From mayhem to haven - Manila's retreats


A TYPICAL ASIAN CITY, Manila is a seething cauldron of colours within a cacophony of gridlocked traffic, at once exciting and confusing, rewarding and intensely frustrating. Shiny new skyscrapers tower over shuttered old wooden houses and shacks made of GI sheet; billboards frame highways; SUVs rub shoulders with bicycles; mammoth malls scream buy; and at every corner, at all times, floats the rich aroma of Filipino food.
But to the rescue come several spas, the sudden quiet calm inside creating a welcome antithesis. What they occasionally lack in finesse they more than make up for with the therapists' genuinely caring demeanours. It is this warm human contact as much as the actual massage, which results in a wonderful mental, physical and spiritual glow.

THE ORIENTAL SPA MANDARIN ORIENTAL, MANILA
This legend of a hotel which saw its heyday in the 80s is having something of a resurgence now it is home to Thai haven, the Oriental Spa. Guests are greeted in the hushed reception area with a reviving iced tea and chilled eucalyptus towel before undergoing a short consultation. Exchanging your shoes for slippers, the therapist then escorts you up the wooden stairs to the penthouse turned spa. It feels rather like climbing up into a luxurious treehouse with the natural teak surroundings, comfy rattan armchairs and view out into a little garden.

Four treatment rooms, delicately decorated with Thai artefacts and fabrics, come in single and double size, while Ytsara products provide the perfect organic complement. Treatments range from Thai Asian blend massages, a profoundly relaxing mix of massage with yoga-like stretches, to body treatments featuring cinnamon, tamarind, coffee or chocolate, and exotic facials with green tea, lotus flower and orchid extract ingredients. International choices include Healing Stone Therapy, Shiatsu and Swedish massages and Egyptian foot reflexology.
Whatever you choose, your therapist will guide you gently from step to step ensuring your absolute comfort and care from the beginning to the very end, when a rest on the rattan chairs with a cup of tea brings you gently, if reluctantly, back to earth.www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/511000004.asp

THE WESTIN SPORTS CLUB AND SPATHE WESTIN PHILIPPINE PLAZA
The Westin has an enviable location on Manila Bay, providing guests with prime time seats (or treadmills) for the evenings' burnished sunsets. Inside, the Westin Sports Club and Spa offers Manila's fiteratti the first 24 hour medi-spa in the city.
The fitness centre includes cardio machines, a gym and workout studio, or for a less strenuous, more pampering visit, the spa offers a generous 11 massage, facial and body treatment rooms with massages for jet lag and golfers, whitening and oxygenating facials, and body gommage treatments. Foot treatments take place in the Sole Sanctuary and a pure breath of fresh air can be had while sitting in a massage chair at their oxygen bar. Packages for the Suite Romance private room for two include treatments as well as a four course dinner and a candlelit whirlpool. Downstairs the wet area boasts sauna and dry steam rooms and hot and cold plunge Jacuzzis. Special to the Westin is the medical facility with doctor supervised treatments including rhinoplasty, liposuction and Botox. And being open 24/7 guests can call for a midnight massage or session of Botox and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed and/or smoothed out. They've thought of everything.www.westin.com/manila

SURIYA SPATHE INTERCONTINENTAL, MANILA
This independent spa on the sixth floor of the Intercontinental in Makati is convenient for hotel guests and shoppers at the nearby Glorietta Mall. You know you are on the right floor when their aromatherapy scent of the day greets you all the way down the corridor as soon as the lift doors open.
Treatment rooms are converted hotel rooms, therefore are spacious and come with their own bathroom. The theme is Asian, with Pevonia products and their own line of blended oils combining in body massages, scrubs and wraps, reflexology and hand treatments and specific facials for skin repair and radiance, as well as treatments designed for men.
For a special occasion, turn to the originally named list of packages such as CEO on the Go, or the more pragmatic Ladies Night Out and Wedding Package for the bride or the groom.www.suriyaspa.com

SANCTUARIO
AsiaSpa loves this leafy day spa haven. Like a little piece of countryside in the heart of bohemian Malate, Sanctuario is housed in a gently renovated 1946 Filipino townhouse and garden.
While treatment rooms inside are minimal in style, with one featuring an old-fashioned British cast iron bath, it is outside where the loving touch hasn't been spared. The wet area includes booths with wooden tubs for flower soaks, while the centerpiece of the garden is a deep, cool, pool which glows turquoise at night. Warm whirlpools and Jacuzzis make relaxing an alfresco affair, and round the corner the 5 bed longhouse is their opulent Thai massage area. The atmopshere is decadent, intimate and profoundly relaxing. Bring four of your closest friends and indulge, right up to midnight, or 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Acupuncture, pilates, reiki and yoga are all on the menu, as are body massages including the most authentic hilot, scrubs and wraps, including specifically local ingredients such as Filipino cacao, Batangas barako coffee, coconut, honey from Palawan and Ifugao mountain rice, and there are some fabulous all-in packages too, while a different kind of wrap is dished up at their Organic Café, along with salads, juices and teas.www.sanctuariospa.com.ph

BELLEVUE SPA AND HEALTH CLUBTHE BELLEVUE
Alabang, about half an hour from the centre of Manila (traffic allowing) is home to Manila's rich and famous and a busy new business district, in the middle of which towers The Bellevue. On the third floor is the holistic Bellevue Spa and Health Club. Guests walk past the all mod cons fitness centre and the curvy pool with a view, into the bijou space, which packs in a sauna, two spacious Jacuzzi areas, several treatment rooms and a Beauty Salon designed so that you can walk out, not just feeling, but also looking a million pesos.
The philosophy here is to educate the guest in nutrition and stress management, while encouraging an everyday proactive wellbeing.
A pre-treatment wallow in the Jacuzzi surrounded by cool green walls and plants is a great relaxer. Sunlight shines in through a patterned window onto the surface of the water, creating a dappled open-air feel. Treatment rooms are small, but the staff are expert at working simultaneously within the space?think body scrub, hilot massage and paraffin wax hand and foot scrub all going on at once. Treatments laud east and west philosophies and Bliss and Escapes Packages ensure you'll walk out feeling as pampered as the celebs living in the area.www.thebellevue.com.ph

PINNACLE HEALTH POINTE

In Quezon City, this fitness centre boasts a boxing ring, sky running track and a juice bar blending up the latest in power drinks. Tucked away out of sight is the spa with superior, executive and couple rooms, each with steam and showers and a mini garden view. After an initial evaluation, guests can choose from treatments such as a salt glow scrub, ginger body wrap, tui na and Dermatologica massages, including the 45 minute express or the hour-long, hydra-quench facial. Relax in front of the in-house movie for your foot scrubs or lounge in the oversize armchairs post-treatment for a gradual return to reality.
Packages for you and at least four of your closest friends are available for special occasions and include a gym class, massage, facial, scrub and reflexology session as well as juice and snacks.www.pinnaclehealthpointe.com