Spa and Wellness
Press feature
July 2008
Pamper your body, revitalise your mind.
Pampering with pools, aromatic steam baths, facial treatments and massages is an investment that can give a good return. The wellness wave is over us and in Copenhagen you can find many spas and various wellness treatments.
Relaxing treatments for the busy guest Situated next to Copenhagen Airport the luxurious five-star hotel Hilton Copenhagen Airport has recognized this wellness-trend. In April 2007 the hotel opened up a brand new restored wellness area, which among others offers relaxing treatments for the busy guests, and as the first spa in Denmark offers a special ‘jetlag-treatment'. The Danish spa and wellness specialist Ni'mat, owner of one of Copenhagen's oldest spas, will manage the spa and wellness area, which already offers a swimming pool and fitness centre. Together with the chef at Hilton's restaurant the staff at Ni'mat have put together a wellness-menu, that consist of various possibilities of both healthy salads and large steaks, in acknowledgment of the diverse wishes from the guests.
Avalon Spa at Hotel Kong Arthur is the first spa in Copenhagen to encompass all four corner stones of a true spa experience: Treatments for the face and body, mental relaxation, physical exercise and gastronomic experiences. It offers healthy and simple spa cuisine as part of the unique concept.
Axel Hotel Guldsmeden has a classical urban spa, in the signature Balinese-inspired Guldsmeden design that includes a sauna, cold tub & jacuzzi, steam bath with essential oils and meditation/yoga area.
DGI-byen is a meeting place for culture, business and sports located in the centre of Copenhagen close to the central station. Offering a vide variety of sports facilities, conference and meeting facilities, party and banquet rooms, hotel, restaurants, cafés, water culture house and spa, DGI-byen is a lively leisure centre complex used by locals, tourists and business people alike.
The DGI-byen spa features everything in the way of Jacuzzis, steam baths, hot and cold tubs and saunas, and offers almost any product, treatment and service that a wellness-heart desires. An old-style bubble bath is on the menu, but why be conservative when you can immerse yourself in hot water with relaxing scented oils or deep cleansing salt or green algae. Whichever type of bath you choose, it always comes with iced water and fresh slices of fruit.
The sauna runs a different theme every week, such as Finnish style where you start off in a steam bath scented with aromatic oils. Then you sweat for ten minutes in the sauna and afterwards the bath master gives you a good 'whipping' with freeze-dried birch branches imported from Finland followed by a rub down with crushed ice. At the end of the session you complete the Finnish experience with a taste of salted fish and fresh berry juice. Other sauna themes at the DGI-byen spa are Native American Sweat Lodge and Roman or Turkish style baths.
Hotel D'Angleterre is one of the oldest hotels in the world. For 250 years this grand building located at Kgs. Nytorv at the end of Strøget and a stone's throw away from lively Nyhavn, has played host to royalty, presidents, film stars and many other celebrities. Hotel D'Angleterre offers a wide range of stylish meeting facilities, a superb gourmet restaurant and a new spa and fitness centre. Arndal Spa & Fitness is managed by author of several books on healthy living, Lotte Rye Arndal who has also lent her name to this beautiful refuge at Hotel D’Angleterre.
Arndal Fitness & Spa spells absolute luxury and features an elegant heated swimming pool, a spa section and various fitness equipment - all with free access for hotel guests. The staff at Arndal are experts in their fields and services include a wide variety of treatments such as massages, facial treatments, acupuncture, shiatsu massage, body scrubs, body wraps, dietary consulting, workout instruction etc. The products used for treatments - oils, scrubs, moisturisers - are organic and have never seen a shadow of synthetic additives. Fitness and physical activity in combination with relaxation of body and mind is the Arndal recipe for an invigorating break in a busy work-life - and with a healthy glass of champagne on the side of the bathtub to complete the experience you should be nicely set up for whatever is next on your agenda.
An old building in the middle of Købmagergade, the pedestrian high street off Strøget, is home to Ni'mat and its four floors of Oriental inspired wellness. Wooden beams, slanting walls and creaking old staircases only add to the charm and intimacy of this little shrine to luxury and wellbeing. Ni'mat offers a wide range of massages, such as hot lava stone massage, four hand massage, facial massages, scalp massage or a Thai herbal massage. After a good work-over you can slip into an aromatic steam bath or, a Ni'mat speciality, a bubble bath under open sky on the beautiful terrace surrounded by the characteristic red rooftops of Copenhagen. Ni'mat serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, Thai style, Japanese or Danish/French, from some of Copenhagen’s best restaurants.
Just 20 minutes out of Copenhagen City facing the blue Øresund water is Skodsborg Kurhotel & Spa. Once a summer refuge for King Frederick VII and his wife, Countess Louise Danner, the mansion is rich in history and still has the royal feel, even if the king himself used to prefer sleeping in a tent in the surrounding park, leaving the palace itself to his beloved wife. Skodsborg Kurhotel & Spa was founded by doctor Carl Ottosen in 1898, as one of Denmark's first - and very advanced - health sanatoriums. Today, a section of the hotel still offers physiotherapy and professional treatment for people recovering from injuries or hospitalisation.
For guests Skodsborg Kurhotel & Spa is a wonderful opportunity to meet in luxurious surroundings somewhere away from the busy city, without spending much time travelling. Situated in a beautiful spot by the water and bordering the huge Dyrehaven - the Deer Park - the possibilities of combining physical activity with invigorating walks on the beach or in the woods are many. The hotel's extensive spa offers sessions of massage, facial treatments or herbal baths. One such activity is The 5 Tibetans, which are five exercises that have been carried out by the monks in the Himalayas for thousands of years and are said to contain the key to eternal youth, health and vitality.
Of course, health and vitality also has a little to do with what you eat. The menu at Frederik & Louise, the hotel restaurant, is inspired by the international spa-kitchen. The dishes are a delight to all senses and, although based on correct dietary principles, are made for enjoyment in every sense of the word.
Further up the Øresund coast you find the hotel Comwell Borupgaard, another white palace of health surrounded by beautiful North Zealand nature. Comwell Borupgaard has recently turned a 650 square metre mansion into a luxury spa with 20 exquisitely designed treatment rooms, and a 'wet area' comprising swimming pool, hot and cold pools and numerous types of baths.
Comwell are Scandinavian pioneers in wellness and run a number of spa hotels throughout Denmark and Sweden.
As a result of the recent wave of popularity of wellness treatments, a number of new spa places have cropped up around Copenhagen city. Mirage Spa & Kur by the City Hall Square offers candlelit spa and treatments in elegant and luxurious surroundings and stays open till late in the evening. Philoleum is a small and intimate wellness place, offering spa-packages and all kinds of facial and body treatments.
Mentioned above
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DGI-byen |
Arndal Spa & Fitness |
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Ni'mat |
Mirage Spa & Kur |
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Skodsborg Kurhotel & Spa |
Comwell Borupgaard |
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Philoleum |
NI'mat |
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Avalon Spa |
Axel Hotel Guldsmeden |
