Viva Mayr was recently voted Europe’s Best Medical Resort at the first annual European Health and Spa Awards. The chic Austrian resort has become one of Europe’s most sought after wellbeing destinations and a favourite weight loss clinic of the rich and famous. Catherine Beattie went for a week and found it a life-changing experience.


Viva Mayr is not just an upmarket health spa in a beautiful location – it’s a world famous naturopathic resort clinic dedicated to the restoration of health. Its treatments and therapies are based on the Mayr cure, a fasting and intestinal cleansing programme, developed by Dr Franz Mayr at the turn of the last century. Mayr believed that most illnesses stem from an unhealthy digestive system and devised his intestinal cleansing programme to restore good health.

Founded in 2004 by Mayr practitioner and physician Dr Harald Stossier, Viva Mayr combines the original detox programme (still practised at the nearby Mayr Health Spa in Dellach) with modern holistic medicine and state-of-the-art facilities. Your personalised diet and treatment plan is prescribed after a detailed medical consultation and your digestion rested with a strict detox diet that includes small amounts of organic food. You learn a new approach to food and better eating habits. Most of us eat too much, too quickly and too late. We also make the mistake of drinking water with meals, which dilutes the saliva and digestive juices, weakening their effectiveness. At Viva Mayr you are encouraged to drink water and herbal teas between rather than with meals (water fountains and water carafes with crystals are dotted around the clinic and pure mountain spring water is on tap). While better health rather than weight loss is the main aim of the detox, most people shed several kilos during their stay.

I arrive at Viva Mayr on a warm summer evening. My room on the second floor is pristine and airy with light oak floors and a low wooden framed bed with white duvets. There’s a large desk, flat-screened TV, easy chair and a small table with a kettle and selection of herbal teas. The bathroom has quality modern fittings and plenty of large cosy towels. There’s even a hot water bottle, to be used for giving myself a liver wrap – rather than for warming cold feet!


Large picture windows lead out to a private balcony area with sun loungers and glorious views of the lake. If the good weather continues, I can see myself spending time here soaking up the sun.

I unpack my few belongings then go in search of something to eat. A friendly waitress seats me at a table on the outdoor terrace and hands over a menu card. She explains (in perfect English) that as I’ve just arrived, I can choose supplement foods in addition to the dinner of a spelt bread roll and a small bowl of soup. I’ve not eaten since breakfast, so I’m famished and order smoked trout, mozzarella cheese and avocado. The food arrives, beautifully presented but in minuscule amounts – a single fish fillet, three slivers of avocado and a small triangle of cheese – adorned with a tiny sprig of rosemary. No dessert – just a pot of herb tea.

The menu card states that ‘digestion starts in the mouth with the saliva. Every mouthful of food should be chewed at least 30 times before swallowing.’ I tear off a piece of the spelt roll and chew it slowly until it becomes a pulp. It takes ages. With all this chewing, meals here are going to last hours!

Sunday
No treatments are carried out on Sundays, so I have a day of leisure (and little food) before starting the programme tomorrow. Time to explore the pretty lakeside village of Maria Wörth and its tiny 15th century church and to take an exhilarating speedboat ride down Lake Wörthersee.

On my way to bed, the receptionist hands me a list of appointments for Monday and reminds me to pick up a glass of Epsom salts – to be taken with warm water as soon as I wake up. Epsom salts are an important part of Mayr therapy, gently but effectively clearing out toxic substances from the walls of the intestines. For those who need further help, there’s colonic irrigation.

Monday
I’m up early to take my first dose of Epsom salts. As expected, they taste absolutely vile but act almost immediately and without cramps or griping. I rinse out my mouth with the medicated mouthwash (which also tastes foul) and then take a long hot and then a cool shower.


At breakfast there’s a choice of porridge, eggs, sheep’s yoghurt, beef ham, smoked trout fillets, rice cakes or spelt roll, herbal tea or coffee substitute.

