the market – something designed to better equip people with tools and techniques to help them in life.”
McCann (left) sees a need for transformational experiences
In a new series, Spa Business reveals the tastiest wellbeing treatments, programmes and retreats being served up in spas and wellness resorts
Katie Barnes, Spa Business
VR massage at The Oddly Satisfying Spa Ridgewood, New York, USA 90 minutes US$40 Spa treatments have been paired with virtual reality at New York’s Oddly Satisfying Spa. The three-day, pop-up spa featured a curation of relaxing experiences inspired by the rise of #oddlysatisfying internet content which has seen millions of people on YouTube and Instagram tuning in to watch videos such as slime making and marbled cake glazing.
Treatments included a massage with a VR headset projecting appropriate 3D simulations – as a roller massaged the back, people watched a ball rolling through a field of tall grass, for example.
In the fog-filled digital steamroom, people used hand controllers to manipulate cosmic images in the headsets. Other experiences included drinking placebo cocktails and touching tactile surfaces and objects.
Co-creator Tyler Pridgen says the spa is a response to digital anxiety. “We have to have a sense of digital wellness. In the same way that we would only put good food into our body, we also need to put good media into our brains.”
Virtual reality added a new dimension to massages
digital steamroom
Other experiences included sand cutting
Music-centric spa menu Select Hard Rock hotels 50 and 80 minutes US$150 (€130, £115) and US$210 (€180, £160) The reinvented Rock Spas at select Hard Rock hotels feature a fully immersive music-centric spa menu, based on amplified vibrations, pressures and patterns.
The Rhythm and Motion treatments include Synchronicity, a rhythmic massage performed to a “masterfully blended” soundtrack. Vibrations ripple through the massage table’s embedded subwoofer speakers as beats from a pendant speaker above send pulses through the body, leaving guests feeling energised and invigorated. Other treatments include the Smooth Operator dry brush experience and a Wrap Mix envelopment.
Earlier this year, Hard Rock also launched the Rock Om in-room yoga experience combining original DJ tracks and on-demand fitness instruction.
Massages are based on amplified vibrations and DJ-blended soundtracks
Eat, Pray, Love author hosts spa workshop 1440 Multiversity, USA Three days US$550 (€468, £414) excluding accommodation Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, is to run a workshop to help people get started with creative pursuits at the US holistic resort 1440 Multiversity this September.
Participants of the Brave Magic programme will hear about Gilbert’s creative life and take part in experiential workshops to unlock their own potential – exploring “pathways to expressing yourself and your story”.
Gilbert says: “Something I find myself saying to people all the time is to ‘start knowing’. What are you waiting for? To know what to do? Let’s work together and open your eyes for you to ‘know’.”
She will co-host Brave Magic with Cheryl Strayed, author of best-selling memoir Wild. The duo’s workshop at 1440 Multiversity last year was a sell-out success.
California’s 1440 Multiversity is a self-care spa where guests explore wellness through learning, connecting and healing therapies (see SB18/2 p76).
Authors Gilbert (left) and Strayed (right) focus on creativity
Civana gives back to wellness professionals Civana Carefree, Arizona, USA From US$99 (€85, £75) per night US wellness hotel Civana is launching a Healers’ Vitality Program which extends a discounted Friends and Family rate to wellness industry professionals.
The Healers’ Vitality Program slashes the daily room rates by an average of US$100, with prices starting at US$99 (€85, £75) a night in high season, plus an Experience Fee of US$25 (€22, £20), which includes eight to 12 complimentary fitness classes.
“In order for our wellness industry to thrive, we need to support the healing professionals who give to others every day,” says Kevin Kelly, chair and CEO. “They deserve an affordable respite to recharge and be inspired.”
The programme is open to individuals in the health and wellness field including spa and wellness staff and those working for product companies.
Room discounts and free fitness classes are included
Personalised culinary concept at Velaa Velaa Private Island, the Maldives Personalised per ingredients and number of courses null,Velaa Private Island in the Maldives has introduced a personalised approach to gourmet cuisine. At the start of each day, diners choose from a range of fine ingredients, such as Japanese bluefin tuna, Maldivian lobster or Anjou pigeon. These then form the basis of their own personalised tasting menu.
The Essence of Taste concept is available to diners at Aragu – Velaa’s signature restaurant which serves contemporary European cuisine with an Asian twist. Cost depends on ingredients chosen and number of courses.
“I like to surprise my guests with flavour combinations they have never experienced before and perhaps have not even imagined are possible,” says chef Gaushan de Silva. He’s worked at some of the most notable Michelin starred restaurants in Europe and was once the private house chef at the Royal Palace in Jordan.
Guests choose their own ingredients for dishes
Meals can include organic tofu
Peninsula Hot Springs celebrates Aboriginal culture Peninsula Hot Springs, Australia Prices vary and many activities were complimentary Didgeridoo sound meditation, smoking ceremonies and a bathe-in cinema experience were all part of NAIDOC week celebrations at Peninsula Hot Springs in July. The eight-day programme was developed to recognise the rich living culture of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders.
In a special workshop, Aboriginal elder Aunty Anne Warren shared her knowledge of traditional cultural clay rituals and people got a chance to paint themselves, friends and families in natural Australian earth clays.
An earth clay experience was led by an Aboriginal elder
Bathers meditated during a didgeridoo rendition
Singing bowl artistry at Four Seasons Vietnam Four Seasons The Nam Hai, Hoi An, Vietnam 150 minutes US$330 (€283, £250) Sound healing therapist Oanh Ngo has taken up residency at Four Seasons Vietnam, the only property in the country to have a complete eight-octave set of crystal singing bowls. Singing bowls work by producing vibrational frequencies to induce a deep meditative, peaceful state and under Ngo’s guidance all treatments at the hotel’s Heart of the Earth Spa now incorporate the practice.
