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Home to colourul monks, traditiontemples and pampering spas, Laois Asias best kept secret. Kate Grahaexplores the top seven spas in a countabout to hit the big time.
writer Kate Graham
OVELY
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AmAntAkA
The latest hotel in Aman
Resorts Asia-wide chain,
the Amantaka br ings
e o r t l e ss luxu ry to
capital Luang Prabang.
Set in an elegant one-
story converted hospital
in the centre o town
this boutique hotel is a
haven; simple, understated
design that combines the
simplicity o cool white
walls and the style o careully chosen urniture. The excellent in-
house spa delivers the Aman recipe o chic and sleek; our spacious
treatment rooms staed by eight well trained spa practitioners and
impeccable acilities that include steam, sauna and hydro pools.
The spa menu oers a selection o both classic and local treatments.
Start with a 90-minute, Traditional Laos Massage, a rhythmic oil-
ree massage. Guests recline in a pair o loose, sot cotton pyjamas
while the therapist uses a combination o gentle yoga stretches and
pressure point massage to soothe and relax.
Other treatments include the Asian blend massage (a dry massageusing techniques rom Laos, Thailand and China that creates inner
harmony) and the dreamy 60-minute, our hand massage. Extend the
heavenly experience with a soak in a specially created bath, choosing
rom either the energising eect o a lime and ginger cocktail or
the serenity o a rangipani oral blend. I your skin needs a pick-up
try a body scrub, each o which take inspiration rom Laos ruit
and oliage; the Ginger Flower, Papaya, Tangerine and Jojoba Bead
scrub uses Epsom salts to create 90 minutes o pure invigoration.
this page:The spa at Amantaka;and The Spa at La Rsidence Phou Vao Hotel. opposite page:An
outdoor couples massage at The Spa at La Rsidence Phou Vao Hotel. opening pages: Swimming
pool at Villa Maly.
Gulf ofTonkin
MuangKhammouar
LuangPrabang
PhonsavanXiangkhoang
Vientiane
BanNape
Savannakhet
Salavan
Pakxe
VangVieng
XamNua
LouangNamtha
Phongsali
THAILAND
VIETNAM
CHINACHINA
BURMA
CAMBODIA
LAOSM e
kong
Or i Frangipani and Hibiscus sounds tempting, try the Salt Glow,
which both bus away impurities and uses aloe vera, seaweed and
cucumber to nourish and hydrate. This spa is much more than the
sum o its parts, rom the warm welcome and spacious changing
areas to the invigorating ginger tea presented at the end o your stay
this is a spa that truly puts Laos on the map.
www.amanresorts.com/amantaka/spa.aspx
ChAmpA LAo
In the capital o Vientiane the Green Park Hotel is a new luxurious
boutique. Made rom a collection o low rise polished wooden
structures and peaceully tinkling water eatures it makes the
perect place to enjoy the laid back city. The spa, set beside the
swimming pool oers peaceul, comortable treatment rooms
and a well thought out treatment menu. Massages on oer range
rom the Lao Traditional (using a deep tissue, pressure points and
stretching technique), Aromatherapy (applying pure essential oils to
balance the mind and relax the body) and anti-stress back, neck and
shoulders massage. The Indian Head Massage uses a 2000 year-old
technique, that combines a head massage with drops o warm oil
that drain rom the head.
For something more unusual choose the Ear Candling, also
known as ear coning, a treatment where a hollow candle is placedinside the ear canal. When lit it creates a soothing warmth within
the head, ear and sinuses. Champa spa also oers Belly Button
Candling, which improves digestive and colon health, skin quality
as well as reducing water tension. The 30-minute treatment includes
a deep abdominal massage. www.greenparkvientiane.com
sp
adestination
LA RsidenCe phou vAo hoteL
The frst luxury spa to open in Luang Prabang, The Spa at La
Rsidence Phou Vao Hotel began the transormation o the
towns spa reputation. The design is a fve-star blend o both Laos
cratsmanship, combining local woods and silk, with sleek modern
style. As well as an extensive menu o treatments, all spa guests are
encouraged to begin with a traditional herbal steam, the chanceto unwind in a room o limestone, ollowed by a cooling splash o
water rom earthenware urns.
Post-treatment guests can relax in the hotels infnity pool, with
views o the mountains in the distance and the town o Luang
Prabang below. The menu includes the Sip Sen a 60-minute Lao
massage frst created in the monasteries o Laos and passed down
through the generations. The massage is based on the belie that our
bodies have a lie orce that runs through energy lines, called sen.
