A brand new spa opens within the “best hotel in the world”

Italy’s Passalacqua, named the perfect hotel on the planet within the inaugural list of the World’s 50 Best Hotels, is getting even higher with a brand new spa.

There is not any shortage of highlights at Passalacqua, the fastidiously restored 24-room boutique hotel on Lake Como that takes the highest spot on the list of the 50 best hotels on the planet 2023. First of all, there’s the lakeside location, away from the village of Moltrasio in considered one of the world’s most famous holiday destinations, Lake Como. Then there are the 18^thThe property itself consists of three preserved historic buildings and manicured gardens that stretch down the hillside almost to the lake. Next comes the pool: a parasol-adorned dream of sparkling blue water. And finally the 24 rooms, each a jewel box, opulently wearing silk, pastel and marble.

Now there’s something else to praise: a brand new spa. The recent spa, which is able to open at first of the 2024 season, is accessible from the bottom floor of the hotel’s former stables, the so-called Palazz, which lies behind the primary villa and likewise houses several guest rooms on the primary floor.

Here, guests will find the spa’s primary reception, in addition to a leisure room: a tall-pillared space furnished with rattan peacock chairs, daybeds and metal lanterns by Yahya of Morocco, casting patterned light throughout the space. From here, spa guests are ushered into the hotel’s original underground tunnels that lead right down to the lake and will once have been used for a fast escape. The exposed-brick tunnel corridors – moodily lit with hanging globe lanterns and leading right down to the lake – lead first to subterranean, amber-lit treatment rooms, in addition to a sauna and ice bath in a barrel-vaulted opening. Then, finally, the tunnels open right into a recent indoor pool in a greenhouse overlooking considered one of the terraced gardens.

Spa treatments feature Seed to Skin Tuscany, a Tuscan-based skincare range that originates from the renowned boutique hotel Borgo Santo Pietro, once a stopover for medieval pilgrims on the Via Francigena. Passionate about wellness, the 230-acre estate launched its own all-natural brand in 2018, using locally grown ingredients including raw herbs and botanicals equivalent to lavender, mint, rosemary, calendula and lemon balm, in addition to fresh milk from Borgo’s own flock of Sardinian sheep and raw honey from the estate’s bees.

Essential oils are distilled on-site at a distillery, although some ingredients come from further afield, including Morocco and France. However, the brand at all times works with small, quality producers to maintain the availability chain under control. Any recent materials they receive are used inside a 12 months to make sure maximum effectiveness. Seed to Skin Tuscany has its own laboratory (a brief walk from the hotel) where products are developed and packaged, and Borgo’s owner Jeanette Thottrup could be very dedicated, committed and you can even say obsessive (a face cream took over five years to develop, for instance). There at the moment are around 35 products in the marketplace in total and more are being developed, including a sunscreen.

Seed to Skin Tuscany is having fun with growing popularity world wide, especially in hotel spas. The product line can currently be present in over 100 spas, including the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, Hotel Sacher Vienna, Canyon Ranch in California, Six Senses in Rome and Passalaqua.

The signature treatment at Passalaqua’s spa is the 90-minute Reverse Signature Facial, which incorporates oxygen therapy with Seed to Skin Tuscany’s hero product The Black Magic, which Thottrup describes as a “facial in a jar”; particularly potent with salicylic acid, hibiscus flower acid and mandelic acid. This is followed by a double mask with The Golden Dew and The Active Delivery Mantle.

Other treatments at the brand new spa include the 90-minute Unwind Therapy (with mineral mud and Bath Therapy oil, plus a scalp massage with a jade comb) and the 60-minute Candle Massage, which uses warm candle oil with argan oil, coconut extract, shea butter, oud and vanilla essence.