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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
In Madrid, Iberian wellness gets the Rosewood treatment
Villa Magna made waves in Madrid when it opened back in 1972. A palace that replaced another, older palace, it swiftly established itself as a social nexus for madrileños and Europeans, who filled its salons and bar on the world-famous Paseo de la Castellana. Rosewood re-flagged the hotel in 2021; the confection-like façade was swapped out for a far more contemporary brass-and-stone version by local architect Ramón de Arana, and the rooms reflect a similarly updated design.
Whatever you think of its looks, the spa comes out a win: Rosewood has a high-touch but no-nonsense approach to wellness, reflected in an offering that’s gratifyingly short on the bells and whistles, with lots of straightforward massage and facial treatments. There’s a clever “lost remedies” menu, based on the north African-influenced traditions of the Iberian Peninsula (think bay leaves, rhassoul, argan and orange blossom). There are also some great indulgence-fitness hybrid packages, such as a combined guided power walk or run through El Retiro, Madrid’s favourite Unesco-protected royal park, followed by an aromatherapy-acupressure passage for feet and legs (which sounds like just the one-two punch to KO your jet lag). Treatments from €60, massages from €170, rosewoodhotels.com
Mandarin (Oriental) magic in Milan
Milan is shortly to see a whole bevy of new hotels, among which a sister to the lovely JK Places in Rome and Capri (and Paris – see below for more on that), a re-flagging of the old Carlton by Rocco Forte, and a Rosewood. Until such time as they’re up and running, though, the spa I beeline for here is the one at the Mandarin Oriental. This is in part because I really rate the hotel – ace location, service so good, design (that Fornasetti Suite is something else; the genius of Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel is everything else) – so it makes sense to use its spa.
But it’s also just a great spa, which is probably not so surprising, given the reputation of the mother brand in Hong Kong. It’s sleek, somehow quite masculine, dimly-lit, pleasantly warm. There’s a long, underlit pool flanked by loungers, behind which tall candles flicker; the treatment rooms are all lined in glowing polished wood. Products by Biologique Recherche and Aromatherapy Associates – two stalwarts at Mandarin Oriental spas – are among the stars, but check the shelves: there are several. Therapies comprise masks, wraps and scrubs for the body alongside a variety of massages, including proper light-touch lymphatic drainage; most of the facials can be customised with a bit of radiofrequency or infrared light therapy. Treatments from €190, mandarin-oriental.com
Subterranean swank in Paris’s seventh arrondissement
How do I love this haute Parisian bolthole? Let me count the ways. First, the interiors: JK Place hotels’ Florentine house designer, Michele Bönan, scoured Les Puces and mixed all the gorgeous things he found with pieces of his own design throughout the 19th-century maison d’hôtes: there are west African antiques and Serge Mouille lighting, velvet settees and grand marble fireplaces. The result is a masterclass in style over fashion. Next, the service: Italian spirit, French polish – super-competent. Most recently, there’s JK Paris’s tiny but quite perfect subterranean spa, which is now the only Parisian home of Noble Panacea (see Adeela Crown’s shout-out to the cult US skincare brand).
In addition to the four facials – one for each Noble Panacea line: Brilliant, Absolute, Glow and Lifting-Sculpting (the therapist assesses your age and skin and helps you choose) – there are more straightforward facial massages, and a half-dozen body massages, including deep-tissue and Balinese (long, releasing strokes and some gentle rocking-and-rolling). There is a sauna, steam room and small but lovely pool to loosen everything up pre-treatment. Treatments from €150, jkplace.paris
Taking the waters – thermal and therapeutic – in Budapest
Budapest is a place of cosmopolitan pleasures and Mitteleuropa charms, but it also has thermal waters – there are at least a half-dozen public thermal baths across the main city, some more stylish than others (the elegant Rudas bath has 16th-century Ottoman origins and offers physiotherapeutic waters; sprawling Széchenyi is halfway to being a water park).
The Corinthia Hotel’s Royal Spa doesn’t draw from the thermal waters, but has over 1,000sq m of treatment and relaxation spaces, saunas and hammam, vitality water therapies and a knockout 15m indoor lap pool. ESPA aromatherapy oils and skincare products are used for the treatments; anyone who books one, including outside guests, gets full use of the steam, sauna and water therapies too. Treatments from €149, corinthia.com
Helsinki’s buzzy newcomer
The Hotel Maria, which opened last month in Helsinki, looks to be setting a few bars in Finland’s capital. It’s the first and only Finnish hotel with a boutique showcasing both collectible Fabergé designs and the crème of contemporary local design (the hotel’s interiors were created by head designer Jana Sasko and Puroplan). It’s among the first to have an average room size of 40sq m, and a full 38 suites.
And when its Maria Wellness Club opens later this spring, it will be the first hotel in the Nordics to have its own wellness concierge programme, which has devised a raft of training and movement regimens for guests, from a weekly Run Club to tailored two-, three- and four-day nutrition programmes. (The spa will be open to non-guests, too.) The Maria Spa has a co-ed Finnish sauna, a very space age-y steam room, hot and cold pools and a bucket ice shower. There is also a bar ensconced amidst hydroponic greenery, and four treatment suites where the cult Biologique Recherche line is used for facials. For the body, there are classic massages, algae wraps and more. Treatments from €65, hotelmaria.fi
