I recently had the pleasure of taking my family to Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa to see what the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Novak Djokovic and Wayne Rooney had enjoyed so much! Here's my take on the Spanish wellness resort.
First impressions
Upon arrival, the first thing that struck me was the size — this is not a small hotel by any means. The car park was vast and packed with luxury cars. The gate keeper pointed us to the drop-off area where our bags were tagged and whisked away. Once the car was parked, we went over to the reception area and were thankfully given a map and some basic information about the hotel.
My son Henry, of five years, was very excited about the kids' club and activities that were scheduled. The reception area is beautiful, it has very high ceilings and a plethora of Asian-themed details. The ratio of staff to clients was high and they were very welcoming with beaming smiles. On the way to our room, we were shown the spa, yoga studio and gym and given a small tour of the gardens. I must say the gardens are fabulous! Having spent quite a few years in tropical climates, it really did remind me of Malaysia and Guatemala. There were many familiar plants and everything seemed to be thriving. I would definitely recommend a trip in spring when the flowers are emerging, I am sure it would be an amazing experience.
The room
We stayed in a Superior Deluxe room with a small garden backing on to one of the many koi carp ponds. There was a standalone bathtub and a spacious rain shower. While the room was not particularly large, the garden was lovely and very peaceful. That said, there was no way Henry was going to allow us to spend much time far from the swimming pool! The mini bar was well stocked and there were coffee and tea making capabilities, as well as plenty of drinking water. The main bed was very large at two metres by two metres and there was an extra bed laid out for Henry.
The grounds
As I previously mentioned, this is a large hotel with more than 300 rooms, so at first it was a bit daunting, we all got lost a few times to begin with! It didn’t take long to get our bearings though, and soon we were navigating with ease (and no map). The main pool is huge and pretty cool, you can swim under bridges and into small coves. This pool isn’t heated but even in May, the ambient temperature was fine for a dip. There are various other pools with different age limits that were more occupied than the big one. The kids' pool is where we spent most of our time, which was great for Henry. He made a lot of friends and the lifeguards were fairly strict, so it felt very safe.
The spa
Firstly, Rosa, the Spa Manager is lovely and very good at her job! The spa is beautiful, very tranquil and with an inside/outside pool. It is, however, very small for such a large hotel. I had the luxury of a private tour before they opened, but as soon as guests started coming down for their appointments, it quickly filled up. Both the steam room and changing rooms are surprisingly small for such a mammoth hotel.
Saying that, I had an absolutely fantastic shiatsu (Japanese massage) session, one of the best I have had, and I have had a fair few — Jorge was excellent. It was a very deep experience and performed outside with birds chirping and water trickling. My way of judging a good shiatsu is how long it takes me to come round at the end — If there hadn’t been another massage in my outdoor palapa, I might still be there!
My wife, Flora had a deep tissue massage and said it was excellent, she is also a bit of a massage fiend, so I trust her!
The food
The buffet breakfast was great with a huge selection of dishes, juices and smoothies. There was a cooked section plus beautifully laid out fruit, granolas and cereals (there was even a gluten-free baked goods cart). The coffee and tea are brought to your table and the rest is self-service. We had the buffet dinner (half-board option) one evening and, again, there was a vast selection of food. There was a grill station with various meats and fish plus a wide variety of sides and other options. I have to say, the price of €54 was a bit much, if you are going to drink a lot of the included wine and beer then it is worth but if not, I may recommend trying out one of the many restaurants. The second night we ate at the Thai restaurant. The food was tasty and, as is custom in Spain, not at all spicy. This was good news for Henry, who absolutely loved this meal!
Daily activities
The activities on offer rotate daily, and you can find the schedule online and in the hotel. Flora took part in the yoga and I had a meditation session. Flo is a yoga instructor and was very happy with her Vinyasa class. The meditation was excellent and I felt fully refreshed and ready to sit by the kids' pool for the next god knows how long! The classes on rotation are yoga, meditation, Pilates, Qi Gong and stretching. Depending on class size, these are either held outside or in one of the very large conference rooms.
The Kids' Club
We were very excited about the Kids' Club, we had dreams of dropping Henry off and relaxing in the adults pool, or the spa. The reality was not close to this. I understand that this is a high-pressure job for any 'animadora' (entertainer/animator), as a room full of kids can be a very difficult situation to control. The atmosphere during the painting session was a little off, the kids weren’t engaging and the animadora looked like she'd had enough. Henry was not going to be happy left there without us. The programme and facilities are good I think we just had some severely bad timing. Either way, Henry was set on spending the next 48 hours swimming with us close by.
Personal highlights
- The treatments — you could tell the therapists are extremely well trained and professional. I also loved that my Shiatsu was outdoors in a palapa, as the sound of the birds and water really added to the experience.
- The gardens — the grounds are absolutely beautiful and you really feel like you are in different world.
- Staff. They were all very attentive and seemed very happy to be there.
- The kids' pool — there is a really good restaurant right next to it and the lifeguards are very attentive.
Insider info
- I think the half board option is a bit on the expensive side, best to go on a breakfast basis and have the flexibility to choose between the restaurants, you can always sign up for the half board buffet at the hotel.
- Early morning treatments and spa use — the spa gets pretty busy at 10am with the first wave of appointments, so I would avoid that time of the day.
- The hotel is set on the other side of the highway to the coast and is quite isolated. It's a taxi or long walk if you want to do any exploring.
To summarise, I think Asia Gardens has a way to go before it is a fully fledged spa destination. This is, however, a great hotel for couples, families or maybe a group of friends looking to eat good food and spend some time around a pool in the Spanish sun surrounded by beautiful gardens!
This post was written in April 2023.
If you like the sound of Asia Gardens, you can read more about the resort — including wellness programmes and special offers for Wellbeing Escapes guests — here.