I’m sharing a table with Helena and Jane, who are also from the UK. Helena is here for a week co-authoring a diet book with Dr Harald Stossier*, while Jane is staying two weeks to sort out her allergies. As we slowly munch mouthfuls of softly boiled egg, they tell me about their experiences and treatments. I’m surprised how well adjusted they are to taking the horrible salts every morning and eating so little food and wonder how I’ll cope this coming week.

My first appointment is at 09.00am in the clinic area on the first floor - a 50-minute massage with a therapist called Christina. She suggests I have a 25-minute foot massage to stimulate my lymph glands followed by a back massage. The foot massage is unbearably ticklish!

Next is my medical check up with Dr Christine Stossier – wife of Dr Harald Stossier, Viva Mayr’s director. I like her instantly – she’s friendly, reassuring and radiates warmth. She warns me that I may feel tired and emotional the first few days, but as my digestive system is rested and cleansed, I’ll feel better. She explains that over half the body’s energy is used digesting our food, so slowing down the digestive process has an energising effect. Dr Christine asks lots of questions about my lifestyle and health, weighs me, examines my tongue, takes my blood pressure and listens to my heart. Based on my answers and her findings, my diet and treatment schedule is prescribed for the week.

I’m on the mild cleansing diet, which means restricted food for the first few days and a slightly more ‘generous’ intake later in the week. So it’s soup and main course only at lunchtimes and sadly, none of chef Florian Klinger’s delicious low calorie desserts until Friday.

Any kind of detox is tiring. At Viva Mayr, you are encouraged to rest and sleep as much you need and to only take gentle exercise. As I have a free afternoon, I change into my swimsuit and take a dip in the lake. I don’t stay in long because the crystal clear water is icy cold!

After the spelt roll and soup ‘dinner’ (served between 6pm and 7pm) I’m still hungry, so help myself to a cup of vegetable broth from the lounge and go for a short walk around the village before bed. I sleep badly and have crazy dreams.

Tuesday
I wake with a headache and sciatica-like pains in my lower back. However, Karin’s back massage eases my back pain and nasal reflex therapy soon clears my head.

I’ve never had nasal reflex therapy before. Therapist Roswitha slips a cotton bud soaked in aromatherapy oils into my left nostril. She explains that the nose has three zones connected to different organs in the body. The cotton bud is inserted into each zone for five minutes – then the procedure is repeated in the right nostril. Initially, not the most pleasant of treatments, but effective for clearing headaches, hay fever, sinusitis, snoring and other respiratory problems.

After a relaxing herbal bath with massage jets and chromatherapy lighting, Sybille puts me through my paces on a piece of equipment called Galileo (similar to a Power Plate but kinder on the joints). She shows me some tummy strengthening exercises, which I try to carry out while balancing on the vibrating plate. They are surprisingly difficult and I quickly work up a sweat.

After lunch, I’m back in Dr Christine’s office for a Lüscher-colour assessment – a psychological test to reveal my emotional state and how I deal with stress. Finally, I have an abdominal massage - a traditional Mayr treatment, to tone and improve the health of my intestines. It’s very firm and deep and I feel occasional twinges of pain, which Dr Christine says is inflammation. This will soon subside with my cleansing diet.

I feel tired and lethargic this evening, so opt for an early night and a liver wrap (a cold damp cloth placed over the upper tummy with a hot water bottle on top). The damp warmth increases blood flow to the liver and speeds the detoxification process. I wrap up in a bath towel, climb into bed and fall asleep almost immediately.

Wednesday
My Galileo session starts at 8.30am, so I’m up early for the Epsom salts routine and manage to get through breakfast and the exercise session without dashing to the nearest loo! The Galileo exercises seem a little easier this morning and Sybille keeps saying ‘Perfect, perfect!’ which is encouraging.

The daily nasal therapy seems less unpleasant today as I’m not so tense and have a good book to read while sitting with the cotton bud up my nose. Then my feet are ‘detoxified’ in a warm electrolysis footbath and the water gradually changes to a murky brown.

