Re-defining luxury amid New York’s Midtown madness
TREE ELVEN escapes the urban jungle and retreats to tranquility of The Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf Astoria…
Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf Astoria
Like a pearl poised inside a Fabergé egg, New York’s recently re-opened Guerlain Spa sits serenely on the 19th floor of the palatial Waldorf Astoria Hotel, waiting to restore you.
For this is right in among the hustle of the Big Apple, the shopping meccas of 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue, stunning Art Deco buildings like the Chrysler, top museums and theatres, and a plethora of Fortune 500 companies…. Who wouldn’t need massage therapy after all that intensive retail therapy, or a fabulous facial before a business face-off?
The hotel’s wood-panelled lifts whisk you up and away from the busy, buzzy streets, into the intricate grandeur of the lobby, and release you into a totally different ambience – cool, cream and silver, sparkling. The pale palette is accentuated by huge Swarowski crystals creating dazzling drop-curtain and light compositions.
And the Guerlain Spa is really spacious. Just stepping into this after the hustle of New York is relaxing.
The revamp saw the opening up of a large salon where be-robed guests can sit and chat, or nibble on fruit and nuts as they admire the Park Avenue view.
Each treatment room is a five-star suite gently lit with fat golden candles and complete with a fully-appointed bathroom.
With delight I saw the purple orchid lying on the head rest lifted away by the gentle, knowing hands that proceeded to lift away my aches as I lay slipped between the puffy cover and the heated, pillow-top couch.
I’d opted for a lymphatic drainage treatment which heads the sophisticated menu here; such specialised techniques are making pre and post-natal massages a prime favourite. It effectively relieved that leg heaviness which can also afflict city dwellers or ardent shoppers.
Guerlain is, of course, a house of fragrances, and I liked the simplicity of the aromatherapy aspect offered – “Would you prefer a relaxing or an invigorating fragrance?” The (invigorating) ginger and lemongrass blend the therapist used was great – subtle and uncloying.
When I managed to tear myself up off the pillow-top, I was ushered along to another huge treatment room for an Abeille Royale facial.
I have to agree with the beauty therapist when she says she loves working with this range because she can see the results: This particular English rose really did feel she’d had her bloom restored, emerging with a rosy glow and a plumped-up look after 80 minutes of fragrant treatment (on another lovely, puffy, heated couch) that included gentle pummeling of the jaw line with freshly prepared pouches stuffed with thyme and tiger grass.
I was sorry when it was over – I wanted to move in – and look forward to seeing the next phase of the revamp in early 2012, when the Waldorf Astoria’s Guerlain Spa will be unveiling a retro-glam approach.
“Think Frank Sinatra and Katherine Hepburn,” says Spa Director Denise Vitiello. “We want our guests to walk out head high, feeling proud and glamorous, especially in these difficult times. We’re moving away from excess and toward the true luxury of giving yourself more time.”
As Marilyn Monroe said in How To Marry a Millionaire, “Well, I think it’s just creamy”….
The SPA Traveller tips:
Guerlain has its own Orchidarium, dedicated to extracting and applying the flower’s powers of longevity to its treatments and products.
If you can’t make it pre-Christmas, this would be the ultimate romantic treat round Valentine’s Day when the Sinatra/Hepburn/red roses decor/post-massage champagne regime should be in.
The Spa is open to everyone, you don’t have to be a guest at the Waldorf Astoria.
Denise recommends arriving half an hour before treatment to enjoy the spacious lounge and let your body relax into its most receptive mode.
There are a lot of business travellers in the hotel, so the spa has a 60 per cent men to 40 per cent women mix.
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