Carisma, the Turkish chain of wellness centres, is to open a spa incorporating Malta’s only hamam, the traditional Turkish bath, at the Intercontinental Malta next month.
The chain operates 10 centres in five-star hotels and high-end holiday resorts in key touristic locations in Turkey, and recently finalised an agreement with Intercontinental Malta.
Carisma owner Mustafa Gülen is currently overseeing the finishing touches being put to the 900-square metre centre on the fifth floor of the St Julian’s property, where treatment and massage rooms are already operational.
At the Intercontinental, Carisma – a family business Mr Gülen operates with his wife Bilgi – will incorporate the heated indoor pool close to the Turkish bath which is currently in its final stages of renovation.
The couple travelled to Malta on holiday two and a half years ago and a friend introduced them to Ian De Cesare, managing director of the Eden Leisure Group, the hotel’s holding company.
They exchanged ideas for the business and met again in 2009 when the Gülens returned to Malta to enrol their teenage son at a local independent school. Carisma was established in 1990 after Mr Gülen, then a government official, and his future wife, a nurse at an Izmir physiotherapy unit, met while studying business at university.
“In the early 1990s, the spa concept was not yet popular,” Mr Gülen recalls. “At the time, there was more focus on fitness. The ‘wellness’ philosophy came some time later.”
But with tourists pouring into the country – Mr Gülen says there are now at least 100 four- and five-star hotels in Antalya alone – their demands broadened and the wider industry diversified its offering to cater to their requirements.
Similarly to therapies offered in its home centres, Carisma at the Intercontinental will feature a range of body programmes, traditional massage therapies from around the world, facials including an alternative to Botox, and packages.
Mr Gülen explained the spa’s key differentiator will be the hospitality shown to patrons.
“When I first came to Malta I was struck by the people’s hospitality,” he explained. “When you ask for directions, people just stop short of giving you a lift – it’s the same in Turkey. We intend service levels at Carisma in Malta to be hallmarked with that kind of hospitality.”
The centre, which is open seven days a week and on public holidays to hotel guests and visiting clients, will feature a multi-national team of 10 therapists.