Grand Hôtel de Cala Rossa & Spa Nucca, Lecci de Porto-Vecchio, France
Hotels and spas are increasingly incorporating ingredients sourced from their surrounding area – and even their own gardens – into relaxing spa treatments, allowing guests to enjoy a more immersive well-being experience. Here are 10 properties offering pampering products that are also hyper-local.
Provençal tuberose
Working with renowned perfume-maker Maison Godet and nose Sonia Godet, LE SPA at Le Domaine du Mas de Pierre has made a local flower, the tuberose, the star ingredient of its bespoke fragrance VOLUPTÉ. A delicate white flower, tuberose is known for a heady, sweet scent that’s reminiscent of jasmine. It’s combined here with over 50 other natural ingredients – including iris and sandalwood – to create a perfume that will please both men and women and that gently aromatizes the air in Le Spa’s 2,000sq m (21,500sq ft) well-being space. The same top notes also appear in the oils and scrubs used in its treatments, including the 90-minute Signature VOLUPTÉ massage.
Le Domaine du Mas de Pierre, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Corsican scrubland plants
The sense of place at Grand Hôtel de Cala Rossa is strong – the property faces a secluded cove in the heart of a private parkland in Corsica. But to further complete guests’ immersion, sisters Hélène and Lise Canarelli have incorporated over 100 scrubland plants and minerals from the island into the menu at Spa Nucca. Corsican mint, for example, is used in many of the treatments and products to refresh and boost circulation while myrtle is used to soften the skin and reduce fine lines. Personalization is also possible in some treatments so you’ll get exactly what you need.
Grand Hôtel de Cala Rossa & Spa Nucca, Lecci de Porto-Vecchio, France
Bulgarian volcanic mud
As a working eco-farm surrounded by wineries, ZOMA body & soul spa at Zornitza Family Estate incorporates ingredients grown on the property in its treatments: grape-seed oil is used in massages while honey is used to cleanse and exfoliate, for example. But it’s the region’s volcanic soil that really defines the terroir of the products grown on the land – this is the very thing that makes the soil so fertile. It’s no surprise that mineral-rich mud from a nearby extinct volcano is used in a healing treatment wrap, while volcanic stone is used in massages.
Zornitza Family Estate, Sandanski, Bulgaria
South Tyrolean botanicals
The aim at Castellum Natura, Castel Fragsburg’s alchemistic spa, is to harness the power of plants for natural healing. Overseeing it all is Renate De Mario Gamper, who picks flowers and herbs from the property’s garden and pristine surrounding Alpine region to create elixirs used as part of relaxing massages and refreshing facials. To further enhance the experience, the natural healing expert also offers guided ‘biophilia expeditions’ that allow guests to gain a deeper understanding of the plants used in their treatments.
Castel Fragsburg, Merano, Italy
Swiss Alpine hay
Swiss spas are usually known for their water-based treatments but at Walliserhof Grand Hotel & Spa in the Alpine village of Saas-Fee, hay is the unlikely hero. Normally used to feed dairy cattle for the country’s famous cheeses, the dried grass is used here for the calming effects of its distinctive scent. As part of a body wrap, you’ll lie on a bed of hay while a nourishing evening primrose oil cream is applied to your body. While your skin enjoys its moisturising effect – intensified with the help of a heated towel – the fragrant hay beneath will help you relax.
Walliserhof Grand-Hotel & Spa, Saas-Fee, Switzerland
California citrus
Set within 45 acres (18 hectares) of rolling hills dotted with fragrant orange groves, it should come as no surprise that citrus is a headline act at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa. It helps, too, that the vitamin C found in citrus fruits is a powerful antioxidant known for anti-ageing properties. One treatment guests can enjoy is the C+C body scrub, which uses micro-granules to gently exfoliate the skin. At the same time, the rich cream it’s delivered in allows the vitamins to deeply penetrate the skin, hydrating it and reducing signs of ageing at the same time.
Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa, Rancho Santa Fe, California, United States
Canadian maple sugar
For a deliciously indulgent spa experience, Wedgewood Hotel & Spa offers a Canadian-themed Maple Sugar Body Scrub. The hydrating treatment starts with a cinnamon brown sugar body scrub that smells good enough to eat. The key ingredient here is Canadian maple sugar, which is made by evaporating all of the liquid from maple syrup so you get that intense, caramelized sweet scent. The gentle exfoliation helps smooth the skin and paves the way for the rich vanilla mineral mask that follows. After 75 minutes, your skin will feel butter soft.
Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, Vancouver, Canada
Indian medicinal herbs
Niraamaya Retreats Surya Samudra specialises in Ayurvedic health and well-being, a traditional Hindu approach to medicine that combines mind and body adjustments with the use of medicinal herbs. Each treatment is specific to the guest, and is prescribed by a doctor according to the ailment being targeted. As part of the ritual, ingredients such as tamarind and moringa leaves – sourced from their garden – are mixed together, heated and then applied directly to the skin with oil in a hot compress while the body is strategically moved into different positions. It’s known for being particularly effective when treating aches and pains.
Niraamaya Retreats Surya Samudra, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Wairarapa grapes
Located on the southern tip of New Zealand’s North Island, Wharekauhau Country Estate also happens to be in the Wairarapa wine region, a place known for producing some of the best pinot noirs in the world. In a subtle nod to this claim to fame, guests can try a wine-themed treatment at the hotel’s Hauora Spa. It starts with a gentle grape seed exfoliation before you’re treated to a mask made from crushed grapes. Afterwards, a facial, combined with a full body massage, should leave you completely refreshed. Here, a post-treatment glass of wine wouldn’t be out of place.
Wharekauhau Country Estate, Featherston, New Zealand
Western Cape fynbos
The Western Cape of South Africa has the highest level of diversity and concentration of plant species on our planet with over 9000 species predominantly fynbos, a collection of shrubland plants. These plants, alongside a number of introduced species, form the lush botanical garden at Delaire Graff Lodge, making it particularly diverse and fragrant. To evoke a walk through these grounds, the estate commissioned perfumer Mărioara de la Tară to create a bespoke unisex fragrance, Jardin de Delaire. At the spa, you can enjoy this scent as part of an aromatic body scrub that will leave your skin smooth and hydrated.
Delaire Graff Lodges & Spa, Stellenbosch, South Africa
