PRESS KIT
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts®, the leading exemplar of ultra-luxury residential-style hospitality, is pleased to invite guests to begin the new year by embarking on a superior, holistic health and wellness journey at Asaya Hong Kong, the ultimate new urban wellness destination situated in the Rosewood brand’s home city of Hong Kong. Named after the Sanskrit term for setting an intention or hope to propel self-change and transformation, Asaya welcomes individuals from all walks of life to pursue their personal wellness goals in a nurturing and supportive environment. Offering locally inspired, culturally authentic experiences across five key components of holistic wellness, Asaya provides an unparalleled opportunity to achieve unlimited potential in the year ahead and beyond. Following the recent debut of Asaya Hong Kong in late 2019, together with Asaya Phuket, Rosewood’s progressive wellness programme can now be fully experienced across both a city hotel, with a focus on ongoing and holistic transformation, membership and community, and a remote resort, with an emphasis on retreats and cathartic programs.
Occupying 3,716 square metres (40,000 square feet) and set over two dedicated floors of indoor-outdoor space in the iconic Rosewood Tower, within the game-changing new Victoria Dockside development on Tsim Sha Tsui’s waterfront, Asaya is the most comprehensive integrated urban wellness offering of any hotel or lifestyle facility in the city. Located on the sixth and seventh floors, Asaya sets out to holistically support a lifestyle of wellness and includes carefully curated experiences with expert practitioners that empower Rosewood’s guests, as well as Asaya patrons and members, to begin their wellness journeys by first connecting with themselves.
Asaya’s innovative approach transcends conventional ideas of spa to offer best-in-class integrated treatments from a variety of traditions; personalised wellness programmes tailored around guests’ needs and goals; and specialised retreats and workshops across a wide range of disciplines that address the fundamentals of health and well-being and effect long-lasting change across all age groups.
In creating Asaya, Rosewood Hotel Group CEO Sonia Cheng envisioned a comprehensive new destination for wellness. Conceived with the purpose of creating innovative solutions as an antidote to the ailments of busy, stressful urban living, atAsaya, hotel guests and local members alike can explore their highest potential. With the inherent understanding that each person is unique, guests can activate their wellness journey in a nurturing and supportive environment which celebrates a shared sense of purpose and community.
“At Rosewood Hotel Group we recognise that now more than ever, there is a need for a sense of greater well-being and a profound shift in the way people perceive wellness,” said Cheng. “Once it was regarded as a luxury ‘add on,’ however, now it is infused into every aspect of our day-to-day lives, from how we travel, to the source of our food, to our personal and physical nurturing, accepting the need for emotional self-care, as well as a growing consciousness towards fostering greater community in today’s fast-paced, technology driven world.”
Integrated, Customised Wellness
Lifestyle programming at Asaya has been developed around five distinct pillars which include emotional balance; fitness and nutrition; physical therapies; skin health; and community -- with “passages” customised to the individual needs of each guest. Therapies for mind, body and spirit are provided in an intimate, compassionate and non-judgemental environment. Asaya’s resident practitioners are experts in the fields of movement coaching and body work, naturopathy, tailored fitness and arts therapy -- tapping into the emotional realm to clear obstacles, facilitate expression, promote healing and cultivate self-care through establishing a healthy lifestyle.
According to Niamh O’Connell, Rosewood Hotel Group’s Vice President, Guest Experience and Wellness, Asaya’s differentiated approach to wellness programming recognises each and every guest for who they are as an individual and then helps to identify what may be out of kilter in their lives.
“Coming to Asaya Hong Kong to work with our expert practitioners who then put together a programme for you, is a transformative experience,” said O’Connell. “For some people this might be a short programme of a day, a month or a few months, and for others it might be a year or more to completely address their concerns. Your wellbeing is an ecosystem and if one aspect of your lifestyle is out of sync then it has an impact on your overall state of wellbeing. For example, stress is not just a mental state, it impacts diet -- which affects gut health, which is connected to emotional health; and this in turn influences mental health and physical health. This is why the programs at Asaya have been designed to relate across all dimensions of your wellbeing to enhance all aspects as your journey unfolds.”
