Zulal Wellness Resort is the perfect blend of Middle East and Far East wellness traditions.

I’m lying face down on a massage bed as my therapist scrubs my limbs with a natural bristle brush. “This style of massage is designed to be invigorating rather than relaxing,” she says. Sure enough, I’m wide awake and, under the onslaught, my skin is tingling.

She puts the brush down and reaches for a bottle of sweet almond oil. The massage which follows is a series of short, rapid strokes which are stimulating and soothing in equal measure. I sigh deeply and surrender, knowing that when I emerge, my skin will be baby-soft and my circulation firing.

I’m midway through a five-night stay at Zulal Wellness Resort, the Middle East’s first and largest immersive health retreat. Located on the northern tip of Qatar, the luxury retreat is based upon the principles of Traditional Arabic and Islamic Medicine (TAIM). (Curious to learn more about TAIM? My story in Australia’s Explore Travel unpacks the key principles.)  

The retreat is owned by Msheireb Properties, a subsidiary of the Qatar Foundation, which is also behind developments such as Msheireb Downtown Doha. However, as it’s managed by Chiva-Som, which has its long-established flagship resort in Hua Hin, Thailand, Zulal Wellness Resort also draws on Asian wellness traditions, striking just the right balance between Middle and Far East.

First impressions of Zulal Wellness Resort

Upon arrival at Hamad International Airport at 6.55am local time, I’m greeted by a driver in a beige suit. “This way please,” he says, walking so briskly I have trouble keeping up with him. Outside the airport, the early morning air is already heating up. He ushers me into a white BMW with leather upholstery.  “The temperature of 22°C is OK for you?” he asks. I nod.

I sip on the proffered mango nectar during the one-hour drive to Zulal Wellness Resort. Date palms lining the airport stretch soon give way to desert, broken only by sun-baked shrubs, the high-speed highway, and housing settlements in shades of caramel and clay. Minarets pierce the skies and I feel a sudden, unfamiliar yearning for a world where ritual and faith are central.

Zulal Wellness Resort boasts its own road sign. But with its short, squat façade, the resort itself is barely visible from the street. We enter a walled compound and I spot plastic vines creeping up the walls. It looks … tacky. There must be some mistake. I later learn that an unassuming exterior which yields to a luxurious, lavish interior, is typical of Middle Eastern design.

A security guard waves us in. As I emerge from the car, he places one hand on his heart. “MarHaba,” he says. Welcome. He leads me past a pond at the entrance, beyond which is a circular stone wall with a rectangular viewing hole. Through this, I see a larger-than-life three-dimensional Zulal logo positioned in the distance. The logo looks to be fingers summoned into the shape of the A-OK position, but I’m told it represents water. This is because Zulal means “pure natural water” in Arabic.

Another staffer accompanies me to my room. Here, my photograph is taken, which later helps staff greet me by name. She runs me through a strict set of rules, including no outside food, no shisha (tobacco) and no alcohol. “But we do have an excellent selection of mocktails,” she adds.

Accommodation at Zulal Wellness Resort

Zulal Wellness Resort’s 180 rooms and suites are divided into 60 Serenity (child-free) rooms and 120 Discovery (family) rooms. I’m staying in one of the Serenity Junior Suites, positioned just metres from the gritty white sands overlooking the Gulf of Arabia. The front door of whisper-quiet room 119 opens onto a light-drenched hallway, which divides the combined bedroom and lounge area from the marble bathroom built for two. The palette is stylish but subdued, with a design that prioritizes comfort over opulence. It’s a space made for peaceful reflection and rejuvenation. Though there’s a large flatscreen television attached to one wall, I don’t turn it on once.

At night, I sleep peacefully in the king-sized bed that’s dressed in crisp white cotton sheets. Most afternoons, I nap under a soft cashmere-silk blanket that’s the colour of sea foam. Stretched out on a timber lounger on the back deck, I journal, daydream, and listen to my audiobook. I peel and eat longans as I bob in the plunge pool. I slip into the outdoor shower, sink into the generous bathtub, and occasionally roll out the yoga mat that’s stowed in the wardrobe. The suite is fully airconditioned, making it an especially blissful escape on a hot day.

Design and facilities at Zulal Wellness Resort

Late one afternoon, I’m ambling through Zulal’s lush courtyard gardens, still loose-limbed from yet another massage, when I hear a distinctive three-part ‘coo-COO-coo’. It’s a haunting, beautiful, soothing sound. Coo-COO-coo. Coo-COO-coo. I can’t find a staff member who knows which bird this call belongs to, so I use a bird identification app to investigate.

This is a clandestine operation, as mobