Condé Nast Johansens has announced the winners of the annual Luxury Spa Awards 2016. The Awards are based on responses from online voting, guest feedback, and local expert reports drawn from the hotels and spas featured in our most recent Guides.
UK, EUROPE & THE MEDITERRANEAN
Best Newcomer – Le Mirador Resort & Spa, Switzerland
“Leading the way with pioneering aesthetic, medical and dental treatments, Givenchy Spa at Le Mirador Resort & Spa aims to restore, cure and prevent ailments. This is Givenchy’s one and only spa in Switzerland above Lake Geneva’s waters with the Swiss Alps in the distance and UNESCO vineyards all around.”
Best Destination Spa – SHA Wellness Clinic, Spain
“Serenely set within Sierra Helada Natural Park, looking down to the Mediterranean Sea, SHA is a leading wellness clinic and medical hotel spanning across six buildings with numerous pools, gardens, 92 suites, 80 treatment cabins, a Pilates studio and Technogym. Treatments are a mix of ancient Eastern philosophies executed with revolutionary Western techniques and include Ayurvedic therapies, Reiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine and meditation.”
Best Day Spa – Spa Illuminata, Mayfair, England
“Located just off Park Lane, Spa Illuminata Mayfair is housed in a red brick Victorian building disguised as a high-end corner boutique; convenient as can be for male and female office workers in Mayfair and shoppers inclined to trade retail therapy for aromatherapy.”
Best for Couples – Coworth Park, England
“A touch quirky and a little surprising, Coworth Park, Dorchester Collection, near Ascot, is “rewriting the rules” of what’s expected from the quintessential English country house hotel. Built from timber structures with lime hemp, the selfcontained eco-luxury spa practices exclusive Carol Joy London treatments and relaxing, natural therapies by Aromatherapy Associates.”
Best Treatment Menu – Mondrian London at Sea Containers, England
“Stylish, sexy and decadent, the hotly anticipated, shiny new agua Bathhouse and Spa at Mondrian London radiates originality with a generous dose of sophisticated glitz and glam. The otherworldly, all-white, all-embracing agua spa was inspired by the building’s maritime roots and the Hollywood of yesteryear.”
The Grove
Best for Service – The Grove, England
“One of The Grove’s biggest attractions is Sequoia Spa. While the children are occupied at Anouska’s Kids Club, Sequoia takes care of mum and dad with a royal pampering courtesy of ESPA and Natura Bissé. The inky black mosaic ozonefiltered pool and deep velvet beds under dimmed lights relax you within seconds.”
Best Spa Facilities – Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda, Italy
“The world-class Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda’s concept is the pursuit of overall wellness but it’s Lefay’s SPA that is at the core of everything it offers, divided into three areas. The World of Water and Fire takes care of your bathing and thermal treatments, which includes indoor and outdoor salt-water pools and five different kinds of sauna.”
Condé Nast Johansens Readers’ Award – The Berkeley, England
“A stay at the Berkeley, Knightsbridge, is a five-star experience but it’s the Berkeley’s mightily impressive Health Club & Spa with gym, sauna, steam room, solarium courtyard and rooftop pool (London’s only rooftop pool) that has the spa-going aficionados excited.”
AFRICA, INDIAN OCEAN & MIDDLE EAST
Best Newcomer – Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives
“The Eden of the Indian Ocean, Gili Lankanfushi is a favourite with spa aficionados and stressed-out professionals seeking pampered solace. With sunrise yoga, onsite Chocolatiers, world-class diving and a “Mr/Ms Friday” (butler) service, experiences at this extra-ordinary resort range from the exceptional to out-of-thisworld with a firm focus on indulgent relaxation.”
Best Destination Spa – Coco Body Hithi, Maldives
“Luminous waters, virgin-white sand, coconut palms and cloudless skies. This is the scene you wake up to at Coco Bodu Hithi in the North Malé Atoll. From the sustainable hospitality leaders, Coco Collection, this 100-villa, six restaurant resort is as eco friendly as it is luxurious.”
Best for Couples – One&Only Reethi Rah, Maldives
“Imagine paradise and see One&Only Reethi Rah. Occupying the largest Maldivian island of the awesome North Malé Atoll, this is the land of endless white sand coves and turquoise bays, surrounded by the warm Indian Ocean.”
Lion in the Sun Retreat
Best Treatment Menu – Lion in the Sun Retreat, Kenya
“Lion in the Sun Retreat is an exclusive hideaway near Malindi with the ultimate destresser: Thalaspa Henri Chenot. Listing a full range of body and thalassotherapy treatments as well as beauty regimes, Thalaspa uses advanced clinical and physiological techniques with the principles of ancient Chinese medicine.”
Best for Service – Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives
“As the first luxury Maldives resort south of the equator, Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort & Spa is a once-in-a-lifetime destination. Amidst lush vegetation, beside white sandy beaches and on the ocean itself, this all-villa resort has an exceptional boutique-style atmosphere.”
Best Spa Facilities – Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, United Arab Emirates
“With an astounding 42 treatment rooms, eight hydrotherapy rooms, steam rooms, saunas, a snow room and thalassotherapy pools, there’s no ache that can’t be soothed at the Talise Ottoman Spa in the staggeringly beautiful Jumeirah Zabeel Saray.”
Condé Nast Johansens Readers’ Award – Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
“The Spa at Shangri-La takes care of your holistic well-being. Housing a number of facilities, these include a traditional hammam, peaceful rooftop lap pool, Jacuzzi, fully-equipped fitness room, sauna and steam room.”
ASIA & AUSTRALASIA
Best Newcomer – Awarta Nusa Dua Luxury Villas & Spa, Indonesia
“A retreat for the soul, Awarta Nusa Dua Luxury Villas & Spa is an undisturbed haven of peace and quiet on Bali’s southern peninsula, a stone’s throw from the fine golden grains of Nusa Dua beach. Awarta’s Thevana Spa also fuses different cultural elements with treatments drawn from ancient Bali traditions alongside modern Western therapies.”
Best Destination Spa – Fusion Maia Da Nang, Vietnam
“Inspired by the architecture of Hue’s Forbidden City, Fusion Maia Da Nang is a pool villa resort with an all-inclusive spa. Set in tropical gardens with a pool and cascading waterfall, The Maia Spa hosts regular classes in yoga and meditation while various “spirit lifting” activities do just as they say.”
Best for Couples – The Chedi Club Tanah Gajah, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
“Just outside the artistic, cultural hub of Ubud there’s the enchanting Chedi Club Tanah Gajah. The new Spa Pool Villas offer exceptional enhancements such as a private swimming pool and treatment room complete with two massage beds perfect for couple’s treatments, girlfriends’ getaways and mother-daughter bonding retreats.”
Best Treatment Menu – Layana Resort & Spa, Thailand
“The adults-only Layana Resort & Spa is located on a private stretch of sandy beach on the southern Thai island of Koh Lanta Yai. Discreetly tucked away within a walled garden is the Linger Longer Spa with six treatment rooms and new Salt Spa. Embraced by the surrounding flora and fauna, this is a pin-drop quiet retreat with outdoor Jacuzzi, hydromassage pool and salt inhalation room.”
Kayumanis
Best for Service – Kayumanis Private Villa & Spa, Indonesia
“Constructed from indigenous material with towering cinnamon trees and dense foliage creating complete privacy, Kayumanis Spa is a celebration of traditional Asian healing techniques and contemporary wellness treatments. Its menu includes rituals promoting rebalance and therapies specifically created for men and women.”
Best Spa Facilities – W Retreat & Spa Bali – Seminyak, Indonesia
“Glam, glossy and bang-on trend, everything seems bigger, brighter and bolder at W Retreat & Spa but it’s at the 24-hour AWAY® Spa whose concept of getting “away from it all” will have you tingling to your fingers and toes.”
Condé Nast Johansens Readers’ Award – The Dharmawangsa Jakarta,
Indonesia
“The Dharmawangsa’s Bimasena Spa focuses on treating both your mental and physical well-being. Through a long list of beauty therapies, massages, hydrotherapy, hair and skincare treatments, the aim is to have you leaving fully restored and rebalanced.”
AMERICAS & CARIBBEAN
Best Destination Spa – Kurotel Longevity Medical Center and Spa, Brazil
“The leafy scenery and clear mountain air are enough to make you feel instantly invigorated. But that’s just a taste of the healthy things to come at Kurotel Medical Longevity Center and Spa, a well-being powerhouse in Gramado, a pretty Bavarian town in south-east Brazil.”
Best for Couples – Royal Service Paradisus Río de Oro, Cuba
“A beauty spot to behold, Cuba’s mountainous Holguín region is equally stunning on land as it is under water. Embraced by the green throngs of tropical flora and fauna, YHI Spa “Aguas de Oro” is serenely located beyond Caleticas private beach and Paradisus Río de Oro’s orchards and botanical gardens.”
Best Treatment Menu – Lapinha Spa, Brazil
“At the end of a minimum five-night stay at Lapinha Spa you emerge a gleaming, renewed version of your former self – guaranteed. Never is your health so thoroughly taken care of than with a stay at this temple of well-being whose 11 health programmes include treatments dedicated to detoxing, slimming, water therapies (Watsu, thalassotherapy) and anti-smoking.”
Best for Service – Peter Island Resort & Spa, British Virgin Islands
A private island destination of white sand, tropical palms and glassy waters, Peter Island Resort & Spa is wow-out-loud beautiful. Set apart in seclusion from the resort, The Spa on Peter Island is located beside Big Reef Bay caressed by tropical flora and fauna. A grown-up wellness retreat, it comprises 10 treatment rooms, two outside bohios (open-air wooden structures), a tranquillity garden, pool and his and hers steam rooms.
Best Spa Facilities – Entremonte Wellness Hotel & Spa, Colombia
Get back to nature at Entremonte, Colombia’s first dedicated wellness hotel and spa in the foothills of the Apulo mountains. The thoughtful treatments, activities and medical programmes – all with a strong scientific basis – promise to de-stress, relax and energise, while the healthy, natural cuisine guarantees to impress and inspire.
Condé Nast Johansens Readers’ Award – CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa,
Anguilla
“Classically Caribbean, CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa is a refreshing blast of turquoise, blue and pure white – both inside and out. Venus Spa is all about escaping and rejuvenating. Its extensive menu of aquatherapies, high-tech treatments, Asian-inspired massages and holistic methods are all designed for optimum indulgence.”