AKASHA HOLISTIC WELLBEING AT HOTEL CAFÉ ROYAL

An urban retreat in the heart of London

Hotel Café Royal has been an iconic presence at the heart of Regent Street for more than 150 years, and now off ers a unique spa experience to global visitors

Opened in 1865, Café Royal was originally a wine store, restaurant and the space for the city’s most illustrious events. The haunt of famed patrons, from royalty and celebrities to the creative and the notorious, it was an established and iconic landmark on the British capital’s social scene for a century and a half. In its recent reincarnation as the luxurious Hotel Café Royal, it remains an established favourite for locals, while becoming a global destination.

Located at the heart of Regent Street, with elegant Mayfair to the west and creative Soho to the east, the hotel is perfectly positioned within walking distance of London’s fi nest shopping streets, tourist attractions and theatreland. Within the hotel, grand historic areas have been sensitively restored, while 160 guestrooms and suites (including seven signature suites) have been created in a contemporary, yet refi ned, style. Continuing its celebrated legacy of excellent hospitality and dining, the hotel o ers a selection of restaurants and bars.

For those seeking some respite from the stresses of everyday life, or simply a special treat, Hotel Café Royal’s award-winning Akasha Holistic Wellbeing o ers a range of specialist hydrotherapy treatments that are the fi rst of their kind available in London’s hotels. These unique experiences include Watsu, or water shiatsu, held in an especially designed private Watsu pool, Vichy shower treatments and private Hammam experiences.

An urban retreat in the heart of London, Akasha Holistic Wellbeing leads in its holistic approach to wellbeing by harmoniously uniting the four basic

elements of nature; earth, water, fire and air. All of the hydrotherapy treatments are designed to allow guests valuable time to restore the body’s essential balance, decreasing the effects of stress and allowing the body to return to optimum health.

With nine treatment rooms, including a double treatment suite, Akasha offers a wide variety of signature treatments that marry innovative Western practices with ancient Eastern traditions. The extensive facilities include a private Hammam for purifying scrubs and massages, a Vichy shower for cleansing hydrotherapy rituals, an 18-metre large lap pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. Akasha also boasts London’s first Watsu pool, for tailored hydro-treatments and guided meditation carried out by certified staff.

Akasha is also home to a number of wellness specialists, completing its 360-degree approach to personal wellbeing. Their areas of expertise range from nutrition to intuitive counselling, and Reiki to Watsu.

For those focusing on fitness, Akasha also houses a large and spacious gym area, spanning more than 300 square metres. Tailored fitness programmes combine a variety of disciplines, with each overseen by experienced instructors. Fitness classes at Akasha include calisthenics, bodywork and TRX, alongside a wider offering of holistic courses, such as yoga and Pilates. Gym visitors can enjoy cuttingedge technology, including LifeFitness equipment, personal entertainment centres with 19-inch touch screens and iPad docks, complemented by a ceiling of changing LED lights to enhance and motivate.

For one-on-one sessions and personalised classes, private studios provide calming and relaxing spaces for disciplines ranging from yoga, Pilates and meditation to TRX, boxing and cardio classes.

After enjoying spa treatments or getting active in the gym, guests can relax in the serenity of Akasha’s lounge bar, which offers a selection of healthy and nourishing dishes. Designed in collaboration with a nutritionist, the Four Elements Menu incorporates ingredients reflecting the four elements upon which the concept of Akasha is built. Herbal teas, cold pressed juices and energising drinks are also served.

A day of rejuvenation and luxury

Become immersed in the world of Akasha for a day of complete rejuvenation and luxury. The Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre indulges each sense and day spa options include access to the four elements of Akasha; earth, water, fire and air. Guests can enjoy nourishment in the lounge bar, full use of the large lap pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room and gym with leading fitness equipment.

A selection of spa packages is on offer, created to allow visitors to make the most of their time at Akasha, all of which include access to the facilities.

