Best of the Maldives: Kids Wellness – Six Senses Laamu

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Six Senses Laamu - child wellness 1

Universal Children’s Day today. Dedicated to “welfare of the children of the world”. And Six Senses Laamu offers a program to enhance their welfare every day they stay there. A special programme of wee-one wellness includes…

  • Aesthetics – eg. music class with singing bowls
  • Activity – eg. specially adapted yoga, basic tai chi movements
  • Nutrition – eg. interactive games to teach better foods to eat
  • Treatments – eg. specialized massages, mini-manicures, hair braiding

The resort describes…

“A different wellness activity will be available daily in the Den, the children’s club. These include an introduction to meditation during a music class, how to create sounds with singing bowls, basic tai chi movements and many more. A yoga instructor will offer specially-designed yoga classes for children, during which youngsters will be taught some basic yoga poses.…Nutrition experts have created interactive games that will teach children which dishes are better for them, why they are better and where ingredients come from. The children will also have the chance to make their own healthy juice by visiting the organic garden. Here, they will hand pick their favorite ingredients and add them to their own juice or smoothie…Six Senses Spa Laamu offers children’s treatments including head, foot, hand and shoulder massages just for kids plus children’s facials, mini manicures, pedicures and hair braiding. Young guests from 9 to 16 years of age are always welcome at Six Senses Spas when accompanied by an adult.”

Six Senses Laamu - child wellness 2

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Best of the Maldives: Vinotherapie – Velassaru

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Velassaru - Vinotherapie

Alcohol, at its most generic hydroxyl chemical functional group level, has a couple of properties which make it for popular for stirring the senses. First, it is volatile. This enhances aromas as it evaporates quickly. Second, it bonds to both water and fat, making it a great catalyst to bringing out the flavours in food. It seems creative applications have been conjured up to excited nearly every sense – the spectacle of sight, the aroma of smell, the titillation of taste. And Velassaru gives you the opportunity to experience the epidermal emollience of its “Vinotherapie” spa treatment…

  • “The Spa at Velassaru, Maldives offers couples the chance to experience sensual bliss through a full body scrub, wrap and a massage, with its newly launched wine therapy – Vinotherapie. This indulgent treatment uses red and white wine as its main ingredients and is followed by a specially prepared candlelit bath to enjoy, complimented with a delicious bottle of wine. This three-hour sensual therapy allows couples to enjoy serene and rejuvenating moments together to rekindle intimacy and romance at only USD 640 per couple.”

A cheeky little number for your cheeks.

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Best of the Maldives: Asian Massage – Sun Siyam Irufushi

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Sun Siyam Irufushi - asian spa

United Nations Day today. Celebrating the diversity of cultures as well as the ambitions of that global organisation to enhance health and welfare around the world.

When we first starting visiting the Maldives, a spa was actually a rarity. My first massage there was from an Australian masseuse they had contracted in and gave her a remote villa garden and massage table. Now the spas are some of the most elaborate parts of the resorts and many of the properties incorporate ‘Spa’ right into the name. With all these choices have come many variations on the theme. Anantara has tapped its Thai roots for more Thai oriented treatments. Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru has an aruvedic theme.

But the veritable United Nations of spa treatments are to be found at the Sun Siyam Irufushi. The brochure describes “Personalized Spa Experiences – Guests can create their own spa journey.”

Of the 147 different treatments offered The Spa by Thalgo, it features 9 different massages from traditional Asian cultures including:

  • MALDIVES – Maldivian Massage
  • PHILIPPINES – Filipino Hilot Massage
  • INDIA – Crystal Healing Ritual
  • CHINA – Restoring Yin-Yang Therapy
  • JAPAN – Shiatsu Massage
  • THAILAND – Thai Massage
  • INDONESIA – Balinese Massage
  • SOUTH PACIFIC – Aroma Island Massage
  • ASIA – Oriental Back Massage (fusion of oriental techniques)

When we visited, I was especially impressed by the Thai Massage room (see photo above). A spacious area with not only a proper Thai matt, but also two elegant ropes for the therapist to use for balance while walking on your back. I am a devotee of Thai Massage (aka. “Lazy Yoga”) and this was the finest treatment room (not over the water) for that discipline that I’ve visited.