A menu highlight is the 2.5-hour Nam Hai Earth Song massage which begins with a spicy cleansing smoke of agarwood, a sound and breath ritual and a Vietnamese scrub. These are followed by a deep pressure massage using gem-tipped tuning forks and a fully immersive sound bath using the crystal bowls.
“When I play them I feel at peace and it helps me to deeply connect back to myself as well as to our Mother Earth,” says Ngo, who studied natural healing at Australia’s Karyna Centre for Transformation before training in the artistry of singing bowls.
Oanh Ngo
Gem-tipped tuning forks are used in the massage
The hotel has an eight-octave set of crystal singing bowls
Su-Man Hsu takes up residency at the Sanderson Agua Spa, the Sanderson, UK 60 minutes £250 (US$332, €282) Celebrity facialist Su-Man Hsu, who’s treated stars like Naomi Campbell and Sienna Miller, has become a resident specialist at the Sanderson’s Agua Spa in London, UK.
Hsu’s Skin Reborn Sculpting Facial has been likened to a “natural version of Botox” and includes her own massage techniques – developed over her years of experience in dance, pilates, shiatsu and Oriental facials – as well as her own skincare range.
“In my career as a facialist, I have touched and treated over 10,000 faces,” she says. “Being able to transform people and bring them to a better place makes me truly happy.”
Jacqueline Kneebone, regional director of spa and retail for Sanderson’s owning company SBE, adds that Hsu’s “expertise and revolutionary techniques fits extremely well with our ethos.”
Hsu joins a range of expert therapists who are residents at Agua Spa, including Eve Lom.
Agua Spa at The Sanderson, UK
Su-Man Hsu
Growing interest in 'wellness meeting' packages Mandarin Oriental hotels worldwide US$10,000 (€8,505, £7,540) A number of spa resorts are taking wellness a step further by launching corporate guest packages which combine spa treatments with other health-focused offerings.
This could potentially be the solution to enticing the MICE market – an audience spas typically struggle to capture – over the threshold.
Recent examples include Fairmont Quasar Istanbul’s Mindful Moments and Como Metropolitan London’s Healthful Meetings.
Meanwhile, Mandarin Oriental’s Mindful Meetings initiative has launched in its 31 hotels worldwide. The five key wellness dimensions of the package include nourishment, movement, stillness, connections and wellbeing. Enhancements include healthy and energising menu choices, yoga sessions, guided meditations, digital wellness and jet lag tips, massage and movement breaks, custom spa events, expert health talks and group exercise activities. A promotional rate of US$10,000 (€8,505, £7,540) per group or event runs until 30 September.
Mandarin Oriental is rolling out its Mindful Meetings worldwide
Illuminating water story at Bad Ragaz Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland 90 minutes CHF595 (US$600) including accommodation The story of the famous spring waters and the elements at Switzerland’s Bad Ragaz spa resort will be depicted in a stunning 90-minute multimedia light show every day from June to September.
Light artists will project 1km wide 3D effects and images with millimetre precision on the rock face of Tamina Gorge, the source of Bad Ragaz’s waters. The 36.5?C thermal springs are the most valuable asset of Bad Ragaz (see p88) and are used in its numerous pools and treatments. They were discovered 800 years ago by Benedictine monks and have a wide range of positive effects on the body.
The Light Ragaz project is a collaboration between the resort, Zurich agency Projektil and local tourism and government authorities.
The resort is offering a one-off Light Ragaz Special of CHF595 (US$600, €512, £453) a night until 30 September.
The light show lasts 90 minutes
Bürgenstock reveals rejuvenation programmes Bürgenstock Resort, Switzerland Four nights CHF2,140 (US$2,156) Dermatologists and cosmeticians have created a trio of healthy beauty and ageing treatments at Switzerland’s newly refreshed Bürgenstock resort.
Delight Pro, Bodyforming Pro and Rejuvenation Pro all focus on revitalisation. The most expensive, the four-night CHF2,140 (US$2,156, €1,840, £1,630) Bodyforming Pro, includes a coffee peel and coffee bean oil massage, a body tone wrap by SkinCeuticals, an Icoone laser therapy body forming treatment and a cryotherapy session.
The treatments are a signature offering at Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, a new Matteo Thun-designed hotel, medical centre and spa which forms part of Bürgenstock’s CHF550m (US$544m, €516m, £438m) reopening (see SB18/1 p62).
Resort managing director Bruno Schöpfer says: “With Switzerland’s excellent reputation in medicine and this spectacular setting on the lake surrounded by these beautiful mountains, we believe guests will be drawn here for both rejuvenation or simply a healthy getaway.”
Cryotherapy is included
Bürgenstock’s new wellness hotel
Bürgenstock’s new wellness hotel
Writing for renewal at Grayshott Grayshott Health Spa, UK Seven nights £2,750 (US$3,633, €3,120) UK destination spa Grayshott Health Spa has taken a fresh approach to health with its new enrichment retreats. First in the series is a week-long Writing for Renewal and spa retreat. One to one sessions, group discussions and creative journal writing take a ‘mindfulness to writing’ approach and explore the themes of love, hope, desire, work, loss, chaos and confusion.
Inner Resilience, a retreat to support physical and emotional wellbeing, and Creative Well Being, which uses Emergenetics personal profiling and creative arts for personal development, complete the series.
“People are more inclined to open themselves up for self-reflection in a trusted, safe, healing environment – modern life gives us so little time or space for any depth of exploration,” says general manager Sheila McCann, who used to run Chiva-Som in Thailand. “Today, people want to be transformed by their holiday and health experiences and we see this as a real need in the market – something designed to better equip people with tools and techniques to help them in life.”
McCann (left) sees a need for transformational experiences
