Many of you have probably heard of Feng Shui, which consists of improving the general aspects of life making good use of aesthetics.

When applied to the interior design of our homes, in this case the design of the Barceló Asia Gardens, it’s essential that there’s uniformity when decorating, providing large quantities of balance, turning our homes into a pleasant and cosy place where we find our “shelter” and feel good.

One of the ornamental symbols of Feng Shui is the elephant, and of course at the Asia Gardens we have our own, also with its own story that comes from way back.

The elephant, located at the entrance of our gardens, used to be owned by more than twenty generations of an Indian family part of the Chatria caste, a caste of kings, queens and governing figures. This family governed for years the districts of Sikkim, one of the smallest states of the country, very close to the Himalaya. The family lost part of its power and its wealth towards the end of the last century, and they were forced to give away some of their land and jewels, among them, the elephant that nowadays welcomes you at the entrance of our gardens.

The image of the elephant, the largest living animal, and one of the strongest and most intelligent ones, holds a very particular symbolic meaning: protection, good luck, wisdom and fertility which are the concepts represented by this majestic figure.

But the part of the elephant of highest significance is its trunk, the trunk they use to drink, eat and defend themselves with…It can be represented twisted with the trunks of other elephants, which symbolises eternal friendship, but it must always look upwards as a sign of good luck: an upwards trunk will help spread positive energy at home, and in this case, also in our gardens.

As well as good luck, we hope that our elephant Sikkim brings you protection during your stay in our luxury resort at the shores of the Mediterranean, showing you respect and humbleness. In order to make the most out of the protection offered by this majestic figure, and in order to apply a sample of Feng Shui philosophy in your homes, you must always place your elephant at the main entrance, or in our case, at the entrance of our gardens.

When you come to visit us, don’t forget that at the Asia Gardens every last detail has been taken care of….and, our elephant shall bring as much luck to you and protection as you may need.

As always…we look forward to seeing you at our luxury hotel in the Mediterranean Sea.

As you already know, the Barceló Asia Gardens has been awarded Best Spa Luxury Hotel in Europe, Conde Nast. Our Thai Spa provides a unique experience to help visitors reach not only balance but also physical and emotional wellbeing. The most commonly used term nowadays when we talk about the benefits of any Spa is WELLNESS. But WELLNESS is not a new word…..

Already in 1950, Doctor Halbert L. Dunn used to use the phrase “high level wellness”; he was the father of alternative medicine and he was considered the “creator of the wellness movement”. Dunn wrote a book which, although at the time did not cause much of a stir, years later became the main read for people who stood by that new way of practising medicine. In this approach, the idea is for body and mind to reach a life of success: a more general and broad vision of wellbeing, not only taking care of the physical aspect but also the emotional balance. The idea is to reach full balance.

The first “wellness centre” was founded in 1975 by John Travis in California: the Wellness Resource Center. Fortunately, you won’t have to travel that far… in our luxury resort, on the shores of the Mediterranean, we have all you need to help you reach that perfect balance that will help you achieve the balance of your body and mind: our Thai Spa.

All our masseuses are trained in the Templo Wat Po de Bangkok and their mission is none but to bring back our physical bio-balance and release all tension from body and mind….

The term Wellness is also often described as “the conscious and constant way to live life to the fullest”….. that is the reason why you won’t be able to refuse any of the treatments we offer in our Thai Spa. Make the most of your stay in our five-star hotel and get back what daily routine takes away from your body and mind.

All treatment booths of our Spa are inspired by traditional-style facilities found in Malaysia: outdoors in nature…always surrounded by vegetation. The beds and tatamis on the ground are double, to help you share, if you wish to do so, this unique experience. Choose between our traditional Thai massage, Nuad Thai, or the aromatic Bali massage, among other services offered by us in our Thai Spa. As a matter of interest, although this won’t surprise those of you who have visited the country of the Nuad Thai, Thailand, all treatments start by your feet…

In the Asia Gardens we won’t only look after you physically by offering you a wide range of services, massage treatments and daily activities. In addition, we will also look after your diet, which is an essential part of your wellbeing, in any of our 7 restaurants, Wellness is based on a balanced and complete diet. Our cuisine will provide you with everything your body and mind might need in order to reach that sought-after balance.