In the afternoon, I spend more time with Dr Christine having kinesiology. I lie on the treatment couch while minute amounts of minerals and other substances are dropped on my tongue. My raised leg resisting the doctor’s pressure on it tests my reaction to each one. It seems I have a slight intolerance to lactose but no other allergies. The bad news is that I’m deficient in calcium, zinc and vitamin C. Dr Christine recommends I take supplements and give up dairy products for three months.

A second abdominal massage follows the kinesiology, this time minus the painful twinges. Finally we discuss yesterday’s Lüscher colour test, which shows I have no serious emotional hang-ups, but should address certain areas in my life to attain more personal happiness. Fascinating!

Thursday
After an early Galileo session that involves new and more complex routines to strengthen my abs and tone my arms, I’m glad to slip into a relaxing pine bath to ease my aching muscles.

Dr Christine is attending a conference, so Dr Grohmann is taking over my medicals for the last two days of my stay. Like all the staff here, she is charming and speaks perfect English. She gives my abdomen a sound massage and I notice her technique is not as firm as Dr Christine’s.

At lunch, Jane and I say goodbye to Helena who is flying back to the UK this afternoon. We’ll miss her entertaining company and look forward to reading the diet book when it is published.

It’s a gloriously hot afternoon, so I flop on a sun lounger with my iPod for a couple of hours before my next appointment - a group cookery lesson with the charming Florian Klinger – Viva Mayr’s Head Chef.

Looking round the immaculate kitchen, I can understand why the food at Viva Mayr is so exceptional. Florian hands out recipes before demonstrating how he produces the vegetable broth and several other dishes. He makes everything look so easy (and healthy) using just one pan to cook a complete dish of vegetables and fish, chopping and stir frying the vegetables in a few splashes of coconut oil. He uses potatoes, carrots, beetroot, mange tout, corn, celery, fennel, endive and lots of wonderful herbs like thyme, basil and stevia – a herb with sweetly flavoured leaves. Florian’s Mayr Cookbook has just been published (only in German) and includes many new and exciting recipes that reflect his modern and innovative take on Mayr nutrition.

In the evening, fitness trainer Jurgen Kahlhammer gives a talk on Fat Burning in Sport - the Myths and the Truth. I learn useful tips on losing weight and exercise. For instance, if you exercise in the evening, don’t eat afterwards – just drink water and your body will continue burning off more calories for longer. Also, drink BEFORE exercising. Jurgen also stresses the importance of eating three meals a day with no snacks in between. The new notion of eating lots of small meals increases rather than reduces weight. He recommends a fitness regime that includes taking a day off between activities and switching them around; walk or jog one day, bicycle another, play sport another, swim or work out in the gym another.

All this talk of exercise prompts me to take a longer walk before bedtime. Strolling by the lake, I realise that despite my meagre dinner, I’m not particularly hungry and feel quite fit. I take a sauna and swim several lengths in the indoor pool before going to bed.



Friday
No sign of the sun this morning, just rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightening over the hills across the lake, which has turned an exotic turquoise colour. A gale is blowing when I sit down for breakfast. By the time my boiled egg appears, a torrential storm is raging and one of the fitness trainers is risking life and limb taking down the parasols on the jetty and getting extremely wet in the process.

The rest of the day is less dramatic. Another electrolyse footbath followed by nasal reflex therapy – and the opportunity to enjoy a few more chapters of Shadow Baby a novel by Margaret Forster – an absorbing and moving story I can hardly bear to put down.

I share herbal tea with Ursula Forstnig, the hotel director, who tells me that Viva Mayr’s guests come from all over the world because they are genuinely concerned about their health. Most people come on their own and stay for a week or ten days the first time and longer on a second visit. The clinic’s programmes have changed lives and cured a myriad of health problems including diabetes, insomnia, high blood pressure, IBS, indigestion, obesity, allergies, food intolerances and even infertility.

My final medical consultation includes a weight and health check and advice on continuing my new eating habits when I return home. Dr Grohmann massages my abdomen and tells me it has reduced by a measurement of two fingers since my initial examination, as has my weight – by over 2 kilos!