Specialist retreats by world-renowned visiting expert practitioners combine the best traditional and alternative therapies to treat and heal, inspire and empower every participant to realise their goals and aspirations in order to achieve deep and positive change. At Asaya Hong Kong, quarterly Asaya Wellness Forums will explore the ways of wellness with a headline programme of world-class guest speakers and preeminent voices in wellness, mindfulness and multi-faceted health.
For their inaugural visits, hotel guests, Asaya members and local patrons are encouraged to begin their Asaya journeys with specially designed functional assessments to identify the core areas on which they wish to focus. These range from the Wellness Lifestyle Assessment that evaluates the 12 dimensions of wellness in our lives, to Genetic Analysis, as well as 3-D Facial Skin Analysis, as a precursor to a host of targeted treatments.
Fostering the Asaya community, hotel guests and Asaya members and local patrons alike are encouraged to explore their highest potential, and kick start their wellness journeys within a context of purposeful intent and fellowship. Community-driven activities create long-lasting and meaningful pathways to well-being through joyful, purpose-driven, socially conscious pursuits, as well as build a sense of kinship amongst like-minded Asaya members.
Thoughtful Design in Harmony with Nature
In partnership with award-winning New York designer Tony Chi, who has created Asaya’s elegantly balanced, light-filled and cocooning interiors, a restorative aesthetic echoes the Japanese sensibilities around wellness and well-being. A series of engawas– porches or terraces in traditional Japanese architecture -- connect the inner spaces of the 6th floor with the outdoor pool and passageways leading to the Asaya Galleries, Asaya Ateliers and Poolside Bar, as well as fragrant herb gardens and ornamental pools in the inner courtyard beyond. This extensive network of spaces connecting the outside to Asaya’s interiors facilitates a continual flow of energy and movement that harmonises people and nature.
The concept of energetic spaces is further enhanced by the flow of positive energy or langom -- a Swedish term meaning “just right.” Asaya’s team dedicates its style of caring, compassionate and unobtrusive service to the pursuit of langom. Each Asaya associate operates with the intent to ensure guests feel “just right” during their Asaya sojourns.
Journeys at Asaya
Upon being greeted by the wellness concierge and on seeing the first of the Asaya Galleries on the 6th floor – a thoughtfully curated retail space designed with the overarching ethos of living and gifting more authentically and meaningfully -- the guest can transition to the fitness centre with men’s and women’s changing rooms, private pools and sauna and steam facilities, to the Harbour Studio and outdoor Swimming Pool, en route to the Poolside Bar.
Affording easterly harbour views, the outdoor infinity pool provides a vantage point for swimming and serene contemplation, with custom wooden sun loungers adjacent to the Poolside Bar offering a supremely comfortable refuge from the sun. Overlooking the Asaya Pool on the 6th floor and surrounded by calming water views of Victoria Harbour, the 84-square-metre (904-square-foot) Glass House with floor-to-ceiling windows spanning 360 degrees, is a unique, naturally lit space which fosters a sense of community. Here guests can enjoy a quiet moment with a book, a restful nap, or mingle with others in its comfortable surrounds if they choose.
The cutting-edge Fitness Centre facilities on the 6th floor provide the perfect backdrop to address the Asaya core pillar of Fitness and Nutrition. The zoning in this inspirational space with its vibrant 270 degree water views includes a boot camp area for training with treadmills, as well as zones for cardio and functional and strength training. Here, the first-class Fitness Centre also enables members and guests to train with their Asaya personal trainers or life coaches, with state-of-the-art fitness technology by Technogym enabling profile registration via the MyWellness app, to track progress with the latest performance technology.
Heart rate-driven classes and circuits allows the guest’s fitness to be monitored by the “Team Beats” group fitness experience; donning a heart rate monitor to do peer-to-peer circuits in a controlled setting allows them to maximise their performance by working out to music tracks and engaging them in friendly competition, with the trainer able to track participant’s base heart rate to add fun and participant performance comparisons for motivation.
At the Women’s Changing Rooms, an inviting marble-clad hydrotherapy pool overlooks glittering harbour views, along with a sauna experience. At the neighbouring Men’s Changing Rooms, a hydrotherapy pool is enhanced by the steam room and ice blast misting shower, which have been designed to invigorate after a workout.
