Everyone needs a pick-me-up now and then, and a spa treatment is the ideal way to recharge flagging bodies and minds. MiNDFOOD has searched the country to select the most effective, luxurious and soul-restoring therapies New Zealand has to offer. Whether it’s a week-long retreat or just a lunchtime tonic, there’s something to suit you.
Lakeside sanctuary
Nestled on the edge of Government Gardens and just two blocks away from Fenton Street, one of Rotorua’s main thoroughfares, Polynesian Spacould hardly be more centrally located.
Step through the doors, though, and a world of natural beauty and relaxation awaits. While its façade faces the city, the spa complex is set on the shores of Lake Rotorua, and visitors coming for one or more of the many therapies are encouraged to arrive an hour before their appointment time to unwind in a series of outdoor thermal mineral pools.
Heated at increments of two degrees (from 36 to 42˚C), these shallow rock pools have stunning views across the lake, and birds soar overhead on their way to the nearby wildlife sanctuary. Private, child-free and a family pool are among the other options on offer for bathers.
Mindful that the body must be fed as well as soothed, Polynesian Spa’s café offers wholesome lunches as well as a selection of delicious, freshly pressed juices, which can be enjoyed in the pools.
After your therapy, bliss out some more in the Retreat Room as you sip green tea and look out across the now-familiar, yet ever-changing, Lake Rotorua.
Polynesian Spa, 1000 Hinemoa Street, Rotorua, polynesianspa.co.nz