Jane is also leaving Viva Mayr tomorrow and we are sharing a taxi to the airport. Her health has improved considerably during her stay and she is already planning a return visit next year.

On my last evening, I enjoy a leisurely swim and have the pool entirely to myself. I feel lighter and fitter than when I arrived a week ago and have learned so much about food and digestion. Before coming to Austria, I ate healthily but never chewed my food enough or considered my digestion. Now that I am eating slower and chewing correctly, I need less food to satisfy my appetite and I’m gradually losing the excess weight around my tummy. Viva Mayr has totally changed my attitude to food too. For the first time in my life, I can control my food intake, knowing that how and when I eat is just as important as what I eat.

Viva Mayr’s healthy eating guidelines:

• Only eat when you are genuinely hungry
• Eat slowly – never when you are rushed or on the go
• Take small mouthfuls and chew until food is a liquid
• Eat raw fruit and vegetables only in the morning and afternoon
• Eat dinner early – ideally before 7pm
• Keep hydrated with water and herb teas between meals
• Don’t drink water with meals as it dilutes the digestive juices (alcohol is digested and metabolised so a glass of beer or wine with food is fine)
• Don’t eat when you are stressed, bored or upset
• If you have to miss a meal – miss dinner
• Eat like a king in the morning, a prince in the afternoon and a pauper at night.

Two new Italian spas have recently opened and couldn’t be more different. Though, strictly speaking, neither is a conventional spa and neither is entirely new. Anna Selby mixes red wine and chocolate therapies with hot yoga and serious rejuvenation.


Villa Lucia, half an hour’s drive from Pisa, is everyone’s idea of the perfect Tuscan villa, its gold ochre walls bathed in the light of a warm sun, cypresses lining its drive. There are big, airy rooms, roll-topped baths and frescoed walls. Swallows swoop across the surface of the outdoor swimming pool and there are lovely gardens filled with fragrant plants and sculptures.

Most meals are served outside at a long, shaded table. The food is, quite simply, sensational and the chef versatile enough to adapt to everyone’s needs. While I was there, we sampled the red wine and chocolate diet. Now, I know this sounds like cheating and I can’t say it was exactly tough but there was only a tiny bit of the finest quality dark chocolate every day and the wine was the kind that is high in procyanidins, guarding against heart disease, strokes and diabetes. The food followed the same procyanidin theme with lots of berries, pomegranates, nuts and beans but little fats, sugars or other carbs.

There is a dedicated spa with a hammam, sauna, monsoon shower and treatment rooms. Outside there is a tennis court, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi in a grotto watched over by a stone statue of Pan playing his pipes and an orchard where we had yoga classes. There are walks through the Tuscan hills and the perfect little town of Lucca just a short drive away.

Villa Lucia isn’t a spa all year round – instead, it hosts spa retreats with English therapists. It’s a team of three, all with very different skills. Lisa Bond takes care of your fitness. She does group yoga and Pilates, one-to-one training and will take you for a mountain run if you’re a real glutton for punishment. I’ve done a lot of yoga but never Bikram style which is her speciality. Bikram yoga usually takes place in a hot room and the whole sweaty routine takes about an hour and a half, constantly on the move with no pauses. For Villa Lucia, we moved out into the orchard which was a cooler setting but pretty demanding nonetheless.

Bikram is relentless. You do a series of postures, balances and stretches, repeating each twice and moving rapidly from one to the next. It is fast and works through every part of the body and manages to be both exhausting and invigorating at the same time. I liked it so much that when we had our one-to-one I asked Lisa to go through the whole thing with me again, correcting me and pushing me that bit further. Thank god for that Jacuzzi…

Keely Wright continues the red wine and chocolate theme with some of the most luxurious treatments imaginable. Villa Lucia uses ISHI Elements, an Italian range of what they describe as “skin foods”. There’s ChocoTherapy, VinoTherapy and even Truffle Therapy. The world’s finest cocoa powder is used to produce chocolate therapies for the body (anti-cellulite and, paradoxically, slimming) and anti-ageing facials that have high concentrations of anti-oxidants. The VinoTherapy uses Tuscan grapes and other active ingredients in invigorating body toning and slimming treatments. But it was the Truffle Therapy that was perhaps the most amazing. Using black truffle caviar, the anti-ageing facial was extremely indulgent with a mask and lifting serum that firmed and brightened the skin – everyone’s favourite treatment on the retreat.