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Best of the Maldives: Sauna/Steam View – Velaa

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Velaa - spa steam view

If you are into steamy views, then Velaa’s spa is the just the vista (though the guy in the official picture below seems to be enjoying more of yesterday’s kind of view than the outside beauty of the Maldives)…

Most spa amenities like the steam rooms and saunas are tucked away in the back recesses of the facility. I guess the conventional thinking goes that people want privacy and the focus of the room is enclosing heat. As a result, the more closed off, then the easier to pull off. I have to admit, that a sauna and steam can get a bit tedious. Yes, I realise that I could just enjoy the sensually soothing heat, but I still find staring at four walls a bit tiresome.

Velaa’s spa is one of the most inspired that I have been to in the world never mind just the Maldives (which is, admittedly, turning into a bit of a global spa smorgasbord). I’ve already featured its beachside blizzard “Snow Room” and “Spa Pod”, and my recent visit turned up several more distinctions like this post.  You don’t have to sacrifice enjoying views of the Maldive water as you can sit with in the steam room gazing out at the sun drenched, azure-dappled sea.

Today is just the day to highlight Velaa’s spa. Because today IS the “future”. Well, “Back to the Future Day”. The long anticipated “Back to the Future” day that Marty McFly travels to in his DeLorean. And, Velaa is the DeLorean of Maldives resorts with its sleek, edgy, innovative design. Furthermore, it is arguably the most futuristic of the Maldives resorts with its space-age “Spa Pod” and its alien-spaceship-like Tower (another inspired vista). And, like Velaa’s stylish guests to its steam room, the car arrives and departs in a cloud.

 

Velaa - steam room

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Best of the Maldives: Intraceuticals – NIYAMA

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NIYAMA - Intraceuticals

Many visitors come to the Maldives to feel the fresh clean air on their skin. NIYAMA spa’s new “Intraceutical” treatments now provide that the therapeutic effect of that air…under the skin. The announcement describes…

“Revolutionary for oxygen treatments, Intraceuticals uses a machine that applies oxygen under pressure to deliver a special serum of low molecular weight hyaluronic acid, essential vitamins, antioxidants, and peptides to the skin. The unique technology and specially formulated procedure of an Intraceuticals Treatment leaves skin looking noticeably brighter, firmer and more flawless immediately following the treatment. Depending on individual skin types, treatments can also be focused to address concerns such as wrinkles, hyper-pigmentation or blemishes.”

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Best of the Maldives: Snow – Velaa

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Velaa - snow room 3

Snow in the Maldives! Not the most surprising weather forecast ever, but the innovative spa feature at Velaa resort.

When it comes to spa treatments, most people think heat – steam bath, sauna, hot stones. While heating soothes, it is the contrast of heat and cold which “exercises” your cardiovascular system. Heat opens the capillaries, and cold closes them (other stimulation like a spanking which is why it leaves a red mark and why many Nordic countries incorporate birch branch whacking into their spas). A number of spas have cold water plunge pools for this purpose, but the ultimate is the “rolling around in the snow” made famous in northern climes. Velaa brings this Arctic touch to the Tropics.

Let it snow, let it snow. I am one with the wind and the sky!

Velaa - snow room 1

Velaa - snow room 2

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Best of the Maldives: Bath Salts – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

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Park Hyatt Hadahaa - bath salts

“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen

You can add Park Hyatt Hadahaa’s “Vidrun” (meaning “to shine” in Dhevehi) spa to that list. Their treatments incorporate a selection of special salt and herb blends based on Maldivian concepts…

    • Hoonu – rose and sandalwood (Cooling)
    • Fini – ginger, clove and aniseed (Warming)
    • Hiki – jasmine and lotus (Balancing)

All massages start with a foot scrub with signature foot salt…a symbol that your “journey has begun”. Then of course, you soak in a soothing bath using your chosen bath salt.

