There is something about stepping through the huge Arabian-style wooden doors of the Six Senses Spa at Sharq Village & Spa that fills me with an immediate sense of calm. It could be the serene, gently trickling water feature in the middle of the airy reception or it could be the delicious sweet smell of orange emanating from the largest oil burners I have ever seen. Either way I immediately find myself going from a stressy seven down to a fairly-relaxed four on the stress level scale. So far, so good.

The therapist met me in the reception and introduced herself as Mavis, from the Phillippines. As she escorted me down what seemed like endless corridors – or winding village streets as per the Six Senses lingo – Mavis explained exactly what we could expect from the 90-minute Fusion Massage, a brand new addition to the spa menu, which was developed by Six Senses in Thailand.

This is right about the time I began to question the aforementioned ‘Six Senses always getting it right’ claim. Spotting what must have been a look of sheer uneasiness sweep across my face, Mavis assures me that the massage will ‘enliven my senses’ and tells me that she fully expects me to fall asleep (ha, unlikely!) during the treatment, which offers a blend of Thai, Swedish, sports, holistic and Lomi Lomi massages. Sounds to me a bit like a dangerously concocted cocktail guaranteed to leave me full of regret, not to mention make me queasy, the next morning.

Slightly bolstered by Mavis’s promises of how good I will feel afterwards, and mentally contemplating the fact that actually fusion food works very well, I hop, a little bit reluctantly, onto the spa bed, face down, in anticipation of what’s to come. I needn’t have worried, what followed was 90 minutes of pure, relaxing heaven. True to the fusion ethic Mavis used a variety of skills drawing on specific techniques from different origins. She worked me over with a combination of strokes using her thumbs, an acupressure technique originating in Sweden; forearms, the Lomi Lomi movement, which uses long strokes for lymphatic drainage; a sort of dough-kneading sensation used in sports therapy and a more relaxing holistic approach influenced by Eastern massage – all of which sent me deeper and deeper into a state of bliss. I’m not sure at what point
I fell asleep, but my own snoring woke me up with a start.

A spritz of water on my face signified the end of the fusion massage, or so I thought, but Mavis had one last spa trick up her sleeve. She told me to sit up, which was hard given my body was in a sort of comatose condition, and then placed a hot towel on my back whilst she massaged away the very last of the tension from my muscles – leaving me totally and utterly de-stressed.

Despite our reservations, Six Senses does it again and, as I step out into the Doha sunshine, I feel so calm and content that I could take on anything, even the Doha driving. So, regrets? Well, maybe just the one – that the Fusion Massage was only 90 minutes long. It was bliss.
Fusion massage, 90 minutes, QR750. Six Senses Spa at Sharq Village & Spa (425 6999). Open daily 9am-11pm.