Soaking in the past: LA SPA Helvetia & Bristol

The impressive renovation of Helvetia & Bristol Firenze – Starhotels Collezione means that hotel guests and city dwellers can now bathe in similar circumstances to the Ancient Romans at LA SPA Helvetia & Bristol.

The history alone would make this spa an exceptional wellness retreat in central Florence, but the contemporary touches raise the experience to sublimity. Two elements impacted the design choices: the drive to integrate the pre-existing archaeology into the wellness centre as well as creating a dreamy ambience, in which the wellbeing of the treatments goes hand in hand with the wellness of the senses. Light, ethereal colors feature throughout LA SPA and travertine covers all the surfaces. A few simple yet striking items of furniture can be found with mirrored surfaces and steel and gold details. Every space wows since it has been exclusively researched and curated. In this way, albeit in a more modern style, LA SPA embraces the philosophy of the Helvetia & Bristol hotel, of which it is an integral part, while also becoming a place dedicated to the city, nestled in one of its most beautiful piazzas.

Having taken the sleek elevator down into the spotless basement, one surprise turns into another from the cavernous Calidarium, whose ceiling resembles a starry sky, to the Aquamotus, a Vichy shower that is hard to find in Italy as you stretch out on a mattress while 1,200 jets invigorate the body. The Tepidarium combines old and new as the spa goer lies back and gazes at medieval foundations enclosed in a glass floor while buries their toes in the stress-absorbing sea salt. Be revived by the Frigidarium, where crushed ice cools down the core temperature. The main draw, however, is the Lacus Quietis, where a sunrise entrances on the full-wall screen across the generously sized pool for a city centre space. Devised by local Florentine artist Felice Limosani, the video art entices visitors into the waters as the countercurrent and jets relax body and mind. The past is present: an ancient mortar well emerges inside one of the pools.

“The historical research that centered on the Helvetia & Bristol thrilled me,”

confirms Elisabetta Fabri, president of Starhotels.

“We never talk much about Florentia’s history as a Roman colony. Discovering the remains of the ancient Roman tepidarium beneath the Bristol wing of our hotel moved me so much that I decided to create an extraordinary spa right there. “The highlight is the water room,”

concludes Elisabetta Fabri.

"You walk in and feel in touch with the element: two large baths, with whirlpools and counter-current, are filled to the surface, lapping the floor and creating a unique environment where the water is everywhere. The result is an original, sensual and enticing space, just as I had imagined it.”

Managed by Snow Group Italia, the massage rooms provide luxury treatments from India, China, Japan, Indonesia and Morocco, and high-end Cinq Mondes beauty products.