Lebanon’s spas offer tranquility and rejuvenation

It’s that pre-summer lull: The skiing season is almost over but it’s not yet beach weather either. Treat yourself, or a friend with a birthday coming up, to a spa session – what better way to escape the muggy March monotony? Here are The Daily Star’s pick of Lebanon’s best resorts for a rainy day: Eddé Sands, ByblosAttached to the hotel and beach resort, this sumptuous spa – overflowing with candles, incense and flower petals – provides the perfect escape from the city. Choose an Ayurvedic treatment – the spa boasts the only fully trained Ayurveda doctors in Lebanon, hailing from Kerala, India – which includes a hot oil massage followed by a steam box session. Pick the 60-minute abhyangam massage, personalized to the individual, and followed by 15 minutes in the steam box, for $85. The full body massage, including a scalp message, will leave you feeling completely relaxed and ready to face the world again. This traditional Indian medicine can also be adapted for migraines, or various aches and pains and stress, so pick the massage right for you. Alternatively, why not go for a traditional massage for couples, or a hydrotherapy session. Sink into a Jacuzzi bath with hot oils – milk and rose petal treatments are popular among brides, and men often opt for the lemon and mint leaf bath for $55. Come May 1, the outdoor spa will be open, so enjoy your massage or bath in the open air, with the sound of waves breaking in the distance. Why not turn the spa visit into an overnight stay to fully enjoy the facilities? Once you’re all spa-ed out, float back to Beirut with a calmer mind and a rejuvenated body. Eddé Sands, Byblos, 09-545-888, info@eddesands.comPureGray>info@eddesands.comPureGray at Le Gray Hotel, BeirutFor a true oasis in the middle of the metropolis, escape to PureGray in Downtown Beirut. Attached to Le Gray hotel, the ultimate in sophisticated urban luxury, the PureGray spa is one chic getaway: Think wood panels, orchids and clean white lines of glass and mirror. The spa is only two floors underground, but as soon as you enter you will feel a million miles away from the Beirut traffic, the complexities of Lebanese politics and yesterday’s argument with the boss. Choose the full body holistic aromatherapy massage, which is $95 for 60 minutes or $130 for 90 minutes). Within minutes you’ll fall into an almost meditative trance: Let your worries wash away as the nourishing oils sink in to your skin. Or go for a revitalizing Vitamin C facial ($125 for 75 minutes) which will leave you feeling like a new person. There is also a skin-refining bamboo scrub ($65 for 30 minutes). After your treatment, relax on a lounger with fresh ginger and lemon grass tea before a sauna and shower and you’ll feel ready to brave the office politics/controlling mother-in-law/nosy landlord once again. Le Gray Hotel, Downtown Beirut, 01-971-111, puregray@legray.comElixir>puregray@legray.comElixir spa, hilton beirut Habtoor Grand Hotel, Beirut Boasting over 200 different treatments for face and body, this extensive spa – covering 3,500 square meters over three floors – has it all. From a sun deck to a spa pool, volcano steam rooms and rain and cold fog showers, Elixir also has the only snow rooms in the Middle East. After relaxing in the heat of the sauna, enter the snow room for a brief blizzard blitz, fantastic for improving circulation, if you’re brave enough. Choose from a massage or hydrotherapy, such as the Oriental face and scalp massage ($50 for 30 minutes) to reduce stress and headaches or the anti-wrinkle energizing facial ($180 for 90 minutes). The Oriental foot treatment ($50 for 30 minutes) begins with the scrubbing away of dead skin and then your feet will be wrapped in a warm towel and massaged. Hilton Beirut Habtoor Grand Hotel, Sin el-Fil, Beirut, 01-500-666, grandbeirut@habtoorhotels.com>grandbeirut@habtoorhotels.com Royal Spa at Le Royal Hotel, DbayyehThis glass-fronted gym and spa complex, over four floors and overlooking the ocean, has the only remaining authentic Turkish hammam in the country which might be reason enough to make the trip to this fantastic spa in Dbayyeh. With every treatment or package purchased, you also have full access to the spa facilities, including the indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam rooms and gym. Pick the exfoliating soft scrub with honey and crushed almonds, ($80 for 25 minutes), or the Turkish bath, ($100 for 60 minutes, $180 for a couple). Follow in Cleopatra’s footsteps and go for the nourishing milk body wrap with clay, ($85 for 50 minutes). Or go for the Volcanic Hot Stone massage, which uses a combination of hot oils and hot stones for a full-body stress reliever ($100 for 55 minutes, $130 for 80 minutes).Le Royal Hotel, Leisure Hills Complex, Dbayyeh, 04-555-555, reservation@leroyalbeirut.comKimantra>reservation@leroyalbeirut.comKimantra Spa, DbayyehTravel around the world at this exotic spa in Dbayyeh. Go to Bali and pick the hot basalt stones therapy ($75 for 60 minutes or $95 for 80 minutes) for a deeper massage, which is good for improving posture and circulation. In Thailand, go for the Tok Sen massage ($85 for 90 minutes) – an ancient art from northern Thailand which is performed using a special wooden instrument which “taps away negative energy and eases muscle tension.” The therapy is exclusive in Lebanon to the Kimantra Spa. Travel to Tokyo and pick the Shiatsu massage (60-90-120 minutes, $60-85-105), in which the therapist uses localized finger pressure in rhythmic sequences at acupuncture points. In Morocco, have a modern take on the traditional hammam (60 minutes, $75) which begins with a steam bath, and is followed by body cleansing, using a special Marrakech black soap, washed away by a warm rain shower. Then you will have a vigorous body polish, a nourishing mud mask and then an application of Moroccan Argan oil for healthy, glowing skin.Kimantra Spa, 5th floor, Kasr al-Soufara Building, Dbayyeh, 04-546-654