By Nila Do Simon
“We’re known as dream makers,” says Cynthia Bell, the executive spa director at the Acqualina Spa by ESPA. Take one step into the 20,000-square-foot, five-star wellness center inside Acqualina Resort & Spa on the Beach, and it’s easy to see why.
Known for its progressive menu (case in point: a crystal steam room that sparks guests’ chakras—the body’s centers of energy—with color and light), Acqualina continues to up its game in the field of elite South Florida spas. Earlier this year, the facility opened its 820-square-foot Royal Spa Suite, complete with a private steam room outfitted in mother-of-pearl and a lounge decked in Fendi Casa furnishings. If that’s not enough, guests can even order lunch in the suite prepared by executive sous-chef Sebastian Barrera.
The arrival of the Royal Spa Suite comes nearly two years after the spa’s most ambitious installation of a glowing Himalayan salt wall in its relaxation lounges. Shortly after erecting the wall, Bell and her team had an idea: If the 84 trace minerals found in the Himalayan salt wall could help detoxify the body and center the mind, then why not incorporate the salt into actual treatments?
“You have the traditional hot stone massage, but what about using Himalayan salt instead of volcanic rock?” Bell says. “It occurred to us that a restorative Himalayan salt stone treatment could not only detoxify and relax the body but also exfoliate the skin.”
WELCOME TO WELLNESS: Acqualina Spa by ESPA infuses progressive treatments into its menu, including Himalayan salt.
Being a leader in restorative mind and body treatments isn’t new for Acqualina. Since becoming the nation’s first ESPA-branded spa in 2006, Acqualina has offered an array of highly efficacious natural skin and body care products and treatments. The Sunny Isles Beach location, with its 11 multifunctional treatment rooms and outdoor pool and terrace, focuses on meditative and restorative treatments based on Ayurvedic principles, which include keeping the mind, body and spirit healthy and harmonious.
In keeping with its mission, the spa is bringing back its monthly wellness series from October to May. Bell, who oversees all the programming, has coined the series “Extraordinary Themes for Everyday Health.” The program features experts such as Kenyatta Bell, who will discuss the healing powers of sound therapy; Christy McKenzie, a Miami-based Anusara yoga instructor; and Dr. Yoav Suprun, a physical therapist whose McKenzie Method philosophy of alleviating back, neck and extremity issues has caught the eye of Dr. Mehmet Oz. Not a bad way to have some fantasies realized at the hands of some dream makers.
FINDING YOUR CENTER: Located in Sunny Isles Beach, the Acqualina Spa by ESPA became the nation’s first ESPA-branded wellness center in 2006.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2017 Issue.
