THE PINNACLE OF LUXURIOUS PAMPERING
The recently reopened, extensively-renovated Spa at The Twelve Apostles, now boasts an ethereal, all-white crystal grotto interior. It is simply sublime.
Designed by Toni Tollman, family member of the family-owned Red Carnation Hotel Collection of boutique hotels, the interiors use natural stone, marble, granite and glass to create a textured feeling throughout. White patterned cornices adorn the ceilings of treatment rooms while the same pattern is repeated on doors and walls, with Buddha statues and oil burners utilising the B|Africa range providing a sense of tranquillity.
The new spa features seven superbly-equipped treatment rooms for dual and single treatments with a hydrotherapy bath and rain showers, as well as a Rasul Chamber for traditional cleansing rituals using steam and mud, a Perfect Finish Salon for manicures and pedicures, a Tranquillity Lounge and Wild Lanyana Aromatherm Room for hydrotherapy treatments, or a Vichy Shower.
“The look is clean, fresh and uplifting, and we have no doubt that our guests are going to love it as much as we do,” says Tollman.
“While the interior of The Spa is exceptional, The 12 Apostles’ unique position on the mountains overlooking the Atlantic Ocean means that a sunset treatment or romantic couples picnic in our newly-renovated outdoor gazebos is an absolutely unforgettable experience.”
The Spa at the 12 Apostles, is a welcome family addition to the current award winning Red Carnation sister spas, The Oyster Box, winner of the Les Nouvelles Esthetiques Spa Awards 2010 – Hotel Spa Category and Bushmans Kloof, winner of the 2011 Les Nouvelles Esthetiques Spa Awards – Unique Spa Concept.
The 12 Apostles Hotel additionally boasts is own set of awards, the most recent of which is the “Best Hotel in Cape Town” as voted by Travel & Leisure USA. Ideally located between the majestic 12 Apostles mountain range and the azure Atlantic Ocean, while surrounded by the tranquillity of a National Park and only a short distance from Cape Town central.
Although I had visited the 12 Apostles on a number of occasions, this was my first visit as a hotel guest. On arrival, one is met with gracious hospitality, a welcome juice, brief tour of the hotel and facilities, on route to my mountain-facing suite. The room is superbly decorated, homely, spacious, fitted with all modern conveniences, including wifi, for my evening email catch-up on the veranda, listening to the ocean waves – a sound one longs for when living in Johannesburg.
A delicious breakfast on the deck overlooking the ocean, before attending the launch of the Spa. A function graced by not only the media, Cape Town’s elite, regular clients of the spa, but the Tollman family themselves, Beatrice, Toni and Vicky. Toni shared the family’s commitment to excellence, the philosophy of the spa and product choices, and appreciation to all who had been involved in the journey.
Launching simultaneously, The Red Carnation Hotel Collection has developed its own exclusive range of body-care products and professional spa treatments. B|Africa, a deluxe range that combines indigenous African plant extracts and the natural goodness of the sea, and represents the breathtaking natural environs of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection’s locations – Cape Town’s The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, Durban’s The Oyster Box Hotel, and the Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat.
Active ingredients in the B|Africa range include luxuriant and exotic substances such as oil from the baobab tree, marula oil, avocado butter, honey, rooibos, Mongongo nut, Ximenia kernel oil and West Coast Atlantic sea salts.
B|Africa uses sustainable harvesting practices, renewable indigenous species, no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, and is not tested on animals. The range’s credible suppliers support organic certification, sustainability and Fair Trade.
Visitors to the Red Carnation properties’ spas are spoilt for choice, with the wide range of retails products, such as the Atlantic sea salt or fynbos sugar scrub, Bath Ceremony bath milk, B|Africa body balms, crystal-infused body oils and essential aromatherapy oils. While escaping with one of the signature treatments including B Together, a 90-minute massage that uses rose quartz to ease emotional imbalance; B Purified, which uses the healing properties of water combined with a salt scrub, steam session and full body massage; or B Harmonised, a unique meditation breathing massage that targets stressed areas of the body.
My treatment of choice was the B Harmonised. A beautiful collection of movements and fragrances, combined with crystals and breathing techniques, to truly melt the stress away and introduce your body and mind, to a deeper sense of peace.
In addition to the three spas, B|Africa will be used for in-room amenities such as shampoo, conditioner and bath salts at The Twelve Apostles, The Oyster Box and Bushmans Kloof, allowing hotel guests to experience these refreshing and restorative spa products in the comfort of their rooms.
The B|Africa product line has been created in honour of Bea Tollman, founder and president of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection, who says: “The unique natural habitats of each of the Red Carnation properties are encapsulated in our sensational B|Africa products and treatments, which harness the essential, life-giving properties of Mother Nature’s rich bounty to calm, detoxify, nourish and energise body, mind and spirit.”
Collectively, a superb visit, I felt indulged and cared for with splendid luxury, exceptional service, and memorable cuisine. The Hotel and Spa are an ideal escape where harmony and tranquillity gently restore body, mind and soul.
