Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
5 of the best luxury wellness retreats in South Africa
MORE travellers are taking wellness trips as travel has been shown to decrease stress, improve brain function, boost your immune system and make you feel happier over time.
Wellness retreats are the highest form of “self-care” and “me time” where you can switch off and forget about the worries of your life or learn healthy coping mechanisms to deal with stress.
With Heritage Day around the corner, we’ve compiled a list of five luxury wellness retreats to help you connect with South Africa’s rich, multicultural and diverse backgrounds.
HAMMAM TURKISH BATH & SPA
If you’re looking for a wellness retreat with hints of Middle Eastern culture, this is the place for you. A Turkish Hammam is a traditional Turkish bath package that includes 45 minutes of washing, traditional body scrubbing with a kese (handwoven washcloth), a foam wash and a massage.
The attendants usually provide visitors with a peshtemal, a thin cotton towel, to wrap themselves, and a regular towel to use after bathing. The wellness retreat in Pretoria offers a traditional hammam, yoga and other aesthetic treatments. The spa restaurant serves Turkish cuisine and a half-day couples package, the Royal Ottoman Hammam Indulgence, costs R5 900.
SANTÉ WELLNESS RETREAT & SPA
“Santé” means health in French and the Santé Wellness Retreat & Spa offers a multi-faceted approach to health. The spa sits in spectacular countryside in the Cape Winelands, rich with culture and heritage.
It has three healing centres under one roof. The Health Optimising Royal Retreat offers a comprehensive health assessment and individual treatment plan, supported by specialist doctors and therapists; the Day Spa provides complementary programmes to help you rejuvenate, relax, detox, or support healthy ageing; and the BioEnergy Centre harnesses the healing and balancing attributes of magnetic fields, colour, light, and crystals.
Sante’s menu contains no sugar, dairy, gluten, artificial colours, preservatives or additives, and uses fresh
ingredients from the resort’s own garden and local bio-dynamic produce.
Sante’s facilities include 16 massages, facial and wet rooms, two saunas, two steam rooms, two vinotherapy rooms, a yoga studio, a fitness centre, a heated indoor pool and ajacuzzi.
You can also try out colour therapy, energy therapy, health optimising assessments and treatments, Kneipp therapy, lifestyle coaching, nutritional consultancy and sleep therapy. A room here starts at R5 615 a night.
LONDOLOZI GAME RESERVE
One of the world’s finest healing hotels, Londolozi Game Reserve is where you can reconnect with nature.
The reserve is set in the heart of the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, which borders the Kruger National Park, making it the perfect luxury safari retreat.
The Londolozi Healing House is a space where wellness experts, life coaches, wisdom keepers and shamans have created a range of retreats, activities and experiences to help travellers
rejuvenate, restore, and transform.
When it comes to food, each camp has its own dining spaces and ingredients used in food preparation are ethical, sustainable, local, organic or free range where possible.
Londolozi’s healing therapies include massage, aromatherapy, stone therapies, body activation, guided meditation and breath work, Bemer therapy and sound therapy.
Staying here can cost up to R42 690 a room night.
FORDOUN SPA
The KZN Midlands is the perfect setting for those seeking the simplicity that comes with small-town living or the farm life, but with luxury finishes.
The spa boasts experts that include skilled masseuses, reiki and bio-energy specialists, a traditional African healer and highly trained aestheticians.
It offers African treatments such as the Indulgent African Earth Experience, the Inkomfe (African Potato) healing wraps and Ndukuduku massage.
The spa also runs detox retreats with a specialist team to guide, motivate and inspire travellers.
For a more spiritually African experience, travellers can consult with an African traditional doctor or inyanga, Dr Elliot Ndlovu, to help bring clarity to life situations.
Baba Ndlovu also has a signature range of Ndlovu products created in conjunction with the spa. The range includes scrubs, shower gels, massage oils, bath salts, body butter and teas.
The packages depend on the length of your stay, and a three-day retreat or Essence of Africa package starts at R13 255 a person.
OXFORD HEALTHCARE RETREAT
In the heart of Johannesburg is Oxford Healthcare Retreat. The boutique wellness guest house is a specialist health care and stress detox facility in Melrose.
It has five private, luxurious suites with their own balconies and en suite bathrooms.
The tranquil and spacious retreat grounds offer ample space for relaxation and exercise, fresh air and sunshine, while its multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals are available to look after guests around the clock.
The health-care facility offers Kundalini yoga, floatation pool therapy, breath work, meditation and mindfulness classes, craniosacral therapy, reflexology, a music sensorium, sauna, walks, qigong, shiatsu, massage therapy, psychologist consultations and nutritionist consultations.
A stress and wellness detox starts from R9 800 a person for four days’ and four nights’ of intensive treatment for those requiring an immediate sense of relief and sustained rest and rejuvenation.