Bali's COMO Shambhala Estate Wins Spa Award

The 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 150 applicants vied for recognition in 17 categories.

Now in their fifth edition, the Crystal Awards are an industry-renowned recognition. They are designed to endorse, through a collective voice of experts, the contributions made by properties and individuals to spas in Asia.

This new accolade follows closely behind The Estate's success when it secured the same award in 2007. Last year, the property was also named among the 'Top 10 Best Spas in the World' under three separate categories in the 5th Annual Spa Finder Readers' Choice Awards.

It was only in 2005 that COMO Shambhala Estate first opened as a high-end residential retreat for health and renewal, and launched as the flagship property of the COMO Shambhala portfolio. Its quick success has had much to do with the integrity of its wellness vision. For 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 water-based 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.

###

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 self-development 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-by-one 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 properties 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. 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 part 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 properties 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.