Times Online - Shanti Ananda, Mauritius
04 March 09
There's a rare communal feel at the island's only destination superspa popular with Kylie and friends
USP The tropical sister of the well-known Himalayan retreat is the only destination spa on Mauritius, an island of scores of hotels with spas. Guests come here to the quieter south coast for a few days of pampering or for a few weeks of serial treatments.
AMBIENCE The site is well appointed, with suites and villas overlooking an all but empty sandy beach in a shallow bay of turquoise water, where waves break on a reef 100 metres out at sea. Lush green hills rise above sugar plantations at the end of the mile-long beach.
The ambience is becalming and uncluttered with every item of furniture carefully chosen for maximum impact. In the main lounge-reception area, huge windows open onto yellow lilies floating in water, a natural slate swimming pool and the beach. Guests are encouraged to wander around in a white cotton pyjama-style outfit so as not to have to sweat about holiday wardrobe decisions and this promotes a communal feel not usually found in such luxurious places.
The spa, too, is beautifully laid out, housed in a discrete building near two tennis courts. Seventeen treatment rooms run around a gently rising water garden punctuated by a couple of tiny islands where guests wait to be collected for treatments and take post-massage tea. The treatment rooms vary in size and shape but the larger ones have simple wood tile peaked roofs, fans and outdoor showers with arty copper piping.
The frog chorus at midnight is a something to behold.
EXPERIENCE I was booked in for a whole series of treatments ready-made for my short three-day stay; I handpicked a few and cancelled the rest, otherwise I'd have left virtually comatose and not been able to trek in the deserted nearby National Park on a rainy day. Guests on longer detox or rejuvenation programmes will build a course of treatments after a consultation with Dr Mane, a specialist in Ayurvedic practice.
A grounding salt scrub followed by an aromatherapy massage was very good, the reflexology footwork less so. A highlight was a four-handed all over Abhyanga body massage where one is oiled swiftly from top to toe like a soldier returning from some Homeric odyssey.
A mid-afternoon meditation session at the open-sided yoga pavilion went swimmingly with a slightly stern young instructor; my three types of breathing and the sensing of all my body parts were disrupted only by a single fly that I tried to swat.
Each day there is an early-evening lecture in the library on wisdom by Vedanta (every guest has a copy of this book in the bedside drawer). It's a loose philosophical ramble that mish-mashes proverbial soundbites and enrich-your-soul ideas delivered by the resident guru. It's all perfectly good fun and a relief to engage the mind after all the wallowing passive stuff. Hilariously, "Be the CEO of Your Life" turned into a chat among the women present on the challenges of finding a good man.
In Sanskrit, Shanti means peace and Ananda means bliss: Dr Mane told me how he'd transformed the lives of a few guests who'd clearly been down on their luck, but it's hard to imagine not feeling better/happier/healthier after kicking back here for a week or two. I was able to gauge my mellowed factor by the simple fact that I had been stripped of the singular focus and aggression necessary to play a half-decent game of tennis - a sure sign that I'd chilled out.
FOOD Meals are tailored to a guest's particular Ayurvedic dosha and health programme. After my consultation, it was suggested that I don't eat raw salad stuff and rather have everything at least lightly sautéed - this was to aid my digestion. There were, however, so many delicious items on the menu that this soon went out of the window.
The informal, semi-outdoors Pebbles serves ultra-healthy international cuisine, using local ingredients where possible. Da Maurizio is the retreat's signature restaurant, which is exquisitely designed with tall-stemmed voluminous wine glasses and stylish big-city interior. The menu offers a local catch of the day.
IN CROWD British, German, French - in that order, with a handful of South Africans on the second week of a fortnight honeymoon "spa-fari" where they've spent the first week on a big game reserve.
Refreshingly unstuffy given its exclusive air; soul crusaders not short of a bob or two - Kylie and Natalie Imbruglia stayed in separate luxury oceanfront villas as did Martina Navratilova before her ordeal in the celebrity jungle. Singles are encouraged with tempting package offers (up to 50 per cent off when I was there), a specially allocated singles table for dinner and inclusive classes, from yoga to rejuvenation cuisine.
WALLET WATCH There are various health and wellbeing packages, from stress and weight management to yoga and rejuvenation. Seven-night packages are available from Wellbeing Escapes from £2,200 per person, including a consultation, eight prescribed Ayurvedic therapies, other treatments and activities, full use of the spa's thermal suites and pools, spa cuisine, flights and transfers.
Book via www.wellbeingescapes.co.uk or call 0845 602 6202
Individual treatments: a 45-minute salt scrub costs €55; reflexology €60 for an hour, and a Himalayan honey and rose facial, €100 for an hour.
Air Mauritius flies from Heathrow to Mauritius. Economy class return fares start from £535 per adult (including taxes and fuel surcharge) and business class return fares start from £1,595 per adult. The airline refurbished its business class seating last year, but it's still got a way to go until it matches the efficient luxury of rival airlines. That said it is a very comfortable way to start and end a special holiday.
