The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat is Malaysia’s first and only hot springs destination. But despite its five-star rating and breathtaking beauty, it remains an enigma

If you could write the recipe for the perfect destination spa retreat, the ingredients may go something like: location within two hours of a major capital city; natural hot springs; and Asian hospitality. Oh, and how about a generous helping of experienced industry professionals and a good glug of capital investment?

If it sounds like something even Ferran Adria couldn’t cook up, think again. Located in Ipoh, two hours west of Kuala Lumpur, The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat has been prepared with all the love of a favourite national dish and is just waiting to serve people up a generous helping of wellness – Malaysian style.

The 17-acre (7-hectare) retreat sits alongside natural geothermal hot springs, hugged by limestone cliffs with natural caves, pristine jungle and waterfalls and lends itself perfectly to spiritual time-out and rejuvenation. In short, it’s breathtaking.

Yet since its opening January 2010, The Banjaran has yet to make its mark on the Asian wellness industry – even locals don’t know about it. But that may all be about to change, with an ambitious new general manager and spa director on board.

Cheah’s dream
The Banjaran is bank-rolled and owned by The Sunway Group, one of Malaysia’s largest integrated property conglomerates. Sunway has a hospitality division which manages The Banjaran as well as a number of resorts under the Sunway brand name.

Sunway founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, who was born in Ipoh, visited the original hot springs as a child. In those days, the springs were open to locals to bathe in for a small fee, but they were badly run and it became Cheah’s dream to turn them into something more upmarket. He purchased the land from the government with the idea of developing it into a tourism destination. This started with the development of a theme park called The Lost World Of Tambun on the property in 2005. Today, this is a well established and popular attraction.

However, when building his family home on another part of the plot, Cheah discovered a system of caves, which geologists say date back 280 million years. He turned one of the caves into a private wine cellar but always had bigger plans for them. Plans which came to the forefront when creating The Banjaran in an area behind the theme park, adjacent to the main hot springs.

Phase one of The Banjaran is complete. Facilities include 25 Garden and Water Villas, a geothermal outdoor pool, fitness centre, all-day restaurant, a juice bar and Jeff’s Cellar – Cheah’s wine cave, which has been developed into a fully functioning bar. Each villa comes with its own sunken hot springs whirlpool, plunge pool and geothermal shower as well as a stunning outdoor lounge area.

Every guest has access to the retreat’s wellness facilities which comprise a thermal steam cave, a natural granite and limestone meditation cave and a crystal cave enhanced with amethyst and quartz crystals for energy treatments like reiki. There’s also the geothermal pool and four hot springs ‘dipping pools’, which increase in temperature the closer they are to the springs. In addition, is an ice bath, reflexology walk, a garra rufa Dr Fish pool for fish pedicures, an indoor gym and an open deck for yoga and t’ai chi.

At the heart of the retreat, is The Banjaran’s 7,000sq ft (650sq m) spa and wellness centre. The simple, but homely-designed facility features 12 treatment rooms including two for hydrotherapy services and three double suites. There’s also a medi/pedi room and a relaxation pavilion.

A tale of three cultures
The Banjaran’s spa is based on a fusion of the three main cultures – Malay, Chinese and Indian – in Malaysia. The spa’s Malay treatments, a mix of ayurveda and traditional Chinese (TCM) medicine, are given in one of three themed rooms, authentically decorated to represent their culture. Given the Malaysian spa industry is still in its infancy, The Banjaran has a good selection of Malay therapies which give it an edge over other destination retreats in the country. Offerings including the ayurveda specialities of shirodhara and udvartana massage and TCM’s moxibustion and gua-sha where a scraper is used on the body to remove muscle pain or prevent and treat the common cold, bronchitis and asthma. Slightly more unusual, is the 30-minute tangas (MYR75 or US$25, €19, £16), a Malaysian tradition of steaming the genitals using antibacterial herbs, to kill germs and tighten muscles.

Also on offer is a selection of wellness programmes, ranging from two to 21 days, that focus on weight loss, rejuvenation, detox, fitness and longevity or that can be tailored made to deal with specific issues such as addiction. These include a 30-minute consultation as standard with either a naturopath, nutritionist, ayurvedic practitioner, TCM doctor or personal trainer who mostly work on a freelance basis.

Heading up the spa, is Dr Santhosh John, who says he would like to see more people booking programmes. “I find it really satisfying to see people come here for leisure and leave with a thirst for wellness,” he explains. “Really, a guest needs to be here three or four days to notice a difference in the way their body behaves.”

Dr John was with Per Aquum and Devi Resorts prior to joining The Banjaran. His passion for wellness began in the medical profession in Kerala, India where he trained as a naturopath and yoga physician. In the day to day running of the spa, he oversees seven full-time therapists – all female and either Indian , Chinese or Malay. Dr John says a tie up with spa academies in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi makes it easier to find staff.

Off to market
Sitting alongside Dr John at the Banjaran management table, is Filipino-born Lybanor P Godio. She was brought in to run the retreat six months ago, after a fairly swift turnover of staff that’s seen the departure of four resort managers in just two years. She accepts that the fate of The Banjaran – both its success and failure – rests with her ability to make the numbers stack up. Currently, occupancy is about 50 per cent, with spa bookings approximately half that. Her biggest task, she says, is to increase the number of people booking programmes. “I’d like to see The Banjaran become known for wellness, not just for being a luxury brand,” she explains.

While Cheah dreams of creating a leading wellness destination in Asia – on a par with Thailand’s Chiva-Som – Godio knows some serious marketing leg work is needed first. “The Banjaran is still not known here, so my first job is to wag our tail,” she explains. She’s quietly optimistic. “I’ve been to amazing places all over the world, yet two hours from Kuala Lumpur, in the jungle, there are these hot springs. People should be queuing up to come here!”

Previous destination spas she’s helped to run, for well-known operators such as El Nido and Amanresorts, she admits practically sold themselves. The Banjaran not so. “My focus is to work on the markets that are no more than a six hour flight from Malaysia,” she explains. “Until now, our marketing has focused on the Middle East, whereas I believe Singapore, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong are where we can make the most impact”.

She thinks one of The Banjaran’s USP’s is the fact it can offer an authentic experience that mirrors Malaysia’s melting pot culture – “guests can come to The Banjaran for Indian, Chinese and Malaysian treatments, hospitality and food, rather than travelling to India and China,” she says.

The next step is to embark on the second phase of The Banjaran, which includes opening up additional caves, developing further hot springs and building more accommodation. Once that is complete, there will still be additional land available for development.

But that will only happen once revenue starts increasing. Can the new team pull it off? Godio thinks so: “This place has so much potential and the people who work here are willing it to succeed, which is always half the battle.”

Overall, The Banjaran definitely has the ingredients for a unique wellness centre. It will be interesting to see how this slow burner turns out and whether its new team has what it takes to make it a sure-fire recipe for success.