Many luxurious hotels have a fine spa, but at the Healthouse Las Dunas the two flow into one to create a unique place where pampering service, hotel comforts and wellbeing become one and the same thing.

Las Dunas Hotel is well-known in the Marbella area as one of its finest resorts thanks in part to a privileged and secluded beachfront location on the New Golden Mile, and to the sense of elegant refinement it exudes. However, as the Healthouse Las Dunas Health & Beach Spa resort, it has another rather unique feature – that of an oasis of luxury pampering and wellbeing.

You see, people come to this five-star deluxe hotel to relax, enjoy superlative comfort and service by the sea, soak up the Marbella weather, lifestyle and amenities, and savour the exquisite delicacies served at Las Dunas Restaurant, but many also book the hotel specifically to make use of its specialist health and wellbeing programmes.

These include Relax & Wellness, which focuses on a detailed anti-stress treatment that sees people return home completely revitalised and fresh; Cleanse & Detox, a treatment designed to clear impurities and toxins from the body to restore a healthy physical balance; and Healthy Weight, making use of the Naturhouse method of reducing weight following a healthy programme that produces long-term results.

Fine Dining and Spa

Las Dunas Restaurant and the superlative Spa form the core of this offering, along with a superb team of professionals each specialised in their respective fields. These include medical practitioners and health therapists, nutrition experts, personal gym, Pilates, Aquagym, Nordic Walking and yoga instructors, massage therapists, physiotherapists, as well as beauticians.

They have access to unrivalled facilities to provide a level of specialist treatment that is unique in this region, and as a result Healthouse Las Dunas is recognised as one of the best resorts of its kind in Spain and draws visitors from across the country and indeed Europe and the Middle East. It therefore redefines the concept of a hotel spa to include real, tangible health benefits.

Since nutrition is an integral part of health and wellbeing, Las Dunas Restaurant plays its part in providing a five-star deluxe holiday experience that will see you return home healthier and revitalised by offering a unique concept of healthy haute cuisine.

Its challenge, to offer superlative cuisine that minimises the use of sugar, salt, gluten, lactose and a whole range of other toxins, has led to the creation of a special offering built upon natural, organic, fresh produce sourced locally, ingredients that restore rather than reduce the body’s vitality, and cooking techniques that make use of delicious alternatives to conventional seasoning.

Health-based Programmes

Fine dining, relaxing by the sea and spa therefore take on another meaning, as the entire experience can also be used to return home from your vacation feeling totally regenerated physically and emotionally, so while guests are entirely welcome to simply stay at the hotel and the Spa and Las Dunas Restaurant are also open to outside clients, Healthouse Las Dunas is different in that it takes the vacation experience in a new, more health-conscious direction.

“So many people in highly pressured positions more than ever need the time to invest in themselves, their health and energy levels, and re-emerge with renewed levels of enthusiasm, creativity and wellbeing,” says Auxi Velázquez, Spa Manager at the Healthouse Las Dunas. She and her team at the Spa, in tandem with the Las Dunas Restaurant and the hotel staff, ensure that a whole range of made-to-measure programmes can be integrated into your stay.

“Apart from there being a broad selection of different regimes, they can be as intense or easy-going as you wish, depending on your needs and preferences,” says Auxi. These can focus on physical and mental rejuvenation, detoxing, weight loss and also beauty and ageing treatments in Better Ageing. “Each involves a detailed yet flexible range of personalised treatments with proven results that have people coming back to maintain and build upon their achievements.”

Signature Spa Journeys

Popular also are the half-day spa experiences, such as the Essence of Balance, which includes a full spa circuit, stress relieving face and scalp massage and foot reflexology, and a Flotarium session designed to experience weightlessness and reach deep levels of relaxation. Pure Bliss is a half-day spa journey that sees several hours of total relaxation and pampering, including an aromatic oil massage and culminating with a gorgeous yet healthy four-course gourmet meal.

The latter are mostly aimed at local residents who wish to make use of the fact that our region is home to one of the finest health-based resort hotels in Europe, and those in the know join regular guests in booking one of the beautifully appointed rooms or suites and spending a delightful five-star weekend in an oasis of peace and beauty by the sea.

WORDS MICHEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF HEALTHOUSE LAS DUNAS

Healthouse Las Dunas Health & Beach Spa Urbanización Boladilla Baja, Crta. Marbella-Estepona, Km 163.5, Estepona. Tel: 951 082 090.

www.healthouse-naturhouse.com