Archives for posts with tag: Spa

Local farmers come to visit

August 24, 12 //
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By Stephan Post, Launch General Manager, Palacio Nazarenas

Last Monday, three representatives from Peru’s Agrarian Investigation Institute came to visit us at the hotel. They then joined our chef, Virgilio Martinez, on a tour of the Sacred Valley, meeting some of the farmers and their communities in what are often remote and inaccessible areas.

Chef Virgilio Martinez toured the Sacred Valley to meet farmers and source new ingredients for his kitchen.

Chef Virgilio Martinez toured the Sacred Valley to meet farmers and source new ingredients for his kitchen.

The trip resulted in a real harvest of ideas. So much so that we’ve invited the farmers to visit us here at Palacio Nazarenas, to demonstrate their products and skills. Starting next week we’ll be welcoming around 12 growers of native plants known for aromatic oils. Four more gatherings based around other crops are planned for the following weeks.

Any guests who are interested in unusual local produce are welcome to drop by. We’re all expecting to make exciting new discoveries that will find their way onto our Senzo restaurant menu and into treatments at Hypnoze spa.

Dare you try our love fragrance?

July 10, 12 //
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By Laurent Carrasset, Managing Director, Peru

We are working with shamans from the Sacred Valley just outside Cuzco to create a range of herbal treatments for Hypnoze Spa. One of these shamans, Miguel, and his young girlfriend, also a shaman, are creating a magic love fragrance especially for guests at Palacio Nazarenas. It will be called Pusanga, which means “love potion” in the local Shipibo language.

The first sample of Pusanga, a magic love fragrance created by a shaman for guests of Palacio Nazarenas.

They produced an initial sample, which is pictured here, while Miguel went into the deep Amazon jungle to spend time meditating in solitude. He has now returned to the Sacred Valley, and he and his girlfriend have been busy developing the scent further. We’re expecting the first bottles next week. Then all we’ll we need is an adventurous guest to be the first try out it!

Be Amazed by our Spa

May 21, 12 //
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By Michael Simonato, Launch Spa Creator

When you visit our Hypnôze spa I can promise you an experience that will take you to another world. All our products and treatments have been devised together with shamans (or curanderos, as Andean medicine men and women are known). We’ve drawn on their vast knowledge of the curative properties of plants to create herbal oils, wraps and balms with active ingredients that produce very specific results. Some of the special plants included are muña, coca, maca, white sage from Lake Titicaca, Maras salt and quinoa, few of which you’re likely to have encountered before.

The formulas were created by local communities of direct descendants of the Incas, drawing on ancient lore. They were then fine-tuned in the laboratories of Aïny, a Paris-based company that specialises in harnessing the properties of sacred Andean plants.

Some of our treatments are truly unique, such as a massage that uses a candle as a massage tool, and another that uses the shells that shamans blow to address Pacha Mama or Mother Earth. We’ve also created a selection of magic fragrances, designed to attract love and positive energy and to protect you from negative thoughts.

Magic meets science in our first spa products

February 3, 12 //
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By Michael Simonato, Spa Creator for Palacio Nazarenas

We are delighted to have found the first of two product lines for our Hypnôze Spa. Aïny, meaning “spirit of living beings” and “reciprocity” in the local Quechua language, harnesses the properties of sacred plants from the Amazon and the Andes, which have been found to counteract signs of ageing and improve the skin’s radiance.

The formulas are created by five indigenous shaman (Curanderas) communities in Peru and Ecuador. They are then fine-tuned in a Parisian laboratory under the supervision of Aïny’s Scientific Director, Jean Claude Le Jolieff, the former R&D Director of Chanel.

The products have won several awards, including Best Sustainable Luxury Performance in Latin America 2011, and are based on a unique concept: that of unifying the magic of the shamans with the latest skincare science. The products are certified organic and not tested on animals. In addition, 4% of the turnover goes back to fund indigenous community projects.

Aïny will be exclusive to Orient-Express in Peru. We are now busy seeking our second product range, which will be an all-natural, international brand.

Innovations at the spa

September 14, 11 //
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By Michael Simonato, Spa Creator for Palacio Nazarenas

There’s something new to report on the spa every day. It’s going to be a fabulous retreat, designed to reflect both Inca and colonial Cuzco as well as the ancient rituals of Andean mountain cultures.

The lounge area will be created around a stone fountain beneath a glass roof, to give the feel of a peaceful winter garden. Guests will be able to stretch out among beautiful plants to the sounds of birdsong and flowing water.

Palacio Nazarenas Spa

Two of the treatment rooms will have glass floors, with glimpses of an Inca wall and an underground stream, both visible through the face hole in the massage table. Underfloor projectors and mirrors will create meditative patterns of light and shade, based on chromotherapy. Music from the face rest’s inbuilt hifi system will reinforce the visual experience. None of these amazing design features have ever been
combined in a spa before.

Our aim is to offer a journey of discovery through all five senses, plus the sixth—the spiritual presence. But if this sounds too nebulous I should say straight away that everything about this spa will be genuine and will actually work. I’ll explain more about how we’ll tailor treatment programmes to each guest’s needs in my next blog post.

The spa shapes up…

September 1, 11 //
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By Michael Simonato, Spa Creator for Palacio Nazarenas

As building work progresses on our spa, the concept behind its atmosphere and treatments is taking shape. We’re looking to create a truly spiritual sanctuary within the hotel, an oasis where guests can escape and enjoy an experience tailored to their exact needs. I feel confident that we will set a new benchmark for spas in South America.

What we will offer goes way beyond regular spa treatments such as massages, scrubs, wraps and beauty treatments. When guests arrive they will be asked what they would like to achieve: more energy, total relaxation or a boost to their health. We’ll then arrange a personalised programme that could include massage, aromatherapy and other rituals. They can choose their own music, food and drink, and post-treatment activities such as stretching or sports.

Palacio Nazarenas Spa

The emphasis will be on aromatherapy using local products and experiences: steam baths scented with fresh muna (a mountain herb), massage creams and oils from Andean plants, drinks made from Sacred Valley fruits. Peru’s local culture is interwoven with the use of flowers and herbs, and this will be reflected throughout the spa. Many of our natural products will be hand-picked by communities from the Cuzco region.

We’re also planning to have rooms scented with natural fragrances where guests can relax on a mattress, wrapped in an alpaca blanket, and dream…

Palacio Nazarenas: Taking Shape

June 20, 11 //
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by Stephan Post, General Manager Hotel Monasterio and Palacio Nazarenas

Life is going into overdrive for me as I take on my new role as general manager of both Hotel Monasterio and our new Palacio Nazarenas project. One minute I am welcoming guests to the gracious surroundings of Hotel Monasterio, the next I am putting on a hard hat and stepping through the dust of what is essentially a building site next door.

But despite the wheelbarrows and handsaws scattered throughout Palacio Nazarenas, the new hotel really is taking shape. It is essentially two separate areas.

First comes the ancient convent section which you enter as soon as you step through the heavy wooden doors and into the main courtyard with its beautiful stone fountain. To the left is a chapel with an upper gallery that is being restored and transformed into a library where objects discovered during excavation work will be displayed.

Artist's impression of the new swimming pool.

Then, as you move deep inside, comes the newer section. A more modern extension to the original building, this is essentially being rebuilt to feature a cloistered patio with an infinity-edge swimming pool that will be the first of its kind in Cuzco. Nearby will be the spa, which will offer exciting Inca-inspired treatments, and the restaurant, for which we’re planning a leading-edge menu centred on organic Andean ingredients from our own community agricultural project.

There’s still a long way to go, but every day brings a new development. Stay tuned to hear more.