The highly anticipated winners of the third annual World Spa Awards were revealed at a dazzling ceremony, which took place at the glamorous JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay earlier this evening alongside the World Travel Awards Grand Final.
On a night full of suspense at Phu Quoc’s newest luxury five-star international resort, the Maldives was crowned Indian Ocean’s Best Spa Destination with Gaia Retreat & Spa taking the title of Oceania’s Best Day Spa & World’s Best Day Spa.
Also among the winners was Lanserhof Tegernsee.
The renowned German health centre walked away with the esteemed title of World’s Best Medical Spa.
Elsewhere QMS MediCosmetics successfully defended its title – World’s Best Spa Brand – for the third consecutive year, while Aromatherapy Associates was named World’s Best Aromatherapy Brand.
Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio by Bastien Gonzalez scooped the award for World’s Best Nail Studio Brand, while Anantara Spa collected the trophy for World’s Best Hotel Spa Brand.
The Lanesborough Club & Spa at The Lanesborough London was also celebrating, having been hailed World’s Best New Hotel Spa.
This year saw the wellness retreat category come to the forefront.
Winners included Atmantan Wellness Resort – voted India’s Best Wellness Retreat – The Orchard Wellness & Health Retreat, which picked up the award for Malaysia’s Best Wellness Retreat, and Amuna Ayurveda Retreat which was recognised as Sri Lanka’s Best Wellness Retreat.
Host JW Marriott Phu Quoc also claimed a share of the spoils, with its spa – Chanterelle Spa by JW – picking up the award for World’s Best New Resort Spa.
An extensive programme of events is taking place over the weekend, seeing guests invited to engage in an Aromatherapy Associates Sleep Workshop; a talk by one of the leading innovators in skincare, Dr Erich Schulte; and to enjoy a complimentary manicure and pedicure from therapists trained by Bastien Gonzalez – a French podiatrist and famed celebrity pedicurist.
World Spa Awards managing director, Rebecca Cohen, said: “The 2017 World Spa Awards has been our most successful to date, firmly cementing our position as the global benchmark for spa and wellness hospitality.
“It has been a pleasure to recognise so many industry leaders here this evening and I hope their recognition, both by their peers and members of the public, will inspire them to aim ever higher in the pursuit of excellence.”
Voting for the 2017 Gala Ceremony closed at the end of September, with a record number of ballots cast by leading spa and wellness professionals.
These were tallied alongside the votes of hundreds of thousands of spa and wellness consumers from around the world.
World Spa Awards is the sister event to World Travel Awards, currently celebrating its 24th anniversary.
Find a full list of 2017 World Spa Awards winners on the official website.