Latest news with #resort
Zawya
12 hours ago
- Health
- Zawya
Baheej introduces a boutique wellness resort inspired by Saudi traditions to Yanbu's coastline
YANBU, Saudi Arabia — Baheej, Saudi Arabia's emerging destination developer and a joint venture between ASFAR, the Saudi Tourism Investment Company and a Public Investment Fund (PIF) company with the Tamimi-AWN Alliance, is proud to announce the fourth component of its transformative Yanbu Waterfront Project: a 34-room boutique Wellness resort that brings together ancestral wellness wisdom and contemporary design inspired by the region's seafaring heritage. Nestled on the tranquil shores of Yanbu, this intimate sanctuary will feature private sea-view cabanas, immersive wellness programming, and a signature spa designed as an architectural homage to the pearl, once a precious treasure of Yanbu and a symbol of renewal and serenity. Norah Al Tamimi, CEO of Baheej, added: 'This project is a reflection of Baheej's vision to enrich Saudi destinations with meaning, not just infrastructure. Our wellness resort is more than a place to stay — it's an experience crafted around the values of balance, beauty, and belonging. We believe it will become a new symbol of Yanbu's evolving identity as a serene coastal escape.' Envisioned as a journey and offering guests opportunities to reconnect with self and place, Baheej is developing the resort with curated experiences that include meditation at sunrise, movement rituals inspired by coastal rhythms, and wellness treatments rooted in Arabic healing traditions and native ingredients. "The design, developed by Spectrum Architecture, draws deeply from the soul of Yanbu," said Stefano Lopez, Senior Director at Baheej. 'It reinterprets the poetry of seafaring traditions and the calm resilience of the sea into a space of reflection, comfort, and transformation.' Lopez also noted that the official brand of the resort will be revealed later this year, hinting at its distinctive Saudi character: 'We want to create a brand that resonates with our domestic travelers. One that brings generations of Saudi heritage and wellness practices to the forefront of contemporary hospitality.' This launch marks a further step in Baheej's mission to transform Yanbu into the gateway to the Red Sea Riviera; a new destination narrative that fuses nature, culture, and community. The wellness resort joins a growing collection of destination-defining assets developed by Baheej in Yanbu, including Cloud 7 Lifestyle hotel by Kerten Hospitality, Kaynuna Beach Escape and the upcoming Jaba Tour Center and Diving Club.
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
Why Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Is One Of The Best Wellness Resorts
Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale's scenic outdoor pool Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Wellness is a word that's routinely bandied about these days, but it's something Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale has quietly embodied since opening in 1999. Set in the foothills of Pinnacle Peak, the scenic 40-acre resort continues to attract guests from all walks of life. But the best thing about this iconic destination resort is how it's always understood, from day one, that wellness is far from a one-size-fits-all concept. I arrived on a typically warm and sun-drenched day in mid-April, feeling burned out. I'd just come off an intense, but thoroughly fun, two-week work trip to Seoul a few days prior, and was feeling weighed down in more ways than one. I'd timed my visit to overlap with the resort's Heart of the Desert spring programming, a three-month-long celebration (March 8 to May 31) of curated culinary offerings, wellness experiences, and social events to help guests like me reconnect to themselves and draw inspiration from their breathtaking natural setting. A casita at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale As soon I stepped into my casita, stress started melted away. Modeled after Southwestern adobe-style homes, these spacious accommodations that feel more like sleek residences are appointed with luxe touches like fireplaces, deep soaking tubs, and private balconies for gazing at the Sonoran Desert by day and stars at night. Most importantly: the casita was whisper-quiet. The only outside noises I heard during my three-night stay were the sporadic coos of White-winged Doves. Talavera is the signature steakhouse of Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale. Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Whether you're in the mood for nourishment or indulgence—or as in my case, both, as I believe wellness is about balance, not abstinence—you'll cure your cravings at the resort's four restaurants and bars. Highlights included Onyx Bar & Lounge's Spanish-beer broth mussels; Saguaro Blossom's poolside creamy salmon poke; Talavera's sublime pan con tomate (the anchovies are a must); Proof Canteen's irresistible Fresno Buffalo tulip chicken wings and equally addictive bourbon-caramel sticky buns; and a private cocktail class hosted by the lovely Julie Figueras, a global ambassador for award-winning mezcal brand The Lost Explorer. Rather than prescribing pre-set agendas like other wellness retreats, the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale meets you right where you and offers flexibility to carve your own path. Though I appreciate the dry desert heat, my sensitive skin doesn't fare well under the sun's rays. Instead of hiking, golfing, and playing tennis outdoors, as many guests do, I hit up the gym; enrolled in a couple of gentle stretching and pilate mat classes; took in leisurely strolls once the sun dipped below the horizon; and clocked in as much sleep as my body craved. Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale's Spa Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Though all the delicious food, invigorating movement, and sound sleep helped my body shake off the heavy fatigue from travel and work, it was the Spa's Sacred Sound Therapy that really sealed in the benefits of my visit. Over 90 minutes, my intuitive therapist blended a restorative full-body massage with the grounding sounds and vibrations of Tibetan singing bowls. Though I'd experience both on separate occasions, together at this serene resort they helped me feel a whole new level of balance, calm, and as you'd guess, wellness.
