Love spa treatments? We don’t know anyone who’ll say no to a blissful bout of beautifying, if we’re honest. But if you’re in the mood for something really different – and are fed up of Dubai’s glorious weather already (are you mad?) – how about a trip to London for a spot of “Snow Paradise” pampering?
Developed by German Spa specialists Klaffs, this unique Finnish experience invites guests at London’s K West Hotel and Spa to freeze their way to good health in a cooling oasis of the finest natural powder snow. A spell in the invigorating wintry cabin at a tingling -15ºC provides a novel approach to cooling off after a sauna.
For full health benefits, the spa's guests are advised to experience a hot-cold therapy by alternating between steamy and icy environments. The sudden and extreme change in temperature stimulates the body’s circulation, which is beneficial for the immune and respiratory system.
Once inside the dreamy Snow Paradise (with snow made exclusively of air and water, with no chemical additives), guests can either relax in a snow-drift, or scoop snow onto the body to cool-off and further detoxify.
If all that wintery fun sounds just a little too chilly for you, in addition to the Snow Paradise, K West's award-winning spa features a far more temperate hydrotherapy pool, sanarium, sauna, sun meadow, dry flotation tank, experience showers, foot baths, aromatic herbal steam room, as well as seven beautifully designed treatments rooms. And if, after all that, you're in the mood for more therapy – of the retail kind, we hasten to add – the knockout shopping streets of West London are just minutes away from the hotel. Just the place to pick up some thermals, then…
Inside info
K Spa’s Wet Spa, which includes access to the Snow Paradise, can be booked at a daily rate of Dh295; or Dh380 with a spa lunch and soft drink. Guests can visit the Snow Paradise free of charge when booking a minimum of two hours of holistic spa treatments.
Details
K West Hotel and Spa, Richmond Way, London | +44 20 8008 6600 | www.k-west.co.uk
Bangkok University, Thailand
If your uni was a tad dull, a nose around Bangkok's may leave you the teensiest bit green with envy. Branded a 'Creative University', boffins at the campus have 're-imagined' the space so that people will want to spend time there enjoying themselves. The mezzanine level is a 'fun and games zone', and features a polka dot Karaoke hut teetering on a 'cliff' over the 'reading cave' below, a huge pool table with mobile holes, a giant dart board where no-one can miss the bullseye, a Kungfu zone and a gigantic, 6.5m-high panda.
Rama 4 Road, Klong-Toey | +66 2350 3500
Siminn Flight, Stuttgart
Even if you’re afraid of flying, we’d say it’s virtually impossible not to enjoy piloting a Boeing 737 at this flight simulation centre in Stuttgart. First, the aircraft never leaves the ground (the full-size replica of a Boeing 737 is firmly indoors) and secondly, the architect-designed outside of the plane looks so funky you'll forget your phobias and want to hop in and fly that baby! Book a two-hour flight, piloted by Captain You, and crank up the Top Gun soundtrack.
Echterdinger Str. 57 Filderstadt-Bernhausen | siminn.de