Permeated with light and serene water views, the Harbour Studio offers the perfect spot for expert-led yoga, aerial yoga, barre and TRX classes, as well as mindful meditation sessions with Asaya’s practitioners. Evening meditation sessions held in the Harbour Studio are illuminated by the flickering lights of Victoria Harbour in the studio’s cocooning surroundings.
Elevating the art of personal grooming, the Asaya Nail Boudoir looks out onto the Asaya courtyard with verdant feature walls, fragrant herbal topiary and tranquil water pools dotted with water lilies. A duo of hair and nail stations is surrounded by walls swathed in striking cobalt blue handmade wall covering crafted from raffia and paper.
Traversing the water pools, the 107-square-metre (1,151-square-foot) Tranquillity Lounge includes its own consultation rooms, offering innovative technology to facilitate self-guided meditation and sleep therapies benefiting pre-and post-treatment sojourns, with light nourishment options as well as relaxing infusions from the herbal tea bar. Outdoor seating in the Asaya courtyard gardens provides a fragrant sojourn, allowing time for quiet contemplation or simply tapping into the Asaya community spirit.
Signature Programmes at Asaya
Developed in close consultation with Asaya’s expert practitioners and visiting specialists, and based on an individual or group’s unique fitness and lifestyle goals, Asaya’s Signature Programmes combine the best traditional and alternative therapies to treat and heal, or inspire and empower, with the aim of achieving positive change.
As part of this integrative Signature Programming, Asaya Hong Kong offers an inclusive series of wellness experiences centred around counselling, that facilitate personal change and transformation at their core. “One Day Wellness” provides an entry-level retreat and a comprehensive taste of Asaya; “Unplug” helps foster healthy habits with technology; “Growing Together” for couples assists in relating to one’s significant other with greater trust and mutual understanding. Tailored to the specific needs of families seeking to foster more effective communication and to teach the younger generation the wide-reaching benefits of mindfulness, “Growing Together” for families and “Wellness for Kids” offer the tools to reconnect and find new relevance to one another.
Harnessing the Asaya pillar of Emotional Balance, personalised training and lifestyle coaching co-exist as the foundations to transformation, offering expert tools to tackle self-hindering behaviours. Under the guidance of Asaya’s resident experts, emotional awareness meditation, mindfulness practice, cognitive therapy and expressive arts therapy can be combined to unlock the obstacles to profound personal change.
Elevated Wellness Stays
Leading from the Asaya Courtyard up to the 7th floor, serene yet distinctive social spaces bring community to the fore and celebrate cohesiveness, with the 171-square-metre (1,840-square-foot) Social House offering a private space for small groups, girlfriend’s getaways or family gatherings. Offering all the facets of the Asaya journey within one place, the Social House provides an intimate, private space for groups to collectively share their Asaya wellness journeys and enjoy Asaya private treatments.
Creating a breathtaking escape in the midst of the city, the wellness experience is elevated to a new level of luxury within the two peaceful 99-square-metre (1,065-square-foot) and 71-square-metre (764-square-foot) Asaya Lodges, which convey all the curated comforts of an ultra-residential, overnight stay at Rosewood within the tranquil and restorative setting of Asaya. Here, each wellness stay, or journey, is experienced through one or more nights, with all-inclusive programmes for those seeking to recharge while disconnecting from the stresses and distractions of everyday life.
During residential stays at the overnight Asaya Lodges, even the personal bar is curated, based on the guest’s consultation with Asaya’s resident doctor of naturopathy. Each personal bar caters to gut health, intolerances and bespoke nourishment needs in reference to the Asaya pillars of Emotional Balance and Fitness and Nutrition.
Offering the epitome of tranquil and luxuriant day experiences, a duo of Asaya Garden Balcony Suites offer the comforts of a day retreat setting for couples or friends, within the environs of Asaya. Private treatments are designed to a truly bespoke level here, with both suites overlooking the verdantly landscaped courtyard on the 6th floor below.
