Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa - Best Hotel Spa in South Africa

The Crystal Towers Hotel and Spa in Cape Town, has recently walked away with the award for “Best Hotel Spa in South Africa”. This is quite an enormous feat if you think of all the wonderful spas there out there! Many of them set in the quiet African bush where only the sound of wildlife can be heard and maybe the soothing trickle of a mountain stream.  This is why I, for one am extremely happy to know that I don’t have to travel across the country for a truly amazing spa experience. I just have to pop down to Crystal Towers on my way home from a shopping spree at Canal Walk. Convenient? I think so!

What makes the spa so special? You may ask. Well, for one- their prices are wonderfully affordable, even though they work with esteemed brands like La Prairie that celebrities such as Victoria Beckham use. But there are other things that make this superior spa shine...

The Les Nouvelles Esthetiques South African Spa Awards is in its seventh year and this year was hosted at the Sandton Sun Hotel in association with Les Nouvelle Esthetiques, Paris. The Awards programme encourages the highest standards within the spa, health and wellness industry.

For those of you that are interested to know how it was judged, Here is a brief outline- Les Nouvelle Esthetiques had a panel of five judges for the first stage of judging and two visiting judges for the second stage. The judges examined each spa’s individual portfolio after which a list of four finalists per category was selected for the final stage of judging.

Criteria for judging included the following:

The spa treatments
-Building Exterior
-Public areas, including reception and changing areas
-Relaxation areas (which I can only imagine they received full marks for!!)
-Gym
-Treatment rooms and equipment, including the variety of treatments
-Dining area and spa cuisine
-Additional facilities such as Yoga or Pilates studio
-Conference facilities

Staff
-Qualifications: SAAHSP, CIDESCO, BABTAC, ITEC
-On-site training
-Further studies, for example: massage courses
-Product training: Equipment training
-In-house staff development and conference attendance

Marketing
-Corporate ID, including consistency of image
-Website
-Marketing plans, including online marketing
-Media exposure gained

And last but not least- Overall Impression
There you have it. Now you know what goes into running an award-winning spa!