Spaficionados

Monsieur Blanc waxes poetic about his broken limb and loving Le Mas Candille.   Definitely worth a read! 

New article by our very own Beauty Doctor helps you weight the costs!!! 

Check out all the great spa getaways you can escape to with Hilton’s Great Getaway promotion! Book your trips before 15 July 2010 and stay through 6 September 2010 at destinations in over 80 countries for up to 30% less.

My husband, Mensun, and I were in Paris recently and decided to sneak a peek at one of Six Senses’ urban escapes.    Six Senses at Rue De Castiglione, Paris is a sea of tranquility in the midst of Parisian bustle.  As you drift down the stairs into the urban sanctuary, you are greeted by a tropical garden on your left and four ‘cocoons’ carefully crafted out of oak – where you can shut away the rigours of city life.  As you lie back and relax, you gaze at the real-time image of the Paris skyline projected the full length of the cocoon. The spa is situated in the heart of Paris by the Jardin des Tuileries and beautifully designed by award winning French architect Pierre David – everything integrating light, wood, stone and earth.  It feels amazing to be in the heart of the city but right away from it all at the same time!  A huge range of spa treatments are available –  from rejuvenating Asian-inspired massages and holistic journeys to a Honey Facial that actually uses honey harvested from city bee hives from the roof tops of Paris, perfect for protecting the skin!    We were both tempted by the hot stone treatment to wear away the strain and pains ….and the detoxifying journey using organic seaweed to expel the body’s toxins.  Such a shame that we didn’t have time to actually indulge ourselves…but I know where I’m headed the next time I’m in Paris, with or without Mensun!

We’ve corrupted our dear Sappho  – Erna Low’s Marketing and PR Manager.  She has come to the other side and is now an addicted spaficionado.  Read her review of Serre Chevalier’s stunning new spa, perfect for those who love extremes of all kinds, indulgence especially!

He may be the scariest man in Britain next to Simon Cowell, but Michael Winner is always entertaining and one of Britain’s true connoisseurs of fine living!  His review of Gstaad Palace in this week’s Sunday Times is utterly charming and amusing!  We have our own  Top Ten Reasons to Visit Gstaad Palace this summer!   What are you waiting for?  Book your summer holiday now!

Love those SWISS boys!

Last week saw a great gathering of Swiss tourism gurus – from tourist offices, to travel providers, to tour operators, to press – all to celebrate the fact that 2010 has been declared the ‘Year of Walking’ by Switzerland Tourism – and to invite us on a hike through their very own Swiss summer in the heart of Soho! 

My colleague, Karen, and I didn’t start off very well – by arriving on taxi, not on foot!  We spent most of the first part of the evening chatting to the airline boys from SWISS and hearing all their exciting expansion news!  It was really heartening to hear how, with all the negative publicity on flying and the chaos of the British Airways strike issues, that SWISS took the brave move of announcing 6 daily non-stop flights to Geneva from Heathrow right in the middle of the ski winter!   

In the words of Gregor Koncilja, Manager of SWISS for UK and Ireland (I had to grab a pen and paper and wrote this down so I wouldn’t forget):

 “We started our flight on the 10th January – just six weeks ago – and already up until the end of March, we have a load factor of approximately 70%. I put this down to the very short booking trend and very strong ski demand in general, as well as Geneva being so much in demand with great slots. I can be proud to say that we are one of the very few airlines who can announce a profit in these difficult times – our airline has just announced a profit of 146 million Swiss francs this quarter – so we have much to celebrate!”

Gregor, Karen, Mark van Koningsbruggen from SWISS, and I went on to have a lively discussion on the strength of Geneva not only as a gateway to the Alps, but also as a gateway to the wonderful range of spas within its reach – including the superb spas in Switzerland  to the range of stunning Sibuet spas  near Megève within an hour or two of the airport.

All in all, a lovely evening with great news to share with our Swiss ski and spa partners!  And  keeping in the spirit of the evening, Karen and I dutifully took our carbon-counting feet for a really long walk afterwards.

Last week, I had the opportunity to wander around the spectacularly opulent ballroom of the London Mandarin Oriental listening to the dolcet tones of violins in the background, regaled by the individual beauties of the Mandarin Oriental hotels worldwide.  All the while, I couldn’t stop thinking of all the different spa holiday types  that must be out there!   While stuffing myself with culinery delights such as duck profiteroles and tiger prawns, I secretly imagined my own perfect spa holiday… the  ’Spa and Feast’ or ‘Spa and Pig Out’ .   Ok, it’s not the usual theme you might want for a spa holiday, but when I was plied with perfections by extremely polite waiters and offered exotic cocktails such as passion fruit and rum, the last thing on my mind was de-toxing …

However, while talking with several of the managers of Mandarin hotels  all over the globe, I was struck by how brilliantly this group has brought together a fabulous range of state-of-the-art spas to add a sparkle to their hotel offering.  Having been lucky enough a couple of years ago to experience the serene and exclusive pampering of the London Mandarin Oriental’s Spa,  I remembered how my afternoon escape, which included a  Shiatsu-inspired ginger ritual consisting of a finger pressure technique to the body’s shiatsu points,  not only allowed me to re-emerge on to the grey London streets fully energized, but also made me feeling like I had snuck in  a full-blown spa holiday I was so re-invigorated by it all.

If you’re looking for a real treat for Mum, Nan, or anyone who takes care of you as lovingly as they did, I couldn’t recommend a more wonderful place to send them  — in fact, I might just forward this to my own children and their dad!  We all deserve to feel this special!

BodyandSoulHolidays.com is getting a facelift!  From Monday, 1 March 2010, the world’s most trusted website for luxury spa holidays is becoming the web’s most valued source of news, reviews and up-to-the second information on everything you need and want to know about the most exclusive spas and spa holidays around the globe. 

As part of the eagerly anticipated transformation, BodyandSoulHolidays.com will launch their new Spaficionados blog with all the latests news on offers, treatments, trends and unmissable products that just can’t wait.   Written by our team of spa queens, business travellers and seasoned reviewers, the Spafionados blog will keep you in the know, the Body&Soul way.