Anantara Spa, The Anantara Hotel and Resort, Hua Hin (July 2006)
My wife and I recently returned from 6 days at the Anantara Hotel and Resort in Hua Hin, Thailand. We visited (frequently) the in-house Anantara Spa (which, we were told, is in fact under the management of Mandara Spa) and went on to surprise our wonderful hosts by the number of different treatments we tried.
The spa is located on the more private lagoon side (rather than the beach side) of the resort, on the way to the lagoon swimming pool. Like the rest of the hotel, it is surrounded by a lush, yet carefully tended, tropical landscape. As we were very happy to find out when being led to our room on our arrival, the spa was literally just outside our room. In fact, I counted that we needed to take fewer than 10 steps from our room door to the spa. How convenient.
A. First Impression/Reception
The entrance to the Anantara Spa is a 12-foot high doorway covered in diamond shaped ceramic tiles of a crimson colour and it could easily double as an entrance to a temple. The low key, yet efficiently run spa is mostly enclosed (and internally divided) by high clay walls, except at the far end where it extends onto a long wooden deck, seemingly floating atop a tranquil moat full of blossoming lotuses, which leads to three more spa suites.
The analogy to a temple is apt, as even before one actually sets foot inside the spa, one sees through the glass front of the main entrance (and the glass of the door directly opposite, which exits from the reception to the spa suites) to see an ancient Thai stone carving set into the wall. Fresh flowers are used to adorn the carving every day.
The main entrance leads directly to the spa reception, which is divided into two parts. To the right, there is the spa reception where the patient and warm spa attendant confirms your booking, explains your treatments, helps you choose the appropriate massage oil, and so on. On the left side of the room, there are several large, soft couches lining the walls, surrounded by sumptuous displays of the various spa products that are used in treatments at the spa and available for purchase.
B. Atmosphere/Environment
Just outside the door exiting the spa reception, one sees a number of high clay doorways on both sides of a path that winds through the spa enclosure. Each spa suite is marked with a different Thai alphabet beautifully crafted in cast iron, and an ornamental rope is hung outside the wooden door to indicate that a spa suite is occupied.
Inside the spa suite, there is a spacious and private changing area at the back. The main body of the spa suite contains 2 large spa beds, covered in soft white towels, with a soft face rest at one end. On the side of the room next to the changing area, there is a dark wood bench on which one is asked to sit, after changing into the bathrobe provided, for a footbath before the treatment proper begins.
The room is softly lit by rays of natural light peering through the drawn curtains, as well as spots of flickering candlelight from candles and an oil burner placed around the periphery of the room.
The temperature is carefully controlled to ensure it remains just cool enough to be fresh but not cold, even when one is only covered by a towel during the treatment. Slow, meditative music wafts through the room from hidden speakers, enough to be heard but not too loud to be distracting. A soft scent of an Ylang Ylang blend oil fills the cool air.
My wife and I agree that of the many spas which we have been fortunate enough to have visited, the Anantara Spa has truly mastered the art of creating the perfect spa suite environment.
C. Treatment
As mentioned above, we tried so many different treatments between us that even our hosts seemed to be surprised.
The herbal steams we took were generally excellent. There are steam suites which contain an open air shower with the steam room. One is asked to take a shower before entering the steam room. There is nothing quite like taking a shower in open air - the feeling of the tepid water falling over you while you smell the fresh tropical air is quite unique. There was a slight hitch in that we had difficulty controlling the water temperature for one of the showers in our steam suite. The large elongated steam room can fit six people comfortably. It is fronted by glass going from floor to ceiling, which means that one is bathed in natural light as well as the herbal or aromatic steam. The amount of herbal or aromatic scent in the steam was very well controlled, and avoided the all too common fault of being overwhelming. The only minor criticism we had was that the temperature of the room was set a little too high for us, but this is only a matter of personal taste. When we came out of the steam room, true to the Anantara level of service, there were ice water and cookies waiting for us.
Our treatments, especially massages, were heavenly. Our therapists were attentive and took great care in asking us about our preferred pressure, whether the room temperature was to our liking, and so on. Their techniques were exemplary; their strokes were firm, continuous and smooth, and pressure point techniques were consistent and accurate. Suffice it to say that my wife and I fell asleep on more than one occasion during our various massages.
One more thing we feel we must mention – the milk and honey bath at the end of the “Culture of Anantara†was out of this world. We immersed ourselves in an open air bath of milky white water smelling of honey. The stone bath was luxuriously spacious and we could stretch ourselves out to the full. The thoughtful spa staff left us to enjoy the bath with warm ginger tea and chocolate chip cookies. Need I say more!
Recommended treatments: herbal steam, aromatic steam, aromatic massage, Indian head massage and foot massage.
D. Post-Treatment
The post-treatment ritual was simple but thoughtful. When we came out of the changing area, we were served warm ginger tea and cold towels, and were left to enjoy these at our leisure while our therapists went about efficiently restoring the spa suite to its ready state. Perhaps it was the general air of relaxation, but we actually found it quite therapeutic to watch our therapists’ efficient and practised movements.
When we were finished, one of our therapists would be waiting to lead us back through the meandering path through the spa enclosure back to the reception, where we were presented with the bill and, more importantly, a confirmation of our next treatment appointment.
For the avoidance of doubt, the views expressed in the above passage are purely the personal opinions of my wife and myself, subject to our personal preferences and limited to our particular experience on this occasion.
Balneotherapy
Water-based treatments such as those using thermal hot springs, mineral water or seaweed which helps digestion and relieves gastric discomfort
