ROYAL PALMS RESORT, ARIZONA
A STAY AT SCOTTSDALE’S ROYAL PALMS IS “SPA SWEET”
By Anne Dimon
The sun is just beginning to shed light on Camelback Mountain as I head out for my morning run in Scottsdale, Arizona. There on the doorknob of my room at the Royal Palms Resort, hangs a little gauze gift bag. No, it’s not the morning paper. Instead, it holds a card that reads Intention of the Day: “May the light within me shine forth and illuminate my path, keeping my mind clear and aware in this moment now.” The flip side of the card presents a drawing of a yoga pose for the day: The Warrior. Also inside, a smaller gauze bag holds a shiny, smooth gem stone to coincide with the chakra of the day. (Chakras are energy points in the body.) A little goodie bag with a different intention, yoga pose and gem stone for every day of the week is delivered each morning to guests who stay in the Royal Palms Resort & Spa’s new Spa Suites.
A fresh genre of hotel guest room accommodation, spa suites are slowly beginning to trickle into the room mix at big name hotels and resorts and they are going to be a hot new trend for travellers seeking the “spa life” on the road.
Doug Chambers of Montana-based Blu Spas, consultants with over 180 spa project in 20 countries around the world, says, “spa suites are an emerging trend because they tap into the growing demand of spa goers. It turns a guestroom stay into a private spa experience without interruptions or distractions.” He defines the Spa Suite as a guest room that has expanded amenities including a specialty tub (with jets, waterfall or other unique features), a specialty shower or steam experience (sound, light and/or aromatherapy), upgraded bath products and an in-room treatment table.
In January, the Mandarin Oriental Miami became one of the first major chain hotels to introduce a selection of Spa Lifestyle Rooms. About a month later, the Royal Palms introduced what could be considered (so far) the benchmark for the category - the Alvadora Spa Suites. I checked in for a little overnight “spa living.”
First impression: I could live here. There’s a living room with a kitchenette tucked into a corner, a large open bath area, and a bedroom with a walk-out to a tiered garden courtyard and reflecting pond against a backdrop of Camel Mountain. Walls are painted in soothing hues of lavender and sage, there’s a European soaking tub (for two), a steam shower, an aromatherapy diffuser, scented candles and colour-therapy lamps that can be set to any one of the colours associated with the seven chakras. The rooms also come with exercise equipment: a fitness ball, training bands and a yoga mat. There is a treatment table that slides out from beneath the sofa so you don’t have to leave your room for a treatments such as massage or touch therapy treatments such as Chakra Balancing which is exclusive to guests who book the new suites.
Come evenings, Spa Suite guests are offered special services that go beyond “turn-down” and bon bon on the pillow. You can get a pre-arranged spa ritual of a footbath, neck and shoulder massage, or someone to come by to draw your therapeutic bath.
Tonight in my spa suite, I’m booked for a Chakra Balancing treatment at the hands of the Alvadora Spa’s Reiki Master David Wright. Within minutes the treatment table has been pulled out of its hiding place under the suite’s day bed, dressed in spa linens and Wright is ready to begin clearing out by body’s negative energy. Sixty minutes later I’m ready to crawl into bed and fall into blissful slumber. Tomorrow is another spa day in Scottsdale.
For more information:
Royal Palms Resort & Spa: www.royalpalmshotel.com
Mandarin Oriental Miami: www.mandarinoriental.com/miami