Top Spas: LeDomaine Opens "El Santuario" in Spain

el santuario spa relaxation area

spa sommelier tastingSpain's Duero wine region just got a new spot for wellness travelers to check out: Abbey hotel and winery Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine recently opened "El Santuario", a new spa. 

The historic property, which dates from 1146, has added a 10,000 square foot spa space aimed at offering a "fusion wine" vinotherapy spa concept based on a blind tasting of wines, a signature treatment menu and "Spa Sommeliers" who guide guests. "Spa Butlers" are also on hand to provide assistance every step of the way. 

The spa's facilities include four individual treatment rooms, a Spa Suite, outdoor rain showers, indoor heated pool, outdoor pool with a snack menu, and separate ladies and men’s wellness areas each with a sauna, steam baths, experience showers, hydrotherapy pools, relaxation room and changing areas. Among the wellbeing offerings are Pilates, personal training sessions, yoga, meditation and Qi Gong.

Spa Sommeliers work to analyze the needs of guests and recommend effective treatments, as well as conduct a blind tasting (tasting for wines, smelling for oils) to ensure treatments work with guests' individual palates. For guests who do not drink alcohol, the wines are replaced with seasonal teas and juices.

In order to maintain the property’s historic ambiance, the modern spa was built underground, below the abbey’s original stables. Simultaneously, the stables were converted into eight additional guestrooms with direct spa access. The new guestrooms bring the hotel’s total to 30 rooms and suites.

For bites, there is also a light Spa Cuisine menu -- the brainchild of hotel Head Chef Pablo Montero, who in November 2014 earned a Michelin Star for LeDomaine’s Refectorio restaurant.