Home Away From Home

I-Spa has long been a favorite of Beijing’s spa goers, and it’s easy to see why. Their luxurious Thai-styled décor, peaceful ambience and incredibly courteous and professional staff make the spa feel like a truly exotic getaway—and fortunately, their newest branch in Xuanwu District is no different. Spread across a larger area than its sister branches, the Xuanwu branch is in fact, more luxurious and seems to take I-Spa’s already divine services up a notch.

We decided to try the Phuket Homeland Package (￥980), a two-hour long fruit-based treatment that smelled just as delicious as it was relaxing. The 30-minute fruit scrub featured a blended mix of honey, black sesame and kiwi to rejuvenate the skin, and was surprisingly soothing compared to body scrubs elsewhere which tend to be rough. Our fresh fruit body wrap, made with cucumber, carrot, honey, tomato and papaya, nourished our skin as we lay wrapped in Saran wrap and covered with blankets—much like a burrito really. Next, our aroma body massage, using our chosen “detox” oil, kneaded us into to a state of bliss and we easily spent the next hour snoring away, no doubt to the extreme amusement of our therapists. Finally, our complimentary facial helped lure us back to our senses with its cool and refreshing cucumber mask, which re-hydrated our faces and tightened our pores.

Once again, I-Spa fails to disappoint and in fact, when it was time to depart, we could not help but feel a twinge of sadness that it was all over. Fortunately, with multiple locations throughout Beijing, it will be easy to arrange a second trip—and thank goodness for that!

DETAILS

Contact: 6th Floor, New Century Grand Hotel Beijing, Xuanwu District
Tel: 8353-7777 ext. I spa