Top 5 Spa Holiday trends of 2012

Being the marketing consultant for Healing Hotels of the World, has me spending much time in, around, and thinking about spas resorts.  You’d think in such a precarious financial world that spa holidays would have fallen to the bottom of Must Have/Do lists (along with fine dining, anything by Versace and overly ostentatious jewellery/cars/wardrobe). Quite the reverse actually. Spa Holidays are trending as one of the treasured treats of stressed and weary recession survivors. Sort of like their “I Will Survive” remedy to heal past ills and lessen future pains. With some much needed relaxation thrown in for good measure.  The one notable difference from the glory days of the 80’s, 90’s and early Noughties is that the glitzy pampering resorts are struggling, while destinations that deliver immediate, visible results are going from strength to strength. It seems that the world is finally putting Self Love on the priority list. Multi-tasking by merging time- off-work with taking-the-time to improve overall well-being, specific health issues, anti-aging, stress reduction and weight loss… to name just a few.

So jump into your PJ’s, pour a cleansing merlot and read on.

  

DETOX RETREAT
It seems everyone these days is just finished, in the middle of or about to embark on a detox retreat. Favoured by celebrities across the land to jettison them into shape for red carpet moments.  I’ve even created a 50 day DIY Detox (Hippo Be Gone) for when your body is weighing you down. Some may scoff at the dullness of spending precious holiday time on a detox retreat; but what’s not to love about a speedy shift from lifeless and tired, to feeling lighter in body, clearer in mind, visibly rested face and more energised than you have been in years. With the delicious perk of losing at least half a kg in weight a day. Detox retreat doesn’t necessarily mean sack cloth, mung beans and thrice-used tea bags.  Hotel Lanserhof (Tirol, Austria) is internationally renowned for its cleansing/purification and detoxification programmes, with gorgeous Austrian finesse and design.  Three to seven days of “Energy cuisine,” swimming in pools overlooking snow tipped Alps and every possible scientifically proven anti-aging/anti-stress therapy under the sun … then BOOM… purring like new.

Following along similar design aesthetics and ethos is Adler BALANCE Spa Resort (Ortisei, Italy). Adler BALANCE applies an academiv approach to detox using five pillars (diagnosis, diet, special treatments, psychological wellbeing, and exercise) to get you back in tip-top, energizer bunny condition.  With Alder tucked in foothills of the Italian Alps, once you’ve sprung to life, amble down the hill to the gorgeous belle époque village for a celebratory carafe of Chianti.  Life is all about Balance after all.   

GREAT WONDERS OF NATURE
Hippocrates believed that nature is the best healer and spending time surrounded by nature is powerfully therapeutic. The world is definitley coming back around to Hippocrates way of thinking and heading for the hills. Or caves, in the case of Grotta Giusti Natural Spa Resort (Tuscany, Italy). Hundreds of feet underground in a 130-million-year-old cave; natural ponds of clear hot thermal waters, and a constant output of beneficial vapours restore tensioned bodies back to their natural vim and vigour.. The spa hotel is housed above the Grotta; in a 19th century villa formerly owned by Italian poet Giuseppe Giusti. Legend has it that Giuseppe creativity and long life (for that time) was attributed to his exceptionally rugged good health. There’s definitely something in the water.

Then there’s 5th Century troglodyte caves in Cappadocia, (Turkey); originally carved into an ancient Byzantine monastic retreat and now home to one of the world’s most extraordinary natural spa wonders. Imagine doing early morning yoga in the 1000year old paved courtyard of Cappadocia’s Gamirasu Cave Hotel & Spa or jumping into a moonlit Jacuzzi on your cave cut-out terrace? Now that’s extreme de-stressing.  Comprised of six beautifully restored and integrated cave houses, all 18 rooms in the Gamirasu are designed in harmony with the natural fairy chimneys.  Add in visible-results spa therapies and healing cuisine, and before you know it, the spa resort isn’t the only bright shining natural beauty.   

HEALING WATERS
There’s been so much talk for years/centuries about the curative powers of soaking in mineral water, but have you ever felt the effect? It’s quite miraculous. Not so long ago, I crawled into a 100% mineral water bath at Hepburn Bathhouse (Hepburn Springs, Australia), all worn out and sceptical; jumped out as bouncy as a new born baby.  It was quite extraordinary; the effect lasted about a week. The long term marvelous effects happen when you soak repeatedly over a few days! Each source of mineral water has its own curative properties; Hepburn Bathhouse is super healing for joint, muscle, or digestive issues. Sail a little further across the water and you’ll discover healing haven, Como Shambhala Estate (Bali, Indonesia).  A natural spring, considered to be holy, runs through the Estate’s ground and into every shower, pool and glass of water. Sounds (and looks) heavenly. 

For the Europhiles, it doesn’t get much better than soaking back to life in the world’s oldest thermal springs at Petriolo Spa Resort (Tuscany, Italy).  Imagine resting your stressed and tired body in 43°C water of the mountainously high Petriolo pool;  looking out across untouched Tuscany while absorbing ancient healing qualities of this mighty famous water.  Almost worth getting stressed.  I love how the Italians (and French) do “healing water” so stylishly. I wonder if all that healing hydration is what brings out their passion for life?

RAW FOOD
 “Let food be thy medicine” Hippocrates, Father of Medicine

Don't let the unappetizing name fool you: raw food is the new, deliciously gourmet sensation. Gordon Ramsay put a Raw Bar into his newish London eatery, Bread Street Kitchen. Venus Williams relies on Raw Food to keep her Wimbledon form.  And Claridges of London is a satin ribbon away from opening a pop-up Raw Food restaurant (28th July – 6 August 2012)  in collaboration with prominent forager, René Redzepi, who also just happens to be 3x winner of best restaurant in the world at the ‘World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards’ (2010, 2011 and 2012).  

Ti Sana SPA Retreat (Arlate, Italy) sits at the forefront of this trend; with their “live food” cleansing philosophy now achieving national treasure status after being awarded best luxury wellness/medical spa in World Luxury Spa Awards (2012, 2011). The Ti Sana philosophy is founded on the belief that a pure enzyme-rich diet, complemented by positive thinking and non-invasive therapies, are essential elements on the path to optimum health. So devoted are Ti Sana to the wellness powers of raw food, there’s even epicurean-inspired spa treatments, such as Fish pedicures. The results are quite extraordinary but I’m more of a rose petal bath and paraffin wax girl when it comes to feet. Feet-nibbling fish aside, any spa retreat that promises gastronomical food AND weight-loss is going to be high on my MUST VISIT list.

GASTRO- SPA
With the sluggish economy, people are dining out less often and more casually. However during holidays, a little gourmet goes a long way, so gastro-spa resorts are the raising their credentials and profiles by adding celebrity and infamous chefs into the mix. Not one to shy from a good spa and unseasonably good produce, Gordon Ramsay is leading the pack; joining forces with Castel Monastero (Tuscany, Italy) to open a spa restaurant and cooking school. Gordon and pupils go to the local market in the medieval hilltop village of Monastero d'Ombrone, see what's in season, and cook simple flavoursome fare together.  After lunch and siesta, soak up some seriously relaxed vibes in an infinity pools that you could live in forever, and then wander across the cobbled courtyard to 1000 square foot spa complex houses in two beautiful old Tuscan buildings. Wise people say that our well-being is positively influenced when the eyes and the heart are lit up with the same peace. In which case, Castel Monastero must be the Peace Corps of Wellness.