By Jagdeesh Mann
(@jagdeeshmann)
Special to The Post

Cliches aside, ‘health is wealth’ is as relevant in youth as it is in our golden years. 

In our rough and tumble hyper-competitive society, too many of us exhaust the first half of our lives pursuing the latter at the expense of the former, and then the last half expending the former to renew the latter.

Where we inevitably fall short, however, today’s wellness industry is filling the gap.

Welcome the modern retreat, and enter Austria’s grandest family, the Swarovski’s, the owners of the eponymously named chain of luxury crystal outlets worldwide. The family patriarch, Mr. Gernot Langes-Swarovski, is the owner of Sparkling Hill Health Resort, one of North America’s most prestigious destinations for wellness. The European-inspired resort located south of Vernon, British Columbia, is a breathtaking example of what human ingenuity and creativity is capable of when backed by near limitless resources.

Sparkling Hill is North America’s first European-inspired health resort. It has won a number of recognitions, including Fodor’s Top 100 Hotels 2012, and the Senses Wellness Award for Best Mountain Spa Resort Worldwide 2011 – it was chosen from 600 others worldwide and was the only North American resort recognized. This year, the resort has been nominated to receive an Award for service excellence from the World Luxury Spa Awards.

The Swarovski family spared no expense in constructing this jewel in their crown and turning it into a global destination point – scores of guests travel great lengths from Asia, Europe and from across North America to stay at the resort. Located in the mountains at the heart of BC’s bucolic wine-growing interior, the $122 million dollar development combines the finest luxury accommodations with traditional European spa, sauna, and other treatments aimed at promoting overall health and longevity.

Over three million individual crystals adorn the hotel complex, which itself in turn is immaculately carved – like a Swarovski gemstone – into the granite apex of a mountain overlooking Okanagan Lake. The 149 room resort provides a panorama of the north end of Okanagan Lake and the Monashee Mountains that ripple into horizon.

Guests enter a lobby that streams with natural light pouring through floor to ceiling windows that in turn rise the full height of the four-story complex. What is light and airy in the daylight pivots sharply into still and serene at night. Sparkling Hill’s remote location away from any city lights, yields a sky that fades into a canopy of stars. As you float on your back in the heated outdoor pool at night, you can trace out each constellation and literally lose yourself in the heavens.

Dropping is gaining here; it begins as soon as you arrive. The very first act of ‘letting go’ occurs when you pull up to the entrance and hand over your keys to the awaiting valet. 
Everything is taken care of already.

Let your liberation from responsibilities begin.
The resort’s well trained staff provide for all guest needs, leaving you to focus on rest and rejuvenation.

Most of your active time will be spent in the heart of the resort, the 40,000 square feet European-inspired KurSpa – Kur being the German word for healing and spa the Latin word for ‘treatment by water’. This unique centre offers over one hundred types of treatments and therapies, and includes 48 treatment rooms.

Possibly the most salubrious, and certainly novel treatment, is a three-minute session in the Cryotherapy Cold Sauna, something akin to entering a deep freezer with the temperature plummeting to mind-boggling -110°C (about halfway to the freezing point of liquid nitrogen).

As intrepid as it sounds, strolling into the cryotherapy chamber is completely safe, versus walking shirtless through an Edmonton winter – the room has minimal moisture and as a result the cryotherapy cold sauna is therapeutic.The cold air shrinks blood vessels which increases blood flow thus reducing inflammation.
This Cryotherapy Cold Sauna (-110C) sauna is the only cold sauna of its kind in North America. The treatment concept was originally developed by Japanese scientists and later adopted by Olympic trainers assisting in the training of their athletes. 

Other treatments at the KurSpa include Hotman Hemodynamic tests which address high blood pressure, Pantai Luar Ayurveda treatment herbal massage using 140°C plant extract oil, and Fango’s penetrating heat from pure volcanic mud shipped in from Germany. This last treatment detoxifies your skin and penetrates into muscle tissue.
Other natural ingredients used in treatments include honey, milk, and chocolate, the latter two being used in a full sized bath. The chocolate coats your body as it would a fondue article, the cocoa butter melting lusciously into your skin.

The honey treatment is also topical and spread over the skin, pulling and loosening fascia and removing toxins buried beneath the outer layer.
The most popular activity at the spa is spending evenings relaxing in Sparkling Hill’s seven specially engineered steam and sauna rooms. These are open to all guests in mornings and evenings.

Each room provides a different treatment, through scented oils, salts, minerals, and various temperature settings. In traditional European treatments, good health relies on regular steam and sauna sessions as the hot and cold exposures lowers blood pressure, increases circulation, and helps with insomnia.

Wendy Patriquin, the Marketing Director for the resort has been working at Sparkling Hill since its opening in 2011. She has served as a guiding hand to its rapid growth and brand reputation, especially with high-level executives, business people, and active couples looking to retain their vitality into their later years.

“Our guests come from around the globe, including many from China, all across North America and Europe. Though our guests are from all age groups, our core target demographic is 55 years and older,” explained Patriquin, herself a busy executive who uses the occasional KurSpa visit to stay healthy and in top shape.
“KurSpa is providing a complete wellness experience that will leave you feeling renewed and revitalized and the Clinic at KurSpa is recognized and growing in popularity with this audience for its innovative healing programs, designed to improve the quality of your life, and achieve optimal health,” she added.

“Each program is customized for a guest’s special needs, such as alleviating pain or stress, healthy weight loss, or simply a desire to improve overall energy and vitality”.
The devotion of Patriquin, management and the staff at the resort combined with the vision of the Swarovski family, has propelled Sparkling Hill into the top five of BC’s premier traveller destinations alongside Tofino, Whistler, and the Okanagan wineries. The result is a brand name that, when mentioned in dinner conversations, captivates the imagination of fellow guests.

Sparkling Hill has deservedly become that place where you either have to go, or if you have been, the place others will want to hear more about. You can dazzle them with tales about the countless steam-rooms, the grand breathtaking views of Okanagan Lake, or you can say nothing at all – the bright rejuvenated look on your face will be a picture easily worth more than a 1,000 words.

Jagdeesh Mann (@jagdeeshmann) is a journalist based in Vancouver, Canada.