by Aude
The Oriental Spa at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental has just been rewarded with two prestigious awards:
The Oriental Spa at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental has just been rewarded with two prestigious awards:
- Outstanding Spa Treatment for the Digital Wellness Escape by the Harper’s Bazaar Malaysia Spa Awards 2018
- Accolades from the 3rd Annual Prestige Beauty & Spa Awards for the two signature treatments: Ying & Yang and Sense of Balance.
It was about time we give it a go, don’t you think? Which I did earlier this week treating myself to one of the award winning treatment: Sense of Balance.
You know what I love about hotel’s spa? Their facilities … but the facilities at The Oriental Spa are definitely putting the game to a whole other level!
Definitely make sure to arrive at least 1h before your treatment and/or to have plenty of time after it because believe me, you’ll want to experience it all:
- The Vitality Pool, heated to 35°C and equipped w/ full-body air jet massage loungers
- The Experienced Showers
- The Laconium, a traditional Roman sauna heated to 55°C-65°C and perfect to boost detoxification and stimulate circulation
- The Ice Fountain, to cool down after spending 20 min in the Laconium and again perfect to stimulate circulation
- The Tepidarium Chairs, originating from the Ancient Rome and heated to 37°C radiating heat throughout the entire body and helping to reduce muscle tension
- The Amethyst Crystal Steam Bath – my absolute fav- where a moist and aromatic 42°C-45°C heat rises from the floor and walls to warm the body and encourages relaxation
I could have easily spent an entire afternoon just enjoying those beautiful facilities. But hey, award winning treatment is waiting for me!
Sense of Balance is a 2h body treatment based on traditional Chinese therapy and designed to balance the body’s natural energy through three different stages:
- A ginseng body scrub
- A Chinese Meridian Massage
- Chinese cupping treatment
I did really enjoy the ginseng body scrub but found out that the two next stages were most surprising as it was something totally new for me. Chinese Meridian Massage is definitely an active one: pressing, pushing, rolling, tapping … felt like my body was stimulating in so many different ways! If you are a “soft-touching” massage addict, this one is not for you. As for me, I like it when it’s active and a little bit painful but in a god way (does it makes any sense?). On to the cupping part which is something totally new to me.
The way it works basically is that small cups are placed on your back, creating a suction and aiming at removing the toxins from your body. If I am being honest, the two first minutes of this part were very stressful. I am not sure how to describe it but despite the cups being very small, when the two first ones were placed on my body I had this feeling of extreme pressure on my back and compression in my body … I was so stressed about it, I felt like I couldn’t breathe and was about to ask my practitioner to stop. Took me a few deep breathes to relax (I thank my Yoga classes for that!) but once that first sentiment of pressure and compression gone I actually felt super good, almost as if my mind was disconnected from my body and I could let go of all emotions and just relax … is it that people call meditative state?
Madame’s tips: cupping do let marks on your body. It took around 3 days for the ones on my back to disappear so you might wanna think about it before scheduling it (definitely not the best idea to have it before a friend’s wedding on which you are planning to wear an open back dress for example … just saying).
This treatment definitely took me to very different steps from feeling very energize from the scrub and Meridian Massage to feeling deeply relaxed at the end and I did enjoy each and every state I went through during those 2h (minus the 2 min of stress attack at the beginning of the cupping). Being aware of each emotion you are going through and enjoying it, I guess that’s what they call Sense of Balance!
Sense of Balance
120 min treatment – HKD 2,300 on weekdays / HKD 2,600 on weekends
The Oriental Spa
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental
