25 May 2018
Bill Bensley’s luxury tented resort to include signature lunar phase wellness treatments
BY Jane Kitchen
Capella Ubud, Bali, a luxury tented retreat, is set to open on Friday 29th June. Designed by architect Bill Bensley, the resort is nestled between the rainforest, rice paddy fields and the sacred Wos River, in the Balinese artist village of Keliki, and has been inspired by the early European settlers from the 1800s, as a tribute to their spirit of adventure.
The resort’s 22 one-bedroom tented retreats and one two-bedroom lodge are designed to allow guests to enjoy the essence of Bali’s natural surroundings.
Capella Ubud’s Auriga Spa concept was originally developed several years ago by Sylvia Sepielli and Raison d’Etre, and focuses on healing experiences using 100 per cent natural and organic products and inspired by local culture and heritage.
The spa includes three luxury spa tents and also features private sound healing sessions led by a certified Tama-Do sound and colour therapist.
The Auriga Wellness programme features pampering and treatments drawing on the varying energies of the lunar cycle. Treatments are based on Balinese and Hindu traditions, with signature treatments dedicated to the phases of the moon.
“Our setting is fused within the tranquillity of the rainforest, reflecting the sanctuary of privacy and luxury that we will offer every guest,” said Simon Dornan, general manager. “The same is created within our wellness and spa programme with specific techniques, products and scents for each moon phase. The New Moon means a time for renewal and introspection, so for example, we offer a revitalizing seaweed and eucalyptus salt scrub, a seaweed wrap concluding with a full body massage of rosemary and eucalyptus oils. The Full Moon inspires traditional remedies said to boost health and vitality, puts the properties of the rose at the centre of treatments.”
The Auriga Wellness programme is designed to nurture the mind, body and spirit, offering activities mixing aerial yoga workouts, personal training, TRX, Pilates, Barre-based classes, Balinese dance-inspired classes, rainforest and rice paddy trekking, jungle boot camps and community-based and cultural experiences including boreh making – the tradition of creating a centuries old healing recipe of herbs and exotic spices used to revive the body as a mask and scrub.
“The guest experience commences before our guests leave home, with our Personal Assistants reaching out to obtain their preferences and desires for their upcoming stay with us, ensuring that we have everything arranged just the way they like it,” said Dronan. “An experience at Capella Ubud, Bali will be a close-to-nature, under-canvas experience and an enriching journey for the mind, body and soul with our diverse wellness programming that is complemented by a team of highly qualified therapists and wellness experts as well as the renowned refined and highly personalised service of Capella hotels.”
Another signature wellness experience is the “24-Hours Confined to Quarters” programme, which allows guests to disconnect from their devices, connect to nature and reconnect with a loved one while being pampered from head to toe. ‘Confined to Quarters’ includes an Auriga moon treatment, yoga sessions, raw detox lunches and a camp roast dinner hosted by the chef with a camp ambassador tending to their every wish, in the privacy of the guest’s tented retreat and its immediate surroundings. The programme concludes with a signature bedtime ritual followed by a spiritual purification ritual and “jamu” (a turmeric elixir), the following morning.
Other wellness experiences can include the spiritual treatment of a water purification ritual where a guest is blessed by a local priest in the ancient spring of The Beji, situated in the near the sacred Wos river at Capella Ubud, Bali, sound healing, chakra balancing and Tai Chi.
Set on four hectares 20 minutes north of Ubud, the retreat also features The Cistern, an outdoor rainforest pool.
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