Six Senses Spa, Zighy Bay, Oman beat off tough competition from Banyan Tree Spa, Al Wadi, Ras Al Khaimah and Talise Spa, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, to win five awards at The Hotel Show.

Categories included Spa Design and Green Initiative as well as Spa Director and Spa Therapist, which were awarded to Carolina Moquist and Vishnu Prasad respectively.

In the other top categories, The Spa, The Palace, Old Town, Dubai came away as outright winner for the Best Hotel Spa Award after topping the charts for Signature Treatment in 2010; while newcomer, the Dalouk Spa at Sharjah Ladies Club won the award for Best Independent Spa.

Special mention was also made of ‘The Rainforest’ at the Banyan Tree Spa, Al Wadi, which Kioussis remarked was among the best spa experiences in the region.

The judging panel is made up of five top spa and hospitality professionals: Ebi Malekzadeh, owner of ESADORE in Dubai and Kiousati Malek in Melbourne, specialising spa and medi-spa projects; Sonette van Rensburg, a beauty expert who owns Elements Beauty Concepts; spa and hotel architect Theodora Kioussis; Tiina-Maija Bergman, a career hotelier and NLP Master Practioner and NLP Coach, and Lindsay Robinson beauty therapist and founder of LR Beauty Solutions.