Enjoy a weekday escape packed with award-winning experiences at Hotel Café Royal. Your spa day will include a 90-minute Ultimate Aromatherapy Associates massage or Ultimate Aromatherapy Facial and relax by the pool complete with sauna, Hammam and Jacuzzi. Enjoy the spa facilities, with access for 90 minutes before or after you enjoy a delicious twocourse lunch with champagne.

The Four Elements spa package at Akasha is an immersing full-body

journey designed according to the four elements of nature. Firstly ‘water’ – a therapeutic treatment performed in warm water, whilst being supported by your therapist. This is followed by ‘earth, fire and air’ – a combination of soothing foot massage, restorative heat for your back and a relieving scalp massage.

The Fitness Reset package includes a 60-minute bespoke personal training session with one of Akasha's top personal trainers, using cutting-edge gym facilities. This is followed by a relaxing 90-minute deep-tissue Theragun or Aromatherapy massage to ease any aches and pains. You will also be able to enjoy all the spa facilities and re-boost with a two-course light lunch and an Optimum Nutrition protein shake.

Those who would like to enjoy Akasha Holistic Wellbeing in the company of a loved one or friend can escape the hustle and bustle of the city together and submerge into pure bliss. Your experience will begin with a relaxing whirlpool bath for two with champagne and a fresh fruit platter, followed by a 60-minute personalised Ultimate Aromatherapy and a 60-minute Aromatherapy Associates facial, all in the privacy of our double treatment suite. Thereafter, you will enjoy full access to all elements of Akasha.

Enjoy an overnight stay

Experience the vibrancy of the capital and the serenity of Akasha Holistic Wellbeing with a spa treatment of your choice and an overnight stay at Hotel Café Royal. Luxurious accommodation ranges from Deluxe and Grand Deluxe double guest rooms to a variety of suites, where contemporary style and modern technology are balanced against classic design features to create a sumptuous and peaceful retreat in the heart of the city. Hotel Café Royal 68 Regent Street London W1B 4DY

Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 3333

www.hotelcaferoyal.com

MAKING THE WORLD A SAFER PLACE

Global Health Assured is an independent authority built by a team of global experts, combining clinical, safety, operational and marketing acumen. Our aim is to provide a new level of safety and quality assurance to the hospitality, travel and retail sectors, built upon clinical protocols

Our mission is to deliver a new, independent standard that can provide safety and quality assurance in the 'new normal'. Our approach is proprietary, independent and built upon best-in-class regulated practices, and supported by environmental health services

OUR PROMISE

Global Health Assured provides a new standard that begins with a clinical model, rather than a retail or hospitality model. We focus not just on the process efficiency of your cleaning and safety standards, but also the effectiveness of the result. Certification from Global Health Assured offers peace of mind to management, staff and, most importantly, to your customers.

THE CHALLENGE

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed our view of the world, the way we interact, our priorities and attitudes. It has decimated industry, and those sectors where proximity is pivotal to the customer journey are in existential crisis.

Retail has just about survived through online, but the hospitality and cultural sector has seen systemic change in the way in which it operates, manages and services its customers. Although the release from

THE SOLUTION

Global Health Assured has developed the highest global standards for health and safety to ensure that guests and employees receive and follow the best practices to combat viruses and bacterial contaminants.

Global Health Assured has brought together the best minds to combine experienced hotel operators, strategists, environmental health officers, customer experts, microbiology analysts and, critically, clinical excellence to form a global team.

Our standards are intended to supplement our clients’ current operating protocols and to help them excel beyond their competitors in timing, preparedness, safety and execution.

lockdown will be a reversion to a normality of sorts, it will take time to adapt to new customer behaviour.

But people haven’t changed so much. They still want to travel and shop, be informed, entertained and educated, but are more cautious about what they do, and the duty of care their host embraces. Going forward, travellers will need not just to be persuaded that it is safe to travel, but they will also need to see physical changes made in those environments to guarantee safety.

PARTNERS

Jill Sinclair, CEO jill@globalhealthassured.com

Oliver Hurst, Head of Global Assurance oliver@globalhealthassured.com www.globalhealthassured.com

/global-health-assured @globalhealthassured