The spa that’s all white with Uma
CONTINUING our series on the world’s hippest hotels and the celebrities who frequent them,
SARAH TURNER visits India’s Ananda Spa, where white outfits are all the rage...
STAR QUALITY:
Prince Charles and Camilla, Kate Winslet, Uma Thurman, Oprah Winfrey.
VITAL STATISTICS:
Once a place for Britain’s colonial elite to escape the summer heat of Delhi, now it’s the Hollywood power set in search of inner contentment who come to Ananda. Flick through the visitors’ book and you’ll find paeans of praise from Oprah Winfrey and Black Hawk Down star Josh Hartnett, while Uma Thurman thinks it is ‘a most magical place’.
There are just 70 rooms and suites. To imbibe history, stay in the original palace, complete with billiards room lined with portraits of maharajahs. At the highest point of the hotel, the Vice Regal suite reigns supreme with a colonial ambience including four-poster bed and its own private terrace.
For a greater sense of retreat, the newer villas, tucked into the woods, have private pools and a more contemporary feel. A vast spa has its own complex with white marble yoga pavilion and 24 treatment rooms.
LOCATION REPORT:
Part of the low Himalayas, close to Rishikesh, one of the seven holy cities of the Hindu faith where The Beatles started strumming sitars and learning transcendental meditation. An hour’s flight from Delhi, this is the sort of place where enlightenment comes with a private helipad and its own exalted mountainside spot – views reach from the snow-capped Himalayas to the Ganges river.
KEY ATTRACTION:
Ultimately, celebrities seek out Ananda for the treatments, as it is widely considered to be one of the best spas in the world. Treatments are based on Ayurvedic principles, which divide people into three categories. A doctor initially sees guests before a programme is devised to suit vata, kappa and pita sensitivities. Three sessions a day are included in the price and vary from massage to meditation. Yoga teaching is uniformly excellent – many guests report that it has helped them give up long-term bad habits, including smoking. Food is also cooked along ayurvedic principles and is delicious.
IN THE NEWS:
Charles and Camilla popped in for a night’s stay on their visit to India last year.
GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE REST OF US?
After you arrive, no one will know if you’re rich or riff-raff as whatever your rank, everyone looks the same. Guests are provided with white kurtas - traditional pyjamas – and most people are happy to wear them day and night, giving everyone a pleasingly uniform appearance.
GETTING THERE:
Elegant Resorts (elegantresorts.co.uk, 01244 897551) offers a seven-night holiday to India from £3,195. This includes flights from Heathrow, transfers, six nights’ full-board accommodation at the Ananda with spa treatments and activities, and one-night stopover with breakfast at the Leela Palace hotel in Delhi.