Villa Lucia features another unusual element. It takes a look at the health of your mind, too. Gloria Budd is a performance coach who has helped international tennis and racing car drivers achieve their goals but can also help counsel you through all kinds of personal turning points such as divorce, changing career, pregnancy and fertility issues and grief. She will, quite simply, listen to what you want to talk about and help you deal with your own worries and circumstances. She finishes with a visualisation and one stressed-out young mum came out of her session transformed – relaxed, radiant, able to cope.

The chances are that you might bump into some of Gloria’s tennis champions at the Melia Olbia Geovillage Resort and Spa in Sardinia. The resort has long specialised in coaching sports stars of all kinds – particularly tennis and football. When I was there, the boys of the Chelsea Academy were, too, training for a match with their Milan counterparts. But, while the resort has been there a while, the spa is brand new, having been opened in May 2009. And it’s a very different kind of spa from Villa Lucia.

The Malo Clinic Spa
The clue is in the name. The Malo Clinic Spa is part of the Malo Group, the largest medical spa company in the world with outlets from Hong Kong to Warsaw, Sao Paolo to Casablanca. The antithesis of Villa Lucia’s Tuscan romanticism, this is an environment of cool modernism. The spa is divided into four sections – medical, esthetics, acqua and fitness. Fitness includes a vast state of the art gym and swimming pool covering an area of around 80,000 sq ft plus personal training, a range of classes, squash, Pilates and Kinesis toning.


The Acqua spa comprises, not surprisingly, all kinds of water treatments. At its centre is a pool with a relaxing, firming and toning circuit, underwater massage beds and armchairs and Jacuzzis, while around it are tropical showers, a “cold fog” shower, sauna, Turkish bath, Mediterranean bath and a Kneipp foot bath. I personally find this changing between hot and cold really invigorating while I’m doing it (particularly a series of swims in the pool interspersed with saunas) and then equally relaxing when I stop. So, after a morning in the water, I chilled out in a peaceful relaxation area and had sushi, fresh juice and herbal tea in the “tisanaria”.

The medical part of the spa is key to Malo Spas. The founder Paulo Malo started out as a cosmetic dentist and he is a firm believer in the new beauty technologies. In Sardinia the medical treatments are confined to small scale procedures like botox and lasers, though in other Malo Spas there are fully equipped operating theatres. I didn’t try any of these out – this part of the spa hadn’t yet opened – but there will be quite a range on offer: hydro-microdermabrasion is a supersonic jet peel; photo-rejuvenation reduces wrinkles and age spots with pulse light therapy; micro-injections of vitamins and amino acids counter skin ageing; lips can plump up; hair can disappear permanently; and cellulite reduced with bio-mesotherapy.

It does add up to an awful lot of needles. There is, though, the Esthetic Spa – and here Malo is back on more familiar spa territory with a gigantic treatment menu on offer. There are mud therapies, every kind of massage from sports to aromatherapy to hot stone, Chinese therapies including acupuncture, moxibustion and Tui Na massage, and numerous facials. I decided to go for the signature treatment that had a strong Ayurvedic flavour with warmed sesame oil for a massage of face, scalp and body. After the first stage of hand massage, the therapist uses boluses – linen bags filled with ground spices including cinnamon and aniseed used in a similar way to hot stones. The scents were lovely and my skin felt great – according to Ayurveda, sesame oil is the most nourishing for the skin.