Times
a day ago
- Health
- Times
The Greek retreat that soothed my exhausted, stressed-out brain
There is no word I could find that quite summed up how I was feeling last summer. It wasn't just stress, but it wasn't burnout or breakdown. Yet it felt like more than normal tiredness. Perhaps it was facing up to the teeth-grinding malaise of middle age, and a nagging dissatisfaction with life among other things. But wonderfully — and thankfully — the Greeks, who might not have a word for that wobbling state of mental and physical health, do have a cure: the Euphoria Retreat. It is a fitting name for the resort tucked into the unfashionable but beautiful foothills of Mount Taygetus in the Peloponnese, about three and a half hours' drive from Athens, and an hour by airport pick-up from Kalamata. Today we use the word euphoria to describe an extreme state of happiness (or a drug-induced high), but, like many of the good things in life, it derives from the ancient Greek: euphoros, meaning 'healthy'. I landed in the high heat of summer when the temperature starts climbing from 30C from 10am, so indoor treatments and a swimming pool were essentials. I felt threadbare. I was unhappy in my skin, and worn down mentally due to the lingering impact of a long-ago trauma. I wanted not just to let go of my internal 'to do' list of how to be a better person and slump down and doze in the sun, but also to rejuvenate in as meaningful a way as I could manage. I wasn't up for the authoritarian rigour of a medi-spa or the breathless physicality of a bootcamp, but Euphoria hits the sweet spot in the middle. Everyone — singles outnumber couples — staying at the 45-room spa hotel is encouraged to do so too. It goes a long way to create an atmosphere, where under an endless blue sky and the near constant chorus of cicadas, everyone is invested in feeling better. Mobile phones are barely seen and alcohol is rarely drunk, though you can purchase it with dinner. Meals are a slow, civilised affair on the terrace overlooking farmland with as much oregano-infused water as you can manage. (It does help with the buckwheat crackers.) My room was comfortably large and serene, with light touches of local Greek design and lots of marble in the bathroom. Most of the day is spent in the spa itself, where you also find the pool and loungers, but I became addicted to an early night and deep sleep — you can choose from a pillow menu. • Read our full guide to Greece The passion project of Marina Efraimoglou, a former banker whose life was laid low by a cancer diagnosis, the resort is the culmination of years of research exploring and studying wellness practices. The result is a feat of engineering as well as ambition, where the building's design, as well as every therapy and every meal, are governed by a blend of ancient Greek and Chinese philosophies that centres on five elements: fire, water, earth, wood and metal. At Euphoria's heart is the spa, a concrete cocoon where shadows ripple across the white walls as light floods the central atrium. There are treatment rooms and specialised facilities, as well as two large spaces for complimentary lectures and sessions including sound healing meditation (deeply relaxing), freeing your voice, starting with breathwork and ending with a theatrical singing exercise that ran through the full range of my voice and finished as loudly as possible (uncomfortable), and what I came to really look forward to: yoga nidra. Led by Chryssi, I had an unusually deep sense of semi-conscious meditation where I felt my physical body disappear and my mind float away. Tall, resplendent in colourful kaftan and a halo of hair, Marina visits at least once a week and is constantly looking for new techniques and improvements when it comes to wellness. Her mission is a belief that healing does not have to mean suffering. It is a task that the Euphoria team take up as a vocation, reflecting another Greek word, philoxenia, which describes the respect extended to strangers, a gesture that is more seriously felt than simple hospitality. • 16 of the best wellness retreats in the UK But could good intentions, crystal water, a gong bath and a massage really deal with the mini crisis of confidence I was having? Namaste never did it for me before. After a phone questionnaire, I had signed up to a bespoke package offering not just a detox programme, now fairly standard for such a luxury-level, award-winning spa, but also emotional wellbeing. I rocked up to a detailed timetable for my ten-day stay that included lectures, treatments and even a respiratory test that would guide the Mediterranean menu drawn up by the in-house nutritionist. An analysis of my glucose, glutathione and glycogen levels — they call it a patented 3GL assessment — was apparently going to detect any 'energy disorders'. Hmm. The results, however, told me that my metabolic rate was average, but I needed to eat more protein. Cue plump steak and sweet potatoes for dinner, but also, far less appealing, daily vegan protein powder smoothies with beetroot and chia seeds for the mandatory mid-morning snack. Sitting cross-legged on mats, a small group of us answered a series of basic questions, such as 'what do you have for breakfast?', or 'what do you do after work?'