We would not want to forget another essential feature when you come to visit us: your wellbeing and your rest… so after you come to see us and you enjoy our Thai Spa and the cuisine of our restaurants, we shall offer you our magnificent rooms where you can rest for as long as you wish…

It is plain to see that we can offer you all that is necessary, and even more, to help you achieve happiness and health at the luxury resort in Alicante.

Come in search of your wellbeing to the Asia Gardens, we look forward to seeing you….

How often have we been amazed when admiring these interesting paper figures?…..

Today, we would like to tell you about the origin of this very meticulous and complicated art which at first glance seems difficult to make as well as a wonderful way of bringing us closer to Eastern craft cultures: ORIGAMI. This activity shall entertain the little ones as well as us.

ORIGAMI is a Japanese form of art which consists of folding a piece of paper repeatedly creating different shapes. Although in Spain we know it as papiroflexia there is no doubt that something as meticulous as this had to have its origins in a country like Japan.

If we were to ask about ORIGAMI in Japan, they would describe it to us as a type of educational art used by people to develop their artistic and intellectual skills….The word comes from “ORU” which means to fold and “KAMI” meaning paper.

The best way to understand how meticulous one has to be in order to be able to create these paper shapes, generally animal shapes, is to go ahead and do it! That is why at the Barceló Asia Gardens we would like to encourage you to follow these instructions and try something new: ORIGAMI.

http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjPDmVf6KJw&feature=youtu.be

If yours does not resemble a butterfly, do not despair, it is normal not to get it right at the start, but as we said before this is not a simple type of art, it requires a lot of precision and especially patience.

We hope you have enjoyed today’s post, and, as usual, we look forward to seeing you at the Asia Gardens hotel.

From our luxury Hotel, Asia Gardens and Thai Spa, we would like to wish you a very happy start to the traditional Chinese New Year and tell you about some interesting customs regarding this thousand-year-old tradition.

Like every year, around this time, the most important Chinese festivity takes place.The Chinese New Year started as a festivity to celebrate the end of the winter and mark the beginning of spring that is why in China it is also called Spring Festival.

China is one of the most ancient civilizations of the world, throughout its 5,000 years of history its traditions have been consolidated in time and they continue to be celebrated to date. In China, they use a lunisolar calendar to indicate the time of the year, according to this calendar we are currently in the year 4,710. In the west, years are worked out based on the phases of the sun and the moon. Due to this, the festivity does not take place on a specific date, as these cycles are irregular, and that is why the new moon marks the start of the month.

The celebrations commence with the first new moon of the year, the first day of the first lunar month. Fifteen days later, during the first full moon, the festivity ends with the Lantern Festival, lighting up the night using thousands of lanterns hanging off homes and businesses. Chinese Lanterns are traditionally made out of silk, although the most common type are red balloons. This festival organises the stage for the Lion Dance, the Dragon Parade and fireworks.

Celebrating the New Year this way is not exclusive to China, other Asian countries like Korea, Japan and Vietnam have taken on board this thousand-year-old tradition. This festival takes places wherever there is a Chinese community, and one of the largest ones is in Chinatown in New York, where this festivity is spectacular and highly expected by the Chinese community and by all New Yorkers, even the Empire State Building lights up to commemorate this festival.

The arrangements for the Chinese New Year start a month before the New Year. There are several traditions that Chinese people follow strictly, one of them is spring cleaning their house in order to get rid of bad luck that may have built up during the year. Also, after the New Year has arrived they do not sweep as according to the superstition that would push away the newly acquired good luck. They also prepare food gradually as another Chinese superstition says that all knives must be put away at the beginning of the year as this takes care of unfinished business.

The main entrances to houses and rooms are filled with red flags and emblems with good luck messages on them for the New Year. The colour red symbolizes vitality and happiness and it is also the colour of good luck. The streets of the city get covered with red lanterns and emblemss to scare away bad spirits.

In Chinese culture every year has a special meaning and it is associated to an animal in the Chinese horoscope. This year is the year of the snake, a sacred animal with positive attributes and a symbol of good luck. The snake is also associated to wisdom and is considered a symbol of protection, in India it is represented by god Shiva.

At the Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, we have already taken care of all superstitions in order to be surrounded by good luck in our 5-star resort…

Why not start the Chinese New Year at our Asia Gardens Hotel…?

We look forward to seeing you…