So, classic or contemporary? Hot yoga in the Tuscan hills or serious rejuvenation in the clinic? The choice is yours – just try not to be too swayed by the red wine and chocolate…

Non-euro destinations Turkey and Bulgaria are currently enjoying a boom in popularity with UK visitors, offering good value beach holidays, guaranteed sunshine and easy accessibility. But how do they rate for spa pampering? Catherine Beattie reports….


TURKEY
This fascinating and spectacular country offers clear-blue waters, beautiful beaches and a history and culture stretching back over a thousand years. Located at the eastern end of the Med, summer arrives early and departs late - the sun can keep shining well into November. Turkey has something for everyone and every budget - from small boutique hotels to luxurious all-inclusive resorts, from family-run guest houses to vast five-star hotels with spa facilities (including the much-hyped new Mardan Palace in Antalya). Currency is the Turkish lire.

Along Turkey’s south-west coast, the Aegean Sea laps the picturesque bays and small harbours of the Bodrum Peninsula. Barbaros Bay, one of its prettiest coves, is a glorious sweep of private beach a few kilometres south of the chic resort of Bodrum. This is the hideaway location of the five-star Kempinski Hotel Barbaros Bay and Six Senses Spa.

The scenic cliff top resort opened in 2005 and has 173 rooms and suites, 17 elevators and one of the area’s largest and most spectacular infinity pools. The hotel has a choice of quality restaurants and bars, library, internet access, extensive kids’ club, night club, water sports and beachside dining. The spacious guest rooms are an extension of the resort’s overall design, seamlessly blending modern features like the impressive central atrium and glass elevators with traditional ethnic details and artefacts. All rooms have a private terrace or balcony and overlook Barbaros Bay so guests can enjoy the golden sunsets.

Leading Thai-based spa brand Six Senses Spas operates the hotel’s magnificent spa, which is on two floors and accessed by a dedicated glass elevator. The spa uses Aromatherapy Associates and Aptiva products and offers guests Asian healing therapies like spa journeys, massages, yoga and meditation as well as traditional Turkish treatments such as indigenous hammam cleansing rituals and revitalising detox programmes for body and soul.

The extensive therapy areas include 12 personal spa suites, two traditional Turkish hammams, two private hammams, chromatherapy (colour therapy) room, luxurious private spa zone, watsu pool, high-tech gym, relaxation area with nutritious snacks, juices and teas and a large indoor pool and Jacuzzi offering uninterrupted views of the Aegean coastline. Before and after your treatments, multi-lingual therapists offer ginger tea while the Six Senses iconic little hedgehogs stand outside therapy room doorways.

I opt for a Traditional Hammam Ritual, which starts with a warm up session in one of the steam rooms. Then I’m shown into the hammam, which is not as steamy as I expected, and has such bright natural light that I almost need my sunglasses! I lie down on the warm marble, close my eyes and enjoy being scrubbed, pummelled and massaged from head to toe. At one point the warm marble slab and I are so covered in lather that I almost slide onto the floor. After the cleansing comes the rinsing, bowl after bowl of tepid water is poured over me rinsing away every trace of soap. Afterwards, wrapped up in my cosy robe and sipping ginger tea, I feel incredibly clean and utterly relaxed.

I visit the spa several times during my short stay, enjoying aromatherapy and two early morning outdoor yoga sessions. I also book a pedicure in the beauty salon. The nail technician (who speaks no English) paints my toenails with two coats of varnish, but fails to use a base or topcoat, so the polish chips within days.

Verdict: Great spa and exclusive beach destination. All the usual luxury and service that are the hallmark of Kempinski’s fine hotels. Spa treatments and dining in the hotel’s restaurants are expensive, but good value local restaurants nearby and in Bodrum.

Vivien Devlin checks out luxury cruise liner Silver Wind’s new spa and major refurbishment on a 10-day cruise exploring the islands of the Indian Ocean.


The Silvesea cruise line was founded in 1994 as an innovative small scale, all-inclusive, 6-star luxury cruising concept for discerning world travellers of all ages. Silver Wind is one of currently five ships in the fleet, with a sixth, Silver Spirit, launching in December 2009.

