Europe’s Most Enriching Spa Treatments
The Purest Local Ingredients
The Purest Local Ingredients
Whether you’re staying at Hotel de Russie in Rome, The Balmoral in Edinburgh or another of our European hotels, we encourage you to treat yourself to a spa ritual that harnesses regional produce and supports local communities.
Olive oil and Trapani salt
Set on Sicily’s west coast, Verdura Resort is surrounded by olive groves and salt pans such as Saline di Trapani and Paceco, a protected reserve near Trapani that’s the size of Richmond Park in London.
Olive oil bursts with antioxidants and vitamins D, A, K and E, which moisturise the skin and help to prevent premature signs of ageing, while salt contains potassium, magnesium and calcium which can reduce inflammation.
The Irene Forte Spa’s two-hour olive oil body ritual makes use of both. After a foot soak, your therapist will scrub your body with olive leaves and Trapani sea salt, brush you with organic olive oil then wrap you up to let your skin absorb the oil’s nutrients. While you’re cocooned you’ll enjoy a face, scalp and body massage with Irene Forte skincare products.
White wine and apricots
Italy is known for its vineyards, however few realise that after Turkey and Uzbekistan, Italy grows more apricots than any other country. The Romans are thought to have first introduced apricots to Italy, having imported them from Greece, and today they grow in abundance around Mt Vesuvius, east of Naples.
At Hotel de Russie in Rome, we use wine and apricots in our 80-minute smoothing and nourishing treatment. The treatment begins with a body scrub made from apricot kernels and Trapani salt, which helps remove impurities and soften the skin. You will then enjoy a body massage with Sicilian oils and white wine cream.
Cairngorm quartz
As Scotland’s national gemstone, Cairngorm quartz is celebrated for its grounding and protective energy, believed to restore balance and harmony to both body and mind. At The Irene Forte Spa at The Balmoral, it takes centre stage in the 90-minute Cairngorm quartz healing ritual.
The experience begins with a soothing heather foot soak, followed by dry body brushing and an invigorating back scrub to refresh and revitalise the skin. A nourishing rosehip scalp mask is then applied before the ritual culminates in a deeply relaxing hot stone massage, using warmed Cairngorm quartz to release tension and restore equilibrium.
Volcanic stones and Sicilian oils
Set in the heel of Italy, Masseria Torre Maizza is within easy reach of Puglia’s 800 kilometre coastline.
The scent of orange blossom and olive groves at the Irene Forte Spa melt away any hint of stress, as do the ingredients in our 90-minute earth and sea toning treatment.
The ritual uses ingredients from the Italian south. It begins with a Trapani salt body scrub, which will leave your skin feeling silky. Your therapist will then apply nutrient-rich algae and clay mud to extract impurities, followed by a scalp massage using volcanic stones from Mt Etna and a final application of nutrient-rich Sicilian oil.
Visit a farmers’ market to buy local products as a memento of your stay in a Rocco Forte hotel.
When you stay in a Rocco Forte hotel, source unique mementos of your visit from a farmers’ market or ask your Concierge about the local producers and suppliers we work with.
Sicily is “the key to everything”, or so wrote Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his works, Italian Journey. Throughout history, the largest island in the Mediterranean has captivated travellers as a land of myth, natural beauty and ancient memory. Shaped by Greek colonies, Emirates of Crete, Roman Provinces, Norman Kingdoms and Spanish rule, Sicily holds the imprint of civilisations past. Woven into its landscapes, their presence remains with its buildings, ruins and along the pretty coastal paths that follow its shores.
This year, there's a quieter approach to wellness emerging. Something gentler. Wellbeing that requires no instruction, that can be woven effortlessly into daily life and sustained, or improved, while on holiday. The kind that leaves you feeling restored without quite knowing when it happened. Wellness that happens around you rather than to you.
The sound comes first - the soft thud of a well-struck ball, rising into a clear blue Sicilian sky. Ahead, fairways unfold in undulating greens towards the blue calm of the Mediterranean. The air is warm, perfumed with orange blossom and sea salt. There’s no rush, only a meditative rhythm: swing, step, breathe and repeat, interrupted only by the sound of waves.