A New Concept of Personalisation
At the Asaya Aroma, Tonic and Beauty Ateliers the personalisation of products is achieved in a truly bespoke setting. In the Asaya Tonic Atelier, a one-of-a-kind, natural apothecary, salts, clays and muds are blended with freshly grown herbs. Here, herbs are carefully crushed and added to sea salt, sugar and organic aromatherapy and carrier oils to create scrubs in bespoke concoctions for the guests to administer as part of their personalised bathing rituals in the Asaya Urban Sanctuary Suites.
In the Aroma Atelier, an expansive range of nourishing essential oils by English vegan, cruelty-free skincare brand Votary and France’s Maison Caulières, feature raw ingredients-based products and body lines. Each guest chooses his or her own essential and base carrier oils in a dialogue with the resident clinical aromatherapist.
At the Beauty Atelier, exemplifying the Asaya pillar of Skin Health, a curated selection of core product lines includes the deeply nourishing, luxurious and anti-ageing EviDenS de Beauté, which marries cutting-edge Japanese technology with French luxury; the results-oriented and complexion-boosting cult U.S. skincare brand Sunday Riley; and organic, nutrient-rich British skincare by Votary, which is specially designed to cleanse and transform for happy, healthy skin. The American line GOA specialises in “anti-vice” skincare, formulated with high concentrations of active ingredients to target men’s skin health. The 3-D Skin Analysis technology underscoring treatments at the Beauty Atelier helps to future-proof, by shedding light on the skin’s structure and the effects of ageing and sun damage, as a precursor to targeted facial rejuvenation treatments.
At Asaya, the Skin Health Series of treatments focuses on the biological well-being of the skin, with collagen-stimulating Radio Frequency and Photo-facials deploying dermal heating and Intense Pulsed Light therapy to rebuild the structure of the skin and target hyperpigmentation and fine lines. For the ultimate skin resurfacing and rejuvenation, the Tribella facial employs a combination of leading-edge technologies. A trio of detoxifying, radiance-boosting facials in tandem with French luxury cosmetic house EviDenS de Beauté includes the eponymous Rosewood Extreme 360 by EviDenS de Beauté, an eight-step, 90-minute anti-ageing skin recovery facial that boosts the skin’s radiance, vitality and firmness.
Offering a male-oriented approach to grooming, targeted skincare is tackled head on with the Anti-Vice Solution facial by GOA, which treats years of trauma thanks to GOA’s Dark Phyto-Matter, an organic infusion of retinoids, alpha-hydroxy acids and concentrated essential nutrients.
Signature Treatments and Sybaritic Day Retreats
At the Asaya Urban Sanctuary Suites, treatments are enjoyed in the privacy of one’s own heated marble bathhouse with deep soaking tub, and sensory rain showers featuring temperature, lighting and fragrance selections. Each includes a private outdoor garden. The Asaya Urban Sanctuary Suites provide the perfect place to prepare for and enjoy, or extend the pleasures of, a signature treatment in beatific surroundings.
Integrated into each Asaya journey, either pre- or post-treatment, the inviting warm stone-clad men’s and women’s bathhouses are inspired by ancient Roman bathing temples and water rituals. Heated pools and power jets pave the way for the laconium which is housed alongside the bathing facilities. In the laconium, relaxing, radiant heat can be enjoyed even by those with diabetes, or pre-existing medical conditions which might typically prevent a sauna or steam room experience due to the high temperatures.
Asaya’s Physical Therapies focus on an array of body treatments ranging from healing practices and restorative physical therapies to spinal mobilisation, followed by specialised massage and body treatments which harness the Tonic Atelier’s personalised approached to wellness rituals.
Living and Gifting Consciously
Taking guests on a journey through a trio of distinct galleries on the 6th floor, Asaya’s qualitative, thoughtful retail offering has been created around the premise of conscious consuming and gifting, with suppliers carefully chosen for their work contributing back to community and environmental efforts, as well as ethical sourcing. The curated Asaya retail offerings focus on exclusive, artisanal brands that work with social collectives to support the preservation of authentic crafts.
At the Asaya Galleries, edited fashion staples are complemented by elegant, simple homewares and lifestyle gifts. Collaborating with like-minded, passionate producers and artisan brands from around the world, the Asaya Galleries offer an evolving selection of conscious gift options that dovetail with the overarching Asaya ethos of living and gifting more authentically and meaningfully.
