Imagine a 25-room hotel, located high up amid a wave of hilly slopes, with pineapple and sugarcane plantations all around, and an ever-changing vista looking over the emerald seas of the Indian Ocean. This is the idyllic environment of Les Mariannes Wellness Sanctuary, located near the village of D’Epinay and about a 10-minute drive from the famous Pamplemousses Botanical Gardens in Mauritius.
Combined care
This hotel-clinic offers its guests a unique atmosphere in which to relax, recharge and rejuvenate. Wellness programmes keep the guests busy – get involved in outdoor yoga sessions, gain some physical guidance from a personal trainer, join a tai chi class, or try some mindfulness meditation. Massage sessions are also included in all the packages. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can join the sanctuary’s group for mountain trekking, horse riding, or cycling; there are over 100 acres of wild, tropical fields to be explored in all directions. For a calmer day, fishing and catamaran outings are among the other regular activities.
For the past 35 years he has been using his vast knowledge and clinical skills to treat patients suffering from a wide spectrum of disease
A range of superb healthy cuisine provides the guests with nutritious meals that help make their stay enjoyable, while restoring health. All the vegetables served here are farmed within a one-kilometre range, and the pineapples come from the sanctuary’s own garden. Cuisine is focused on vegetarian options and fresh seafood, and many detox recipes are served during the day too.
An outdoor swimming pool with a panoramic view of the countryside and mountains provides guests with a unique experience. A sauna and hammam, with yet another breathtaking view, make detoxing and relaxing a memorable experience. Eleven treatment rooms give guests a choice of over 30 different treatments for mind, body and total rejuvenation. Alongside the aromatherapy mud wraps and beauty treatments, the sanctuary offers physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, body alignment and more.
Les Mariannes has pulled together an international team of gifted therapists and health professionals who focus on the specifics of each client’s condition to develop an individualised treatment programme. Each programme blends western medicine with oriental and natural therapies – including ayurveda, acupuncture, and herbal medicine.
Clients come in looking for a total – mind and body – wellness experience. Programmes can be as short as two nights and three days, or may last several weeks for specific treatment plans, such as those for addiction, weight loss, and serious diseases. All treatments are offered in a very discreet way and many high-profile personalities who are seeking help to overcome their addictions (alcohol, drugs, and other substance abuse) fly in for Les Mariannes’ special 12-step programme, which is enriched with holistic therapies. The mix of clients is truly international and the sanctuary’s staff speaks several languages fluently.
Expert healing
“We are open to treat many types of illnesses, but our focus is on the whole-person approach and we are using evidence-based therapies from east and west, which will induce the person to regain full health. People come to us from all over the world, looking for a sanctuary to heal from the diseases of the twenty-first century: stress, addictions, obesity, burnout syndromes, depressive conditions, and convalescence after illnesses,” says Dr Siddick Maudarbocus, the clinic director and the person whose vision has brought about this unique healing concept on the island.
“At the same time, they get the opportunity to enjoy Mauritius. Our patients have access to the full range of sightseeing and excursion facilities – just like at any hotel on the island.” Having spent the past 25 years delivering medical services to hotels and tourists, Dr Siddick identified the need for such a wellness clinic – where tourists can visit Mauritius and recover their health in a hotel set-up, but where they can also access a lot of holistic and natural therapies to address specific health issues.
Dr Siddick has the ideal background for this venture; having qualified as a doctor in Dublin, and after a few years working for the NHS, he felt the need to expand his knowledge of different systems of healing. He travelled eastward from the UK and studied in France with the father of modern auriculotherapy (ear acupuncture), Dr Paul Nogier, who could cure many diseases just by inserting a couple of needles into the ear. Dr Siddick then studied energy medicine in Germany, ayurveda in Sri Lanka, and acupuncture in Singapore, Hong Kong and China.
For the past 35 years he has been using his vast knowledge and clinical skills to treat patients suffering from a wide spectrum of disease: stress-linked problems, painful syndromes, addiction problems and burnout syndromes.
Les Mariannes Wellness Sanctuary also offers group health packages. Combinations of physical and mental therapies are tailored to help participants address issues holding them back personally and professionally. Les Mariannes can also provide corporate guests with unique team-building exercises and strategy workshops, overseen by the sanctuary’s expert counsellors and life coaches. Group therapy, stress-management techniques, motivational talks and art therapy come together to provide enriching solutions to professional problems.
Les Mariannes is a fusion of different healing arts, all fine-tuned by a master in restoring minds and bodies to wholesomeness. The sanctuary experience helps guests return to a state of health and, vitally, teaches them how to maintain positive practices when they return to their everyday lives. The environment of the sanctuary offers a cocoon of pampering services that helps remove the blockages in guests’ minds and bodies, and restore wellbeing.
For further information email info@lesmariannes.org
