USP This Kempinski Hotel on the western side of the tiny island of Gozo has a spa that offers proper ayurvedic programmes headed up by an ayurvedic doctor from Kerala and staffed by Keralan therapists, as well as other beauty and wellbeing breaks.
AMBIENCE The 122-roomed five-star hotel is made from simple Maltese limestone and there’s a cooling, Mediterranean feel to the interiors. Built in 1999, it feels a little jaded – especially the spa, though that’s due for a re-fit by March 2010.
What the spa offers is highly impressive – bona fide ayurveda treatments and three, five, seven, 14 and 21-day rejuvenation programmes. There are also European-flavoured wellbeing breaks combining holistic therapies with marine-inspired treatments such as salt brushing, balneo baths and algae body wraps, plus a full day menu of massages, body treatments, facials and beauty care.
In the spa you’ll have access to an indoor pool with massage jets and a Jacuzzi, a spacious hydrotherapy pool for treatments, a small, simple steam room, a gym, a relaxation room and a hair salon. There are 31 simple treatment rooms, seven of which are devoted to ayurveda.
Outside you can wander through a small garden with some vegetable plots, and there are three large and lovely central outdoor pools to enjoy, all of which are good for lengths, though they are chlorinated. You can hire mountain bikes, and there’s a small inland lagoon that’s good for swimming a five-minute bike ride or 20-minute walk away.
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QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE We visited in October, when it was quiet, though the wind howled through the corridors, the outdoor pools were too icy to swim in while the indoor pool felt unpleasantly hot, a little too much like a bath. Staff, mostly German, were efficient and friendly, and we generally had a relaxing stay.
I had one treatment, which followed a short 10-minute consultation with the ayurvedic doctor, who recommended a herbal poultice massage to ease my stiff shoulders and feet. It was OK, carried out by a Keralan therapist who didn’t speak any English, though it didn’t feel quite strong enough for me, and I felt quite cold in the room. Straight afterwards I was encouraged to have a shower, but I declined, wanting to keep the oils on my skin for a lot longer. I headed back to my room instead, to use my Jacuzzi bath and warm up a bit.
FOOD AND DRINK Fresh water, juice and apples are provided in the spa. If you’re on an ayurvedic programme of treatments, you can arrange to have special ayurvedic food prepared for your constitution (€35 half-board, €60 full-board). Come March 2010, you’ll also be able to take ayurvedic cooking classes using Mediterranean ingredients.
The hotel has an Italian trattoria, though that was closed when we were there. European fish, meat and pasta dishes and Greek and Caesar salads are available at L’ Ortolan, the main restaurant, and the hotel lounge-bar – our food was all perfectly OK, though nothing remarkable. During afternoon tea, there’s a good range of herbal infusions on offer as well as black and green teas.
IN-CROWD Ayurvedic programmes are popular outside the high season of June to September, especially for women from the UK and Germany. Year-round the hotel attracts couples and families, too – a kids’ club runs during the high season.
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WALLET WATCH From €100 per room per night in low season, based on two sharing and including breakfast. A three-day ayurvedic Rejuvenation Therapy package costs €560, a five-day anti-stress programme costs €500, a one-hour shiatsu massage costs €100.
NEED TO KNOW
Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz, Gozo (+356 2211 0000, www.kempinski-gozo.com). Gozo is a 20-minute ferry ride from Malta. Air Malta runs double daily flights to Malta from London Heathrow and London Gatwick, a daily service from Manchester and two flights a week from Birmingham International. Return economy fares cost from £99 return.
For more information on Gozo, see www.visitmalta.com.
For stress-free parking at Heathrow or Gatwick before your holiday, Meteor meet and greet parking provides a valet parking service.