St Lucia / Special Interests / Spas & Wellbeing

St Lucia has an impressive array of spas and has kept well ahead of the game compared to other islands.

Here you will find some fantastically pretty buildings, surrounded by rainforest. You can expect a full range of treatments, many of them with natural, locally produced products. Hotels that now have good quality spas including Cotton Bay Village, Stonefield Estate, Discovery at Marigot Bay, Ladera, Royal St Lucian and The Landings.

One of the latest spas to open is the Samsarati Spa at Smugglers Cove Resort & Spa. The spa is named after the Sanskrit word meaning ‘flow of energy’, and is run by the world-renowned O Spa London, infamous for drawing on ancient practices from cultures across the world. Treatments include a Himalayan body polish, Balinese head massage, Swedish massage, top to toe Polynesian ritual and a lomi lomi unique healing massage from Hawaii.
  
The new Rainforest Spa at The Jalousie Plantation Sugar Beach has opened with seven tree-house treatment cabanas at the base of St Lucia’s World Heritage-listed Petit Piton. Costing US$2 million, there is also a wet treatment rooms and earthen steam room warmed by volcanic spring water. An all-new bamboo massage is a deep tissue treatment based on the techniques of Swedish massage but utilizes bamboo sticks in relaxing and soothing movements.

Over at Cotton Bay Village, Heaven Spa was named in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2010 as Saint Lucia’s top hotel for spa and relaxation.

The BodyHoliday at LeSPORT in St Lucia was recently voted Best Overseas Destination Spa at the Condé Nast Traveller Reader’s Spa Awards 2011 and has pioneered all-inclusive well-being in the Caribbean for the past 30 years. A new Wellness Centre opens in September 2011 with 32 treatment rooms and 50 highly trained massage and beauty therapists. It also includes a Specialist Skin Care Clinic. Guests receive a complimentary treatment for each day of their stay.

Interestingly, because of its volcanic origins and ‘efficacious waters’, St Lucia has an unexpected and long history of spas, particular around the southern town of Soufrière between the Pitons. Diamond Falls near the town was a very early medical spa, which was built in the 1700s on the instruction of France's King Louis XVI so that his troops could take the waters and recuperate from diseases. The waters at Diamond Falls, which leave the ground at high temperature from the vicinity of the Soufrière volcano, have extremely high mineral content. It is still possible to bathe in the waters in traditional bathhouses.

Hotels and resorts in St Lucia with spa facilities include:

Oasis Spa, the Body Holiday at LeSPORT - The Oasis Spa offers a full programme of massage and beauty treatments, including Swedish body massage, thalasso wraps, rejuvenating facials and hydrotherapy. There is even a honeymoon massage, a couple’s massage in which you learn a few tips for when you return home. There is also a strong rationale of holistic and ayurvedic treatments which include personalized yoga, marma massage, reflexology, kinesiology, Suikodo Chinese bodywork and iridology. Ayurvedic treatments include double massages, some facials and other detox programmes. Le Sport is an all-inclusive resort, so you can get a day pass to visit for lunch etc, but you can also just get treatments at the spa.

Kai Belte, Anse Chastanet - Set on the beach in Anse Chastanet in the south of the island (just outside Soufrière, Kai Belte (House of Beauty in Creole) offers massage including Aromatherapy, deep tissue, shiatsu, hot stones and a couple’s massage. Also facials, hand and feet treatments and Ayurvedic rituals. Products by Creative Beauty Innovations.

The Rainforest Oasis, The Jalousie Plantation, Soufrière - Set right beneath the massive dark grey rockface of the southern side of the Petit Piton, the spa at The Jalousie Plantation is set slightly apart from the rest of the resort but built in the same plantation style. There are nine treatment rooms, three of them for facials and one for hydrotherapy and a Jacuzzi with a view. There is a long lost of massages, facials, manicures and pedicures and in honour of the old spa treatments used in the area two centuries ago, they offer a mineral-rich Sulphur Mud Bath. The Jalousie Plantation is an all-inclusive resort, so you will have to pay a daily fee to come in and use the spa.

Bamboo Door Spa, Stonefield Estate - Set at the top of the estate in a pretty creole building, the Bamboo Door Spa is newly built and has a cosy atmosphere. A range of treatments are available including Swedish and hot-stone massages, aromatherapy, manicures, pedicures and hot wraps. Most of the products are botanically based, the staff are friendly and experienced and they offer a variety of spa packages.

The Casuarina Spa, Cotton Bay Village - Set at the front of the resort, the Casuarina Spa has six treatments rooms, including two wet rooms, a holistic room, the Princess Room and a men’s room. There is also a couples’ suite which you can book and lounge in all day while you have your treatments. Treatments include a range of massages, Vichy showers, manicures, pedicures and waxing. Product line by Elemis.

The Royal Spa, The Royal St Lucia - The Royal Spa has three treatment rooms including one hydrotherapy room. It offers a range of beauty and massage treatments including facials, body wraps and scrubs, several sorts of massage including aromatherapy, reflexology and Indian head massage. Also a relaxation area with a cold plunge pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam bath.

Contributors: Jane Anderson (update)