. We all opened up and it was thanks to this straightforward process that it struck me that the person sabotaging me was not a friend leading me astray, but myself acting the part. It broke the ice and the three of us in that room felt closer for the remainder of the holiday. You don't have to share, but bonding over a starter of quinoa crackers and a teaspoon of sundried tomato tapenade or cashew dip, enjoying vegan carrot and ginger soup and surprisingly tasty buckwheat patties is a reassuring way to spend the evening. You can choose to sit alone, or join others. • I've been to 20 wellbeing retreats and this is what I've learnt I met an exhausted mum whose anxiety caring for her daughter had almost broken her; an executive whose stress was causing bloating and constipation; another who needed a break from her job in elderly social care. Everyone has a story. There is support to be gained in gradual conversation. But if that's too much information, you can just sit and stare at the far horizon taking in olive groves and scattered villages as cats slink around mewing for tidbits. Then it happened. I'd had some niggling cynicism about the boundless wellness industry that has sprung up in recent years. But this faded as I fell into a reassuring timetable of massages — cupping, scrubbing, reflexology, acupuncture — and a good night's sleep. This was as relaxed as I had ever been, and I felt that my mind and body were beginning to reconnect. That's not to say there weren't moments when the 'science' left me giggling with the silliness of it all. How else was I supposed to respond to the biofeedback analysis? During an appointment with the resort's medical director Dr Konstantinos Dardagiannopoulos, I gripped a Qest4 copper bioresonance device — imagine an old-fashioned gaming console with copper tubes for handles — with both hands and connected to a computer program. It determined that I was very stressed, and I had a slightly weakened liver and pineal gland. A 'parasitological test of a stool probe' was recommended. To be honest it all felt a bit lost in translation. Odder still was the 'Symptom-Emotion Correlation'. Still holding the same device, parts of the body lit up on the doctor's screen and were converted into feelings and behaviours. I know, I know. More than a hundred descriptions flashed up including 'Bunions 2' which was decoded to mean 'being stubborn and inflexible in your direction'; 'Hay Fever 2' was translated as 'unresolved feelings of grief or sadness' and 'Peptic Ulcer 2' was 'feels responsible for pleasing everyone'. It was unnerving. The method felt woo-woo, and up there with astrology and tea leaves wasn't too far off the mark. The prescription to 'focus only on the positive matters and thoughts — to trust only them, not the negative ones' is not exactly cutting edge, but it all felt so credible in the setting. And still does. • 18 of the best spa and wellness holidays The environment and ambience seem to be as much a part of the relaxation process as the treatments. But it was my three sessions of emotional transformation — a unique course offered at Euphoria — with Mary Vandaorou, a former dancer and confidante of Marina, whose gentle, probing counselling, and Reiki-like physical therapy as well as nourishing meditations left me weeping. Instead of heading back to the noise of London while feeling raw, I swam a few lengths in the pool, watching dragonflies dance through the grasses and over the water as the sun set slowly and the heat of the day rose up. I felt a weight was lifted ever so slightly as Marie advised me to 'breathe out sadness, breathe in hope'. I arrived home and was inspired to make my own thyme or oregano-infused water with dried herbs from the retreat. I ate sweet potatoes and steak; no takeaways or alcohol passed my lips. I began to walk taller, and started swimming most days. My fridge filled with feta and I was still filled with a sense of optimism. Naturally, the scales tipped, and the energy I had soaked up in Greece eventually disappeared like the fading of a summer tan. But that's OK. The philosophy of Euphoria Retreat is not to sell a cure, but to be part of the process of rejuvenation, and at least I know where to go now for that profound boost we all need from time to time. Helen Davies was a guest of Healing Holidays, which has two nights' full board from £1,999pp on a Wellbeing Detox programme; four nights' B&B from £2,699pp on the Emotional Harmony programme ( Fly to Kalamata
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Travel Weekly
Sponsored Video: Xcaret Mexico's Luis Miguel Ojeda Arsuga Announces Exciting Developments
Sponsored Video: Xcaret Mexico's Luis Miguel Ojeda Arsuga Announces Exciting Developments | In this interview between Luis Miguel Ojeda Arsuga, Director of Hotel for Xcaret Mexico, and Ken Shapiro, Group VP and Editorial Director for Northstar Travel Group, Luis Miguel Ojeda provides an update on the exciting developments at Xcaret resort. He covers new options for teens; the property's range of exciting world-class chefs and dining concepts; wellness treatments for adults and kids at the spa and much more.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Valley View Cabin Resort cuts the ribbon on private cabins in Davis
DAVIS, (WBOY) — Valley View Cabin Resort had its ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for its private cabins, just a drive away from Dolly Sods. The 11 cabins are located right next to Canaan Valley Resort State Park and Timberline Ski Resort. 12 News was able to tour one of the one-bedroom cabins, which came with a kitchen with appliances, a gas fireplace, a shower, a king bed, a porch, a fire pit outside and a hot tub. PHOTOS: What to expect at Tucker County's Valley View Cabin Resort Despite opening Friday, the resort plans on more than doubling its capacity. Once the resort is complete, there'll be around 30 cabins available in total as well as a spa as part of the $20 million project. Managing Partner of Valley View Cabin Resort, Chris Waters, said the cabins have been open since December, but they waited until the weather got better for the ceremony. He said that there has been a great amount of interest in the resort since opening and that the natural beauty of the area is something to behold. 'This is one of the most beautiful places in West Virginia and even the East Coast,' Waters said. Officials with Valley View said that a night stay at the resort costs around $175 in the off-season and $350-400 in the ski season. You can go to Valley View's website to see its current offerings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
