The European Spas Association (ESPA) emphasises on the need to secure our immune system: Treatments for chronic diseases, detoxification, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, relaxation and lifestyle changes are all means to repair our overstressed immune system and all this are in the domain of Balneology, the practice of healing with water. The European Spas Association calls on colleagues in tourism to collaborate more than ever to recognise balneology and medical spa treatments as a real and valuable specialty of international medicine and to consider balneology with healing potential as a profoundly logical healing concept.

The healing properties of water are also well known in Taiwan, where popular therapies have been mastered over generations to provide jaded guests with unsurpassed experiences. On its recent-most visit to the island nation, TTN discovered some of the finest outposts of wellness in the naturally blessed province of Yilan in the northeast of Taiwan.

The Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi mineral springs are rich in bicarbonate and sourced from the ground, providing guests with near perfect aquatherapy experience. The water is naturally odourless and colourless. It is ideal for bathing, leaving one’s skin feeling gentle and supple after soaking, hence the Japanese mineral springs experts refer to them as a “Beautifying Mineral Springs”. The hotel’s elaborate spa facilities complement its rich natural resource, boasting of open-air bath, aquatherapy bath, male and female baths, and four fragrant bath pavilions, allowing guests a selection of baths perfect for the whole family or couples seeking privacy.

Hotel Royal’s spa complex uses renowned Japanese Izu stone which absorbs humidity and maintains warmth. This is Taiwan’s first open air mineral springs jutting through an indoor space, and a superb balneology hotspot.