|~|p05_Ice-Cabin-B.jpg|~||~|Being cold in the Middle East has always been a unique, and sought after, experience and never more so than now, as Ski Dubai takes visitors and local residents to the brink of hypothermia all in the name of good fun.
However, there are many health benefits of mixing hot and cold, and spas are now starting to offer ice rooms, or ice grottoes, as part of their thermal treatments.
An ice grotto provides a cold room, similar to entering a freezer, with temperatures ranging from -5°C to -10°C, to improve circulation and leave guests feeling refreshed.
“Ice caves or ice grottoes are a thermal feature that is becoming very popular; the intermingling of hot and cold experiences have many benefits, as the body receives thermal stimulation that contributes to overall good health,” explains Liane Bakaou, director of operations at Beauty Leaders, regional representative of the Balnea range of ice grottoes.
“When we look at the benefits, they vary from person to person, and the way they experience it, but in general the main benefits are in increasing blood circulation and helping muscles, tendons, bones, nerves and all the different tissues of the body to function better. It is ideal for all kinds of rehabilitation, as the cold reduces pain; and also for sports people, as the cold experience helps them recover faster from their workout.”
Beauty Leaders has installed an ice grotto at the recently opened Khatt Springs Hotel & Spa Ras Al Khaimah.
“We wanted to offer the diverse hot and cold experiences at The Springs SPA. Hence we have a sauna, steam, ice grotto and various other hydro treatments, explains Nagarajan J Udupa, resort general manager.
Khatt Springs is the only resort in the region to offer natural hot springs in the premises, and hopes the combination of hot and cold will prove popular with guests.
“The repeated hot and cold experience after treatments, under the expert observation of our trained staff, complements the removal of toxins from the body. It works on the natural process of contraction and expansion when exposed to cold and heat repeatedly,” Udupa explains.
Other Spas, like the Grosvenor House in Dubai, and the Al Corniche Club in Kuwait, have ice fountains, also installed by Beauty Leaders, which are a great cooling experience after a Sauna or Steam session.
Meanwhile, Fire & Ice Wellness from Germany also hopes to enter the Middle East market with its range of ice rooms. The company recently exhibited at the Wellness & Spas Middle East exhibition, held in Dubai in May.
“Ice grottoes, ice caves and snow paradises can be accommodated in every private or public spa and are no doubt one of its main attractions,” says Manfred Greiner, marketing for Fire & Ice Wellness.
“Ice rooms lead to a pleasant cooling of the body temperature. State-of-the-art technology produces “real” snow from water spray coming from small nozzles. Breathing the cold air in these rooms covered with powder snow refreshes the airways and the lungs,” he explains.
The Fire & Ice product offers an ice cabin, insulated inside and out with artificial rock. The cabin can be custom designed to with glass mosaic, handmade ceramics or a modern illuminated glass façade, and Greiner explains that indirect lighting and windows can be embedded in the walls to create a spacious ambience.
The spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha improvised when fitting its ice room, proving that hotel engineering can achieve miracles.
“The ice room we have was built by our own engineering department and local refrigeration contractors. We created a basic walk-in chiller. We wanted to be creative, with refrigeration units to create something different,” says Michael Clarke, director of spa & recreation, Four Seasons Hotel Doha. ||**|||~|DSC06408-B.jpg|~||~|The spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha also boasts the first hydrotherapy lounge in Qatar, a hydrotherapy pool, cool and warm plunge pools, a Kneipp foot bath, heated laconium beds, a laconium room, a colour therapy room and a meditation room.
While the ice experience is still fairly new to the Middle East, it is undoubtedly one spa experience that is likely to prove popular year round, and Beauty Leaders’ Bakaou is confident that we will see more units opening up.
“In the not too distant future, selected spas will start to incorporate this amazing therapy into their menus to meet the demand of the spa goers. Ice grottoes are an experience not to be missed,” she claims.
In fact, Beauty Leaders is already working on its next ‘cold experience’. The company is currently developing a snow cabin. As Bakaou explains: A snow cabin is a beautiful room where it snows. Soft cotton-like snowflakes fall down on you in a white environment at an agreeable temperature of 1°C.”
It seems that spas need to look at dropping the temperature; otherwise their clients will start giving them the cold shoulder in favour of wellness centres boasting frozen assets.||**||
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