By reeing these lines through applying pressure using thumbs a
palms you will emerge relaxed, detoxed, balanced and energis
Alternatively try the 90-minute Mahom, inspired by the healing pra
tices o the Hmong shamans. A steamed indigo herbal compres
frst massaged into the body, ollowed by a deep tissue massage
Indigo represents the Buddha o Medicine, and in Laos believed to heal muscle tone. Bath and body treatments include th
Tamrap Luang in which seven sacred owers and delicately rubbe
into the skin to heal and puriy or 120 blissul minutes. The P
Nuan blends local Lao ingredients and owery ragrances. Know
as the Lao secret to sensual skin, this 90-minute treatment beg
with a gentle exoliation using ruit acids, ollowed by a massa
using a steamed mixture o rice and sesame seeds soaked in wa
coconut milk. www.residencephouvao.com
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AngsAnA spA At mAison souvAnnAphoum hoteL
An award winning spa rom the world-class Banyan Tree bran
like all the Angsana Spas the Maison ocuses on the power
aromatherapy and touch to relax, rejuvenate and heal both bodi
and minds. Designed with energy and colour the interior is vibra
and spa guests are oered the chance to have treatments in either
conditioned rooms or private open-air pavilions, some surround
by water. Either way you arrive through the waving palms o a lu
garden, lit in the evening by the twinkling o tiny lights.
The menu has an Asian-ocused avour, rom the Fusi
massage which blends Swedish and Thai techniques to unblo
stiness, to the Siam, which delicately stretches the body wi
oil-ree Thai techniques o palming and thumbing. Meanwh
the body polishes are good enough to eat, with the Thai Herb
Glower mixing cooling yoghurt with Thai herbs and the Oatme
Honey Lime Aglow removing impurities and dirt rom deep with
the skin. Excellent treatments aside it is the little touches that s
this spa apart, the delicious herbal drinks and thirty minute ca
time that allows the eect o the massage to truly sink in.
www.angsana.com
viLLA mALy
Once a private villa o Princess Khampieng and Prince Khamt
a grandson o the 19th century King Zakarine, this original 19
residence has been given a luxury Art Deco inspired makeov
As well as 33 stylish rooms, arranged in our buildings name
ater owers, the boutique accommodation includes a small b
well run spa. Manicures and pedicures join a selection o relax
massages. The Traditional Lao Massage is a blend o pressure poi
massage and slow stretching. It releases tension, increases vital
and exibility and creates wholeness o body, mind and spi
www.villa-maly.com
spA gARden
Simple and calm this central Luang Prabang spa is easily the nice
stand-alone choice in town. The menu may lack the bells-an
whistles o many fve-star spa spots, but what is on oer is bo
well delivered and excellent value. Set in a green garden therean instant air o peace and calm, the interior o the traditional L
building is a mix o dark woods and colourul material throws. At
a day spent sightseeing through the towns temples a 60-minute o
massage is heavenly, as is the Mystic Laos Massage, which us
ancient Lao massage techniques to reduce stress and get the blo
circulating. I the use o pressure points and body stretching do
not appeal, opt or the more relaxing Aromatherapy option.
www.spagardenlpb.com
this page: The swimming pool at Angsana Spa at Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel;a massage and
details at Villa Maly. opposite page:Swedish massage in a VIP Pavillion at Papaya Spa;and a f
bath at The Spa, at La Rsidence Phou Vao Hotel.
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pApAyA spA
In the heart o Vientiane, tucked away on the banks o the Mekong
River this is the best ree-standing spa in the city. Set in a beautiul
French colonial building you arrive through a tropical garden o
green oliage and sweet smelling blooms, a mixture o rangipani,
waving palms and coconut trees. The dcor is simple and rustic, all
polished teak and local artiacts. As well as treatment rooms there
are two herbal steam baths and a number o VIP Pavillions, each
with its own lovely private garden. Therapists are ully trained at
Vientianes Traditional Medicine Institute and enjoy the additional
expertise rom both the Moh Shivagakomarpaj Foundation in Chiang
Mai, and the Cosmopro Institute o Singapore. The therapists here
understand that resh ruit and local spices have benefts ar beyond
their delicious taste.
Drawing on ancient Lao recipes the various treatments include
sweet papaya and pineapple, the energising eect o coee, soothingcucumber, honey and yoghurt, and the stimulation o oats and
sweet almonds. The acial includes both tamarind and papaya,
both o which have been used by Lao women in beauty treatment
since ancient times thanks to the ability to both moisturising and
rejuvenate skin. All the body and acial care treatments include a
blend o 100 percent pure natural ragrance essential oils, created
in Grasse, France. Extend your stay by unwinding in the garden, or
sipping a herbal tea at the in-house bar. www.papayaspa.com
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