Seth Sherwood
Spa Magazine

"This is the varnish," he says before vanishing into the mist like a jinni returning to his bottle. But his magic, which leaves me agreeably loose-limbed, lingers for days. 

Still in the Palmeraie, I head to the splashiest new wellness center to hit Marrakech, the Cinq Mondes spa at Club Med. Built around a zen-tranquil pond, the facility has 15 massage therapists and 10 treatment rooms, making it one of the largest spas in town. Its menu of treatments might also be the most varied. Started in Paris four years ago by a Frenchman who scoured the globe collecting spa rituals, the ever-expanding Cinq Mondes chain offers Japanese facial massage, Indian Ayurvedic treatments, a Brazilian Crčme de Café slimming therapy and other international discoveries. "Our philosophy is to take clients on a journey," says Dorothée Masse, the spa director in Marrakech, who studied massage in India.

The Traditional Hamman Ritual is a journey into one of Marrakech's most deluxe hammam experiences, thanks to its use of Cinq Mondes' specially developed Moroccan spa ingredients: black soap mixed with eucalyptus, cedar and cinnamon; an extra-creamy emulsion of rhassoul clay; massage oil incorporating argan, sesame and olive oils; and spray-mists of rose and orange flower water. And, thanks to the spread of Cinq Mondes spas in France, Monaco, Switzerland and beyond, the Moroccan hammam experience is increasingly available to the wider world. "Go to Chamonix or Mauritius," says Masse, naming two new Cinq Mondes locations, "and you can travel to Morocco in the spa."

The real traveling begins the next morning when I'm picked up to go to Kasbah Tamadot, a new fortress-style hotel and spa well outside of Marrakech. Down a dusty highway we drive, passing scatterings of sheep and camels in the sun-parched landscape before starting the ascent into the Atlas Mountains. Eventually, mudbrick Berber villages give way to the Kasbah's crenellated walls. Inside is a maze of Moorish rooms and patios outfitted with exotic treasures amassed from Morocco, India and other locales. The sublime mountainous panorama and crisp air are immediately calming and restorative.

The spa itself is small (just a few rooms and employees) but it impressively blends the classic and the contemporary. The steam-soap-exfoliation trifecta, for instance, can be supplemented with up-to-the-minute indulgences like facials and masques using high-end beauty products from Paris-based manufacturer Yon-Ka. Centered around an aquamarine indoor pool, the salle de repos (the post-treatment relaxation area) is hung with decadent Orientalist paintings.

"This argan oil comes from a company in Marrakech," says my therapist as she pours an unctuous gold liquid onto my back in preparation for a massage. "The trees whose nuts produce the oil are found in only one region of Morocco. It's thick and pure--probably the best massage oil I've used. The Berber women in the villages extract it by hand and use it for all kinds of medicinal purposes," she says, explaining that argan oil is high in vitamin E and antioxidant properties. "You can also eat it. It's better than olive oil on salads and for dipping breads.

"She tells me that there are plans to expand the spa's size and offerings. "We want to make it a real retreat. There really is something wonderful about this place, with the mountains and the villages."

A few hours later, evening settles over the Atlas range. Far off, in the labyrinthine lanes of the Medina, traffic zooms, mule-carts clamber, merchants holler and travelers fill the souks, kicking up the dust of centuries. Here, only the sound of the wind and a few birds sweeps across the Kasbah's lushly planted grounds. Darkness blankets the mountains. Tonight I will sleep the whole night.