Wellness is the keyword for our times - we all dream of escaping the Rat Race.
In this new series of "Wellness Hotels" Martin Nicholas Junz has collected the best addresses which offer both soothing treatments and architecture and design of the very finest.
From the restorative visits to the health spas of the past, a world wide industry has emerged with the sole aim of improving our well-being. It is rare, however, that the health programmes are combined with aesthetically pleasing surroundings, and it is precisely what the author, Martin Nicholas Junz, was searching for.
In harmony with the surroundings or in deliberate contrast to the landscape, the hotels presented here rank among the best treats imaginable.
Start saving-up and treat yourself to the vacation of your dreams......
Best Designed Wellness Hotels I:
India, Far East, Australia, South Pacific
Soneva Gili
Lankanfushi, Maldives
Design: Sonu and Eva Shivdasani
The 37 individual wooden villas are arranged around Lankanfushi island in the Lankanfushi lagoon.
Chiva Som
Hua Hin, Thailand
Design: Jean Paul Blissett, Syntax Group
As part of an area belonging to the Royal Palace at Hua Hin, the resort is embedded in exotic gardens, and close to the beach.
Vatulele
Fiji, South Sea
Design: Martin Livingston, Henry Crawford
Palm trees, a glistening beach and a scattering of huts with palm-frond roofs shaped like pointed caps.
The Bali
Bali, Indonesia
Design: Anthony Lui Karl Princic
Minimalist design and a strict stylistic idiom dominates at the BalŽ.
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Best Designed Wellness Hotels II:
North and South America, Caribbean, Mexico
Sagewater Spa
Desert Hot Springs, California
Design: Rhoni Epstein, Christina Pestana
When restoring the 1947 motel the owners went back to what was originally there and optimized it using a simple, sensitive color scheme and choice of materials.
Enchantment Resort & Mii Amo Spa
Sedona, Arizona
Design: Gluckman Mayner Architects, Dana Tang, Greg Yang
Bedded in the imposing contours of Boynton canyon, the resort appears as a modest village of one- and two-story houses, sitting in a loosely wooded basin.
Casas de Careyes & Casitas de las Flores
Costalegre, Mexico
Design: Gian Franco Brignone, Marco Aldaco, Diego Villasenor, Jean Claude Galibert.
The perfect symbiosis of colors, forms and materials and a sensitive integration with the environment point to an intellectual and creative proximity to the work of Luis Barragan.
Explora en Patagonia
Torres del Paine, Chile
Design: German del Sol
On the banks of Lake Pahoe, this hotel is framed by steep, generally snow-covered
mountains reaching 14,000 feet in height; a perfect starting point for modest explorations.
Martin Nicholas Junz is a senior Vice President at "lebensart global networks AG", responsible for global communications and media services. He has written many articles in international building, architecture, and design journals.
Best Designed Wellness Hotels I & II
By Martin Nicolas Kunz
Publisher: avedition
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January 20, 2003
