The long-awaited Sense Spa is now open at The Rosewood Abu Dhabi. Angela Beitz made a visit to find pure rejuvenation.
If you haven’t yet visited The Rosewood then now is as good a time as any to pop by because they have just opened their spa, Sense. It is tucked away upstairs and is serene and peaceful. They’ve managed to create a space which is luxurious yet understated and is run by professional staff.
The whole idea behind the Rosewood brand is for visitors to experience a ‘sense of place’, meaning that no matter where you are in the world you know you are in a Rosewood hotel, but each property still has its own style reflective of the country that it is in.
The spa has nine full-service treatment rooms – outfitted in soft neutral tones, curved white leather sofas and lilac chenille lounge chairs, in addition to two signature rooms dedicated to traditional hammam cleansing rituals. There are impressive relaxation areas featuring cold mist showers, a large whirlpool with glittering silver and platinum tile interiors, a sauna with fibre optic lighting and an infrared stone feature wall and a steam room with chromo-therapy features. You could just come and visit the relaxation room to feel completely renewed.
Sense spa has an extensive range of indulgent therapies, treatments and services – including signature offerings that integrate local healing traditions with indigenous ingredients – delivered by practitioners who are masters in the healing arts from around the world. The spa is a mix of luxury services mixed with state-of-the-art technology and amazing products to help you have the perfect spa experience.
Today we are trying the Rosewood Complete Facial which uses gem stone products from Shiffa. We couldn’t be happier as our skin is looking a little tired and dehydrated thanks to a lot of late nights and deadlines.
We meet our lovely therapist Tezne who asks us what our concerns are (mainly dry skin) and she promise that this lovely treatment will inject loads of hydration back into our skin and it will be glowing. The facial is suitable for all skin types, which is great, and once they have assessed your complexion they can use products that will suit your particular needs.
We lie down on the treatment table and it feels like a cloud. So much so that we would happily lie there for an afternoon nap. A deep cleansing and exfoliation is performed and the Shiffa brand products are soft and nourishing. Shiffa is a popular UAE-based skin care brand that is gaining huge popularity for its organic and no-nonsense properties, and because the products actually work.
Our skin is given a thorough once over to see how the tone is and if we have any glaring areas of concern. Tezne says that our skin is actually in decent condition and that the tone of it is good – it’s just very dry, which is a common problem here with various environmental factors and air-conditioning.
Our skin is steamed and then Tezne performs extractions to unblock any stubborn pores. Next our face is stimulated with a massage using a balancing emerald oil by Shiffa to enhance blood circulation. An amazing honey face mask is applied and Tezne uses the healing jade rollers which are becoming a popular facial tool to use. Jade rollers were traditionally used to flatten wrinkles on the face and clear fluid congestion. In modern understanding their most useful function is to increase lymphatic drainage. We love the feeling and they seem to calm our skin and reduce puffiness.
We are then treated to a nourishing gem-oil massage to the hands and feet to complete the experience.
This is definitely a spa worth trying, especially if you really want to treat yourself and escape the world for a few hours. Whether it’s a facial, body treatment or massage, one thing is for sure; we have certainly found our sense of place.
The Rosewood Complete Facial costs Dhs2,200 for 110 minutes. Rosewood Abu Dhabi, Sowwah Square, Al Maryah Island (02 813 5537).
