SCENTS OF REVIVAL

Ailsa Whyatt visits M|Spa at Alwadi Doha – MGallery Hotel Collection, for a relaxation experience that has her floating out of the door when it’s time to leave.

Based in Downtown Msheireb, Alwadi Hotel draws you into tranquillity from the moment you arrive; from water pipes lining the hotel entrance, creating a calming white noise to transport you away from the hubbub of the surrounding area, to the floral smells, high ceilings and golden touches of the interior, which make it feel like the hotel is gently gleaming, awakening your senses for the spa experience.

More sweet scents fill the air as I arrive at the reception desk. The décor is calming and radiates through golds, bronzes, creams and beiges. A selection of products is on display, some of which we will be using today, and I only just have time to take it all in before I am being welcomed by my lovely therapist Hanen.

The changing rooms are scented with cinnamon, and just a hint of orange – these scents are changed monthly, explains Spa Manager Ria, and refreshments follow a monthly colour theme also, to add variety for the many regular customers M|Spa attracts. Relaxing panpipes, piano music and nature’s sounds fill the entire spa, so there is no break between rooms and the effect is a continuous and peaceful environment.

Today I am having a glorious Soul Revival Massage (60 min), and an Express Facial (45 min) based on the renowned French bubbly beverage. But, I am getting ahead of myself…I start my spa experience in the serenity of the relaxation area, where Hanen washes my feet and lower legs in a large copper basin filled with warm water, orange bath salts and rose petals. Spa rooms are elegantly named rather than numbered, so we head into Yasmine room for the treatments.

We start with the Soul Revival, a full body massage using Balinese techniques, and a gorgeously scented Charme D’Orient Figs & Dates massage oil. Hanen’s fluidity of movement means that her hands work in harmony to relax aches and pains, with pressure point muscle releases down the length of the spine – something of which I am sorely in need.

I am face down, whilst Hanen works her way from feet to shoulders, and the combination of the flow of the massage, relaxing music and extremely comfortable massage bed has me untethering my mind, giving it over to full relaxation mode and, frankly, almost falling asleep. I peel myself off the bed to turn over onto my back and we recommence, after which Hanen washes her hands (there is nothing more annoying than post-massage oily hair) and gives me a wonderfully firm scalp massage, simultaneously waking up every follicle and brain cell so that I am back in the room for a luxurious facial. She then wraps a towel band round my head to protect my hair from products, and we start the facial…

I stay in position on the massage bed for the deep cleansing facial, with decadent foaming enzyme mask to exfoliate, cleanse the pores and brighten your skin. Hanen turns on the Blü Vapo Stream steaming machine, which is used to rapidly open pores during treatment, and it is immediately like being in a steam room concentrated on my face alone; wonderfully relaxing and warming. The products we are using are iS Clinical Professional. Cleaning Complex (cleansing gel) is applied and duly washed away before the bubbles are brought out – the Foaming Enzyme Masque System. This effervescent mask contains papaya and pineapple enzymes and is left on to quietly fizz for a few minutes. Once this has been removed, I have a Clarifying Mud Masque, a peeling mask with a clay base, followed by a quick re-cleanse, before a Hydra Cool Serum and Copper Firming Mist are applied.

My eyes are given some C Eye Serum, followed by Youth Eye Complex, to ward off any signs of tiredness, and then we move on to the next mask. The Hydra Intensive Cooling Masque contains green tea, aloe vera and rosemary (amongst other things), and does exactly what it says on the tin (or should I say skin). As Hanen fans my face, the feeling is like ice, chilling me down to my very pores.

After removing my ice mask, we end with Reparative Moisture Emulsion, containing antioxidants, botanicals, and peptides (used by plants for growth and defence), and Extreme Protect SPF 20, to protect my face in its newly and beautifully cleansed form.

After my treatment has ended, Hanen takes me back to the relaxation room for tea, almonds and apricots, and I have the chance to commend her for the unhurried, calming and luxurious spa experience I have just enjoyed.

It is often said that smell is the most evocative of our senses, and M|Spa seeks to awaken your senses from the moment you walk through the doors. An oasis of calm where you can take a moment to feel rejuvenated was just the Wednesday morning I needed. ✤

GO: CALL 4009 9999 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO MAKE A RESERVATION.