If you like your Tibetan Bowl Ritual with a side of Botox (or Jeuveau, for those ahead of the wrinkle-paralyzing neurotoxin curve), Carillon Wellness Resort in Miami Beach can keep you busy for weeks, if not months. Some people even move into its tower of condos.
But for beauty and wellness fanatics, the Carillon’s draw remains its 70,000-square-foot spa. Not to mention 150 one- and two-bedroom guest suites (many of them ocean-facing), a restaurant serving suspiciously rich organic fare, and two on-site energy healers, one of whom — a kung fu master who goes by the moniker Sifu Matthew — claims none other than Gwyneth “Goop” Paltrow as a client.
“My dream was a true overall wellness spa, including not only out-of-the-box treatments like cryotherapy, float tanks and IV therapy, but also experts in the fields of Oriental medicine, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, chiropractic, sports medicine and even a sex-and-relationship specialist and an executive coach to focus on burnout,” explains Tammy Pahel, spa director and co-general manager. “We’re 80 percent there. In 2020, the vision will be complete.”
Indeed, the resort’s vision has a long and twisty history. The Carillon Hotel — an exemplar of MiMo (Miami Modern) architecture designed by the late Norman Giller — originally opened in 1958. It hit tough times in the early 1990s and shuttered for 15 years before being resuscitated as a Canyon Ranch outpost in 2007. By 2015, under new ownership, a massive renovation began, led by Giller’s son Ira.
Its latest iteration as a health mecca serves up a staggering array of beauty treatments, wellness modalities and fitness classes in a high-tech gym with a stunning view of the Atlantic.
Scanning the 63-page treatment menu, a yin-yang vibe emerges. Along with the 80-minute, $279 Zekhara Shankara Ayurvedic Shirodara treatment (in which flowing oil caresses the scalp), guests can book a consult with James Stern, who carves time out of his day job as chief of plastic surgery at Memorial Regional Hospital in nearby Hollywood, Fla., to moonlight as Carillon’s medical director.
Holistic therapist Elaine Kroytor, a registered sonographer who administers Meridian Imaging Diagnostics to uncover energy blocks generating pain and fatigue (30 minutes, $150) and is integral to the spa’s medical wellness program, sees zero disconnect between offering fringe-y fare like the “Uplifting Spirit” Onyx Meditation Ritual (20 minutes, $50) and the superpopular Couples Salt Bath Floatation Therapy (60 minutes, $275) alongside five types of injectable fillers that range from $600 to $900 per syringe.
“Our concept is that beauty comes from within, so we address even cosmetic issues from the integrative functional standpoint,” Kroytor explains. “Skin is one of our largest organs, and its health is a visible representation of the body’s health at large.”
Also contributing to that warm and fuzzy feeling? Shaking the sugar-white sand out of your spa-provided plastic sandals.
