Chilling out to recharge your batteries

Le meridien spa by Matthew Hampton

Chilling out to recharge your batteries

Limassol’s luxury spa makes a splash with water lovers

Keenly anticipated since it was announced at last year’s World Travel Market, the Spa at Le Meridienin Limassol is now open for business.

After almost a year’s work and £7m investment, the doors to the spa opened in July.

A new wing followed in September, comprising garden suites, royal spa suites, jacuzzi cabanas and deluxe rooms. The new royal spa wing added a total of 41 rooms to the existing 222.

At 3,000 metres square, the indoor and outdoor spa is the only one of its kind in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Facilities include four outdoor seawater pools, each with a different salinity content and temperature, as well as a hammam, two saunas and a heated indoor seawater pool. Another two heated thalasso pools are available indoors, plus a gym, an algaeotherapy centre with 20 treatment rooms and four relaxation areas.

Such a comprehensive facility attracted the interests of specialist spa operator Thermalia, which has made Le Meridien its only destination in Cyprus.

Managing director Miro Sajfert said he needed a winter spa destination, and Le Meridien fitted the bill.

“It has sunshine during the winter months and it offers genuine thalassotherapy treatments, with water pumped up directly from the sea. It’s also the second largest in the Mediterranean, after the Armacao de Pera in the Algarve,”he added.

Thermalia has witnessed a high demand for the product, and has had to turn customers away until the construction of the royal spa wing was complete.

“A spa holiday should be about peace and relaxation, not about building work,” said Sajfert.

Prices in the new wing range from around £100 in the deluxe rooms to around £205 for the best royal garden suites.

Out to sea: overlooking the bay, the spa’s four seawater pools are filled with water pumped directly from the Mediterranean

sample product

Guests can visit the spa physician to discuss a tailor-made programme or choose apre-booked package. A week-long programme, including a medical and fitness evaluation, body-fat measurement, thalassotherapy, cryotherapy sea-oil treatment, massages, showers, exercises and other treatments leads in at around £920, excluding flights and accommodation.

The verdict

On an island known for its luxury hotel product, the Spa needed to be impressive if it was going to stand out. Having seen itas a building site in February, I was prepared for the scale, but little else.

A beginner to spa holidays, Ihoped Icould look suitably macho, rather like James Bond recuperating between missions. Putting on the regulation peach dressing gown, it dawned on me that probably wasn’t likely.

Thalassotherapy is apparently good for joint and back problems, arthritis, osteoporosis and other complaints. Spa manager George Tavelis explained: “We use seawater reheated to 34-37C, which permits the passage of ions into the body. Because the density of the seawater and human cells is similar, the effect of the treatment is profound.”

With a back complaint that had been bothering me for some time, Iwas keen to give it a go, and was escorted to the first of four pools – a warm, thick, murky brown gloop, rich in salt and minerals, similar in appearance to oxtail soup. Floating about like a human-sized crouton, I felt Icould quite get used to it.

Moving through the four outdoor pools takes about an hour. Having floated, paddled and sampled a variety of massaging water jets, you can take a relaxing swim in the indoor pool. If you have the energy, you might want to swim against the current in the ‘negative flow’ section. Designed to test your swimming strength, Ifound it about as easy as paddling up the Niagara Falls, so rather lazily opted for a session in the hammam.

Well – the thalassotherapy pools were good, but didn’t cured the back problem outright. Next time I’ll book an intensive course.

Mineral water: thalassotherapy