Health and wellness expert Henri Chenot will open the second ‘Espace Cure’ hotel – a destination retreat – to have its entire structure dedicated to his health and wellness programmes. This second hotel, which is set to open in Q2 2016, will be designed by international architect and interior designer Michel Jouannet and located in Gabala, Azerbaijan. The first of these ‘Espace Cure’-structured hotels, which opened in 1980, is Chenot’s flagship Palace Merano hotel in Italy.

The site will be called the 72-key Gabala Lake Palace Espace Chenot Health Wellness Hotel, 225km (140-miles) from Baku. The luxury retreat will be located in a 26-hectare (64-acre) park with a restaurant, tea room, games room, children’s club and 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) of dedicated health and wellness space.

Parisian designer Jouannet said in a statement: "I was asked to be in charge of the entire architectural concept, but especially as an interior designer. In tune with the nature around it, the hotel is constructed in stone and wood, situated in a vast and lovely park. The revolutionary design of our medical and therapy centre provides a perfect balance to the inviting and elegant design of the hotel."

Chenot’s combination of treatments, known as the “Chenot Method,” are based on the principles of Chinese medicine and the concept of Biontology – identification and explanation of the body’s functions at the different stages in one’s life. Chenot created this theory of wellness in 1999 before setting up the Academy of Biontology in 2004 and opening a number of spa centres across Europe.

Within the Gabala site’s dedicated wellness zone, there will be a number of ‘Chenot departments’ for sports and fitness; traditional aesthetic spa therapies, aesthetic biontology, hydro biontology, aesthetic medicine, human performance, plus medical diagnostics.

The Chenot medical screening tests are said to identify lifestyle biomarker levels as Chenot believes one’s status of health is largely derived from the interaction between his or her genetic profile and that person’s lifestyle.

Speaking exclusively to Spa Opportunities, Rainer Bolsinger of Zimmer MedizinSysteme noted that its cryotherapy Icelab product will be installed at the property. “The chamber, which can decrease in temperature to -110ºC, is used in medical contexts, sports rehabilitation, detoxification therapies, plus it can help to reset the body’s hormonal, nerve and cardiovascular functions.

Icelab can be found at the Thermes de Marins Monte-Carlo, the National Training Centre for the French Rugby Federation and a number of hospitals and sports rehabilitation centres due to the way in which the low temperatures help to manage pain and stress, speed-up injury recovery times and improve the circulation.

There are three tiers of Chenot centres including this extensive Espace Cure destination spa model. The other two look like a hotel spa, Espace Vitalité, and an urban day spa Espace Privée.

Other leisure offerings beyond the Chenot estate include the ‘Russian Forest’, a famous chestnut woodland of river valleys and villages, the largest open-air amusement park in Azerbaijan – 16 hectares (40 acres) – called Gabaland.

The nearby Gabala Shooting Club, which uses a land area of 25 hectares (62 acres), is equipped with Olympic-grade equipment and training centres. Four kilometres away from the city of Gabala, The Tufan Alpine Skiing summer and Winter Recreation Complex is a development in progress, but it plans to serve up to 3,000 people a day when it opens. Other future attractions anticipated for the location include ski lifts, a hippodrome and a water park.

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