COMO Shambhala Estate Scoops Prestigious Awards
COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri, Bali, scooped a total of four awards in the Annual SpaAsia Crystal Awards and the AsiaSpa Awards 2007. The Estate was awarded ‘Best Wellness Retreat’ and ‘Best Complementary and Alternative Medicine Centre’ in this year’s SpaAsia Crystal Awards (2007) plus first place for ‘Best Spa Cuisine’ and ‘Best Destination Spa’ in the 2007 AsiaSpa Awards.
The SpaAsia Crystal Awards are the highlight of the SpaAsia Wellness Summit, an annual event to honour the crème de la crème of the wellness community. A total of 14 categories are designed to endorse, through a collective voice of experts, the contributions made by properties to spearhead trends in the luxury spa industry.
Created in 2005, the AsiaSpa Awards set a benchmark for the growing number of outstanding spas throughout Asia, the AsiaSpa Awards are decided by a panel of over 20 handpicked judges, all experts in their fields of spa healing and beauty. The awards honour the best of the best in terms of quality, service and innovation in 26 different categories.
These accolades follow closely behind the 5th Annual Spa Finder Readers’ Choice Awards earlier in the year when COMO Shambhala Estate was named among the ‘Top 10 Best Spas in the World’ under three separate categories.
In 2007, this makes The Estate winner of a total of seven major awards so far. The Estate is especially proud that such recognition has come so early; it was only in 2005 that this extraordinarily beautiful resort became a high-end residential retreat for health and renewal, and launched as the flagship property of the COMO Shambhala portfolio.
The awards recognise that The Estate goes far beyond the usual luxury spa offerings, the property’s unique Wellness Programmes designed to guide guests towards radical lifestyle change.
This is achieved by focusing entirely on the individual’s needs and requirements in a private, nurturing way. Leading specialists in contemporary holistic health offer different wellness consultations from nutrition to naturopathy. Tailored hands-on healing techniques include massage, Ayurvedic and waterbased therapies. Yoga, Pilates and meditation complement this line-up with high-end Retreat Weeks led by internationally-renowned names. In addition, guests are encouraged to engage with the big outdoors in their pursuit of better health, with activities including biking, climbing and hiking. Guests also benefit from the healthful and locally sourced COMO Shambhala organic cuisine, which is available at all meals.
A strong sense of quiet and contemplation is afforded by The Estate’s location. Accommodation is nestled amid jungle greenery on a peaceful riverbank close to the inland, artists’ town of Ubud. Individual villas are hidden among the forest canopy, all with pools, some with private treatment rooms.
COMO Shambhala’s innovative position in the global spa market is set to grow. The company recently created a Board of Advisors made up of experts in holistic health to help direct the company’s evolution; members include Dr Robert Thurman, Yoga teacher Rodney Yee and Donna Karan.
The Company:COMO Shambhala is the COMO Group’s healthy living concept that spans environments, services and products, offering a full range of experiences that challenge and inspire us to greater wellbeing.
The COMO Shambhala Offer : COMO Shambhala advocates proactive responsibility for individual holistic wellness. This entails balancing healthy eating with pleasurable gastronomy, self-directed exercise with expert instruction, massage with greater mental repose, and thought with action.
COMO Shambhala embraces all modalities of wellbeing, from yoga’s ancient system of selfdevelopment to other proven methods such as Ayurveda, aromatherapy, Pilates, Tai’Chi, and Qigong. Consultants take a consultative rather than prescriptive approach, working with guests on a one-byone basis to define and achieve their goals. COMO Shambhala cuisine offers enzyme-rich, healthy and delicious cuisine. COMO Shambhala at Home, a lifestyle brands, creates skin and bodycare products developed to complement the environments and services available.
Property Portfolio: COMO Shambhala owns, designs and manages seven centres of wellbeing at proper ties worldwide. Each location is chosen because it possesses a sense of peace in its own right, whether this is a hillside in Bhutan or riverbank in Bali. COMO Shambhala’s portfolio includes COMO’s city hotels spas, known as COMO Shambhala Urban Escapes (in Singapore, at the Metropolitan London and Metropolitan Bangkok), COMO Shambhala Retreats (at Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos, Cocoa Island in the Maldives, Uma Ubud in Bali and Uma Paro in Bhutan), and its flagship destination, COMO Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri. In addition, COMO Shambhala owns and operates Glow, three restaurants in Singapore, Bangkok and Bali that focus on COMO Shambhala-inspired healthful cuisine.
The COMO Group: COMO Shambhala is par t of the COMO Group, which represents Christina Ong’s unique vision of contemporary living. The COMO Group encompasses Club 21, the international luxury fashion retailer, COMO Hotels and Resorts, which is the hospitality collection with proper ties in London, the Caribbean, Bhutan, Bali, Thailand and the Maldive Islands, and the COMO Foundation representing the Group’s philanthropic interests throughout the developing world. The Group is headquartered in Singapore.
