WELLNESS SPAS

Get some quality me time at India's serene wellness resorts.

REJUVENATING SPA TREATMENTS

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INDULGE IN SOLITARY WELLNESS

THE ART OF A MASSAGE

The German spa town of Baden-Baden hosts a luxurious sanctuary of wellness in a historic building. The treatments at Villa Stéphanie sculpt you into a piece of art. BY SUMEET KESWANI

FEW DESTINATIONS IN the world can claim their USP is wellness. Baden-Baden in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is one of them. On my last trip to the spa town, I aptly stayed in Brenners Park – Hotel & Spa. Apart from its charming history and aesthetic location—it’s set in a private park facing the famous Lichtentaler Allee, which was birthing premature cherry blossoms when I visited— the hotel has a dedicated House of Wellbeing in the adjacent Villa Stéphanie. Spread over an area of 5,000 square metres, across five storeys, it comprises rooms and suites, a 500-square-metre sauna, plunge pool, private gym, and hammam.

The hotel and Villa Stéphanie are internally connected, so I could have conveniently strolled from my room into the spa, clad in just a bathrobe and room slippers. But my evening appointment saw me sprinting up the street and swinging open the main doors of Villa Stéphanie quite dramatically. I had just arrived from the Caracalla Spa (carasana.de/en/ caracallaspa), a cornucopia of hot thermal waters and Roman-style sauna. As I shoved all my belongings in a spacious locker and rinsed myself, I realised that the spa’s shower room could give those of most five-star hotel suites a run for their money.