Setting sail
After a stress-free Emirates flight from Glasgow via Dubai to Mahe, my partner and I arrive in the tropical heat of the Seychelles’ largest island, a few degrees south of the equator and quite literally a thousand miles from anywhere. This is what I call a genuine escape! Our forthcoming exotic itinerary will take us to several islands around the Seychelles and Maldives, Sri Lanka and Madras, India.

On board Silver Wind (maximum 298 guests), our luxurious suite has a king size bed, piled with crimson velvet cushions, a marble bathroom, sofa, armchairs, dining table, flat screen TV /DVD and a veranda with loungers. The entire ship has had a contemporary interior design makeover. The bars, restaurants and lounges are furnished in terracotta and gold fabrics so that the ship combines the ambience of an intimate boutique hotel with the sexy style of a luxury yacht.

A healthy lifestyle at sea
The daily Chronicle lists all the day’s many activities - from lectures to card games, from fitness classes and golf tuition to shore excursions and cabaret entertainment – not to mention restaurant options. Cruising is always a great foodie experience and Silver Wind is no exception - you can feast healthily from breakfast to gastronomic dinner - with fresh fruit, salads, seafood, calorie counted dishes and zero zero (fat free) ice-cream!.

With all those lazy days, it was important to keep fit – which we did in the lavish new spa on deck 9, where there was a high tech body building gym with panoramic sea views, aerobics room, dry sauna, steam sauna, beauty salon and five treatment rooms. Fitness Director Elin encourages a healthy routine on board with early morning power walks, aerobics, yoga and pilates classes, personal training sessions and weight loss seminars. Jogging or strolling around the top deck track is a popular pastime with many passengers, with seven laps making a mile.


The Steiner operated spa is managed by Lindsay Gash, whose company mission is to create wellness centres at sea to give guests the ability to reconnect with their natural desire to be healthy, vibrant and self-aware.’ From the extensive menu of Elemis, La Therapie and Ionithermie facials, massages, cellulite and detox therapies, I select a speciality Exotic Coconut Rub Ritual. The warm milk skin bath, foil wrap and deep tissue massage proves a comforting, cocooning experience. Indulge, Invigorate, Inspire is the motto of this holistic haven of relaxation where a pampering treatment, as the ship glides the ocean wave, is a truly luxurious, blissful, out-of-body sensation.

Text quote …a pampering treatment, as the ship glides the ocean wave, is a truly luxurious, blissful, out-of-body sensation.

Despite being open from 8am to 10pm, the Spa is often fully booked especially on days at sea. Lindsay admits she has occasionally worked till 2.00am to cater for her Spa guests. Important Tip: book your treatments online in advance of your cruise or as soon as you embark.

My only disappointment was that some of the younger therapists lacked the experience and elegant manner found in world class resort spas. In a nutshell, this is a 6+ star cruise ship with a 4 star spa.

House Party at Sea
There are around 180 passengers on this cruise, from across Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Asia with the majority from Great Britain. The atmosphere is like a lively ‘United Nations’ floating house party where we mix and mingle over pool deck cocktails and pre dinner aperitifs. All drinks are complimentary of course, part of Silversea’s superb value, egalitarian, all-inclusive ethos.

Highlights of the cruise include walking through the “Garden of Eden” in the Vallee de Mai on Praslin, crossing the Equator at 0° Latitude celebrated with King Neptune’s pageant and witnessing a traditional Indian wedding amidst flowers, candles, incense and elephants. We are also treated to a private visit to Olhahali, a Robinson Crusoe desert island in the Maldives which Silver Wind has chartered for a fantastic beach barbecue. We can enjoy live music and dancing by local islanders, volleyball on the baby powder sand and a swim in the Indian Ocean’s warm turquoise waters.

The cruise has been a unique journey to inspire the mind and rejuvenate body and spirit with a taste of quiet sophistication, adventure and pure escapism. As one passenger summed up at the end of the cruise: “I feel like a different person.” I could not agree more!