Definitely worth its salt.

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Best of the Maldives: Babymoon – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

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Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives babymoon Getty Images non-commercial embedding

As Baby New Year brings us 2015, Park Hyatt Hadahaa brings us an inspired new package to bring baby to the Maldives this year. Their new “Babymoon” bridges two of the Maldives’ most dinstinctive allures – honeymoons and families…

“The six-day Babymoon offering has been specially designed to prepare, relax and reinvigorate expecting mothers, with pampering treatments taking place at the hotel’s luxurious Vindhun Spa…Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa’s new Babymoon package is available at £413.00 per couple for 6 days and includes a pregnancy massage, aqua yoga, head and shoulder massage, pregnancy Yoga and breathing, Abhyangyam massage, and a hydrating facial”

Happy New Year Maldives fans!

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Best of the Maldives: Floral Drink – Dusit Thani

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Dusit Thani - floral drink

“LORI, MY LOVE FOR YOU IS DEEPER THAN THE BLUES OF THE MALDIVES WATERS AND BRIGHTER THAN ITS WHITE CORAL SANDS!!!”

Today Japan marks “Beloved Wives Day” when men shout out their love for their wives. But actions speak even louder than words no matter what the volume. So, if I want to demonstrate my adoration for Lori, I would book her into a Dusit Thani spa treatment. She loves a bit of pampering, but Dusit distinguishes itself for my wife with their floral drinks. My wife enjoys flavours like rose and lavender (Santa brought her those flavour chocs). Dusit’s spa serves a drink made from the Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) flower (photo above) which is one of the few floral drinks that I have actually enjoyed myself (not a big fan usually).

“BELOVED, YOU ARE SWEETER THAN A FLOWER IN PARADISE!!”

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Best of the Maldives: Spa Pod – Velaa

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Velaa - spa pod

The right lighting can not only help you rising, but also falling to sleep. Velaa’s “spa pod” employs soft lighting, among other sensory stimulation, in the Maldives’ first ever “Cloud 9” spa system…

The Viennese artist and perception researcher sha. has now developed a holistic spa treatment concept to counter these daily stresses and strains: WOLKE 7 CLOUD 9. You enter a world where boundaries disappear, embed yourself on clouds and begin a journey which ends in deep relaxation. With the inspiring concept of WOLKE 7 CLOUD 9 by sha. KLAFS introduces and celebrates a holistic-artistic vision, based on the harmonious spa ambience, which turns the spa area into a creative awareness lab during the Interbad 2010. The origin is the reclining pod, which, in its three dimensional version, transports the visitor into a cloud scenery. Previously, ergonomic studies determined that a diversity of body forms would easily find space in the WOLKE 7 CLOUD 9. The gentle swaying motion of the WOLKE 7 CLOUD 9 further enhances the floating sensation to the visitor and cradles him or her softly towards the horizon. A second pod – as a revolved mirror image of the pod below – floats above the visitor completing the spacial cloud-sky composition of this spa highlight.”

The “cloud” concept is actually a composite of a number of clouds…

  • Image cloud –back projected sky-cloud scenery
  • Light cloud – fine light-shadow transitions which re-inforce the three dimensional cloud impression
  • Colour cloud – monochrome colours transition slowly and imperceptively and begin to mix and mingle
  • Sound cloud – wave-like form of breathing in and out, of moving to and fro produces different acoustic agglomerations, which increase and decrease, transform into and overlap each other.
  • Cradle cloud – finely tuned, cradle-like swaying motion by lower cloud

Also, possibly the winner of the most expensive spa feature (or any feature) with a reported cost of $10,000,000. Certainly, the most welcome clouds in all of the Maldives.

 

Velaa - cloud system spa

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