The Retreat at Aphrodite Hills offers a range of spa treatments in luxurious surroundings
IN THE old days a spa experience meant nervously hanging around in a skimpy towelling dressing gown, the heady aroma of chlorine attacking your nostrils while you waited your turn to be vigorously pummelled by a bored sado masochist in a white coat. A hospital confinement for hip replacement surgery came a pretty close second in terms of sheer discomfort.
We hadn’t yet discovered the art of nurturing the mind, body and spirit and you were fortunate to escape with third degree bruises and a substantial amount of your monthly salary.
Now, it’s all very different and nowhere on the island is this change so obvious as at the Aphrodite Hills Retreat. Believe me, Retreat is the perfect name for this glorious place; you feel as though you are stepping into an oasis of calm the minute you arrive, and, once enveloped, will find it hard to leave and return to the real world.
Spas are big business these days and offer every domain of the industry: the waters, diet and nutrition, fitness, skin care, natural beauty agents and the holistic care of the body with a whole raft of Eastern and European treatments.
At Aphrodite Hills there is an interesting combination of ancient rituals and modern spa wonders. The heart of any spa, however, is water and the rituals that evolve around it. Here, on the lower level, is the Thermae, where a Greco-Roman bath theme is dominant; an open courtyard area with heated flooring has two lovely water features watched over by a 100-year-old olive tree.
For those with a full-blown Helen of Troy complex, there are two perfectly positioned outdoor pavilions with Arab-style curtains to shelter you from the gaze of any envious onlookers as you are laid-out starkers on a raised bed to be pummelled and doused in pure virgin oil.
The treatments are separated into four areas and are designed to alternate hot and cold. Eighteen specially-designed treatment rooms are available for all manner of cleansing and massaging and for those who previously felt a touch claustrophobic in a closed up sauna, here the sweat room has windows affording a clear sea view. Then there’s the deeply relaxing Tepidarium, akin to a large sauna where the temperature is kept at a comfortable 27°. There’s yet another water feature, this time a high set huge shower that gives you the effect of standing under a warm Amazonian waterfall.
The Caldarium is a typical Roman-style wet heat room, where aromatic oils are liberally applied to distress. Then afterwards a dip in the whirlpool or a go in one of the four hydrotherapy rooms, which include a Vichy shower and special hydro baths.
Come the sweltering heat of summer, folks will no doubt be piling into the Frigidarium, this is the last ritual in the cleansing routine and this ‘cool’ room helps boost the circulation and wallops the old immune system with a huge energy boost. Then there’s that delicious intake of breath as handfuls of crushed ice are rubbed all over your now deeply cleansed body.
My favourite place, however, is the Hammam. This has, for centuries, been the cleansing and purifying route taken by generations of men and women. It’s a beautifully designed room with a vaulted, stained glass ceiling and, again for those who hate to be totally confined, there are small porthole windows offering a sea view.
The Hammam experience starts off with ‘sweating it out’ for around ten minutes. Then you are escorted to one of three private scrub/massage rooms. In the centre of the room is a large ornate marble massage table, which, at first, makes you feel like a beached tuna fish waiting to be gutted. Thankfully there’s no such ferocity involved as your therapist starts the ritual, using a dry loofah to remove the layers of dead skin.
Once this exfoliation is complete you have a choice of olive, bergamot or lavender soap which is used with a cleansing massage.
It’s total bliss as, covered in warm towels, you receive an expert massage using warm water to remove the soap. That’s when you feel about five years old with happy memories of bath times springing to mind. After 90 minutes of being Hammamed even your ears feel like they are rejuvenated and you walk out of the Retreat feeling cleaner than you have ever felt before, skin glowing, and a body that is so relaxed you do honestly feel as if walking on air.
l The Retreat, Aphrodite Hills, Kouklia, Paphos. Tel: 26 828100, Fax: 26 828101, email: [email protected], www.aphroditehillsspa.com Other treatments available include a Green Coffee Cellulite treatment, facial, a full body polish or peel, Pevonia Stone therapy, leg wax, make up, Reiki, Sekhem and Zen Chi.
