The hotel has opened Vietura, the first aesthetic clinic of its kind in Asia.
With medical tourism on the rise throughout Southeast Asia, Sofitel Philippine Plaza has jettisoned the traditional spa playbook, teamed with one of the country’s most renowned wellness experts and opened a health and aesthetic clinic.
Watching numerous guests leave the hotel for wellness clinics downtown sparked general manager, Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Goran Aleks’s idea to create one in the hotel. “Manila is a tremendous destination for international travelers who want cost-effective aesthetic treatments,” he said.
Vietura offers an array of customisable programs designed to help clients both inwardly and out. Services range from weight-management tools such as Calloblock — said to speed up the calorie-burning process — to anti-ageing procedures.
The clinic also offers tried-and-tested remedies for complexion problems and digestive disorders. All solutions are non-invasive and begin with a full-body assessment — the first step in Vietura’s three-step ‘Measure, Mentor and Monitor’ philosophy.
According to Goran, “Vietura is not your typical Medispa; it’s a lifestyle experience. It’s for the person who understands the path to greater confidence isn’t dramatic change. It’s a long-term holistic approach that results in a more natural glow and prompts friends to ask, ‘Where did you go on vacation?’ instead of ‘What surgeon did you just see?’”
Vietura’s concept was developed by its chief practitioner, Dr. Mary Jane Torres, a Filipina who spent years studying mesotherapy methods in Europe and is a firm believer in non-invasive, non-surgical solutions.
For face contouring, she employs Platelet-Rich Plasma technology, said to harness the healing powers of platelets found in the blood. While for body sculpting, she uses Italian-made resonance machines.
During the course of any treatment, she runs tests to make sure every move is right. “Evidence is everything,” said Torres, who has treated some of the Philippines’ biggest celebrities through the Zen Institute, a medical spa she founded in 2006.
In addition, her staff consists of 12 registered nurses, a dietician and a lifestyle coach. Their workplace is a collection of 20 treatment rooms located in a strategic and discreet corner of Manila’s only bayside hotel.
When a guest enters, they are escorted directly to a treatment room, where soothing, ambient music plays. The design itself was imagined by Gruppo Espazio, a prolific, Manila-based interior design firm that also conceived the stylish LeSpa at Sofitel Philippine Plaza. Gruppo has devised a sleek yet natural space, thanks in large to warm lighting and a live, vertical garden feature in every treatment room.
“It’s anything but clinical,” Aleks added. “Vie means life and tura means nature. We wanted to build off that, and create something people would find calming and comfortable, and compatible with what Sofitel stands for as well. I think we’ve accomplished that.”
Visit www.sofitelmanila.com for further information.