Mindfulness and Rejuvenation at the CHI Spa, Shangri La Dubai

As the summer heat gets to the point where feeling sore, sweaty, dehydrated and stressed can take the best out of us, CHI Spa by Shangri La is here to help us unwind from those unpleasant summer blues. KM were lucky enough to be invited to try out their Drift Away Relaxing Body massage and facial (90 minutes) to get us summer ready!

Entering CHI Spa is quite an experience on its own. When we first walk in, it is a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle below on Sheikh Zayed Road. One would never imagine that this spa is located in the middle of a busy commercial road.

As the hospitality is derived from China, one can see that the interiors and the treatments are deep rooted in the Far Eastern traditions of immense hospitality and holistic well care.

Within the passage on the left, there sits your regular pool as in any 5 star hotel spas, a gym for the tourists and a salon for women on the go. The Spa room is where the magic begins. As soon as you enter the spa room, you get a whiff of beautiful Chinese herbal oils and oriental musk creating a sensation of an ancient holistic beauty bathing chamber. There is a changing room near the massage room and a Jacuzzi as well as a steam room neighboring it.

The session started off like any other holistic spa treatment. We were provided with a card where we note our health concerns before we start the procedure along with a 10-minute skin consultation with the therapist. Once that was all sorted out, we proceeded with the treatment.

Essential oils of lavender and different other fragrances were used for a deep circulation tissue massage. The different cocktail of fragrances coming from these essential oils was muted yet mentally invigorating. The therapist made sure to target every joint and applied further pressure on targeted areas of concern before we moved on to the facial.

The massage lasted for a good 60 minutes followed by the facial that took 30 minutes.

The facial was a simple one aimed more at massaging the visage and relaxing the facial muscles more than targeting any specific skin concern. This requires specific herbal creams and a regular mask followed by a 5-minute pore extraction and more massage complete with an under eye anti-ageing cream. It was an utterly therapeutic and calming treatment.

Our Verdict: The massage was like a regular holistic massage but very invigorating and helped calm the muscles all over the body ready for the summer season, which gives it a big thumbs up for us.

The facial was absolutely incredible; it was on par with a delicious dessert to end a fine meal. Our facial muscles felt notably calm and the skin felt smoother and tighter post the treatment.

We definitely recommend this to our readers!