We’re speaking in hushed tones—our “spa voices” —which sound a lot like the reverential whispers one might use in an art gallery or grand library. Standing on the Mandala carpet, in the softly lit entryway to CHI, The Spa in Vancouver, BC’s new Shangri-La Hotel, I start to relax just hearing about the therapeutic treatments. CHI calls them “journeys”: the Chinese and Himalayan traditional, healing-inspired body wraps and massages, which take a holistic approach, hitting all the senses.  And—as they put it— “the ‘spa within a spa’ treatment suites provide the luxury of time and space.”

“Journeys” can last as long as four hours, and each guest’s therapy takes place in one of five individual suites or a sixth couple’s suite. At 42 sq m (452 sq ft, or 95 sq m for the double; 1,023 sq ft), each suite is as spacious as your average Yaletown condo. These private chambers, lined with bronze here and walnut there, draw from a calming palette of browns, olive-green and cream. The candlelit hallways are studded with handcrafted Nepalese artifacts. 

Try a signature therapy—the Himalayan Healing Stone Massage involves hand-carved stones heated in oil and herbs; the Jade Jewel Facial takes advantage of something resembling a little jade rolling pin. Or dip into something uniquely BC: Diane Bernard, AKA “The Seaweed Lady,” supplies the hand-harvested, organic seaweed from Vancouver Island, BC for a skin treatment and massage—I mean, journey—called the West Coast Path. We may never find the exit.
From the sonorous tones of the Tibetan singing bowl that signify the start of each treatment to the chime of the tingsha cymbals that mark the end, the CHI rituals promise to be, if nothing else, tranquil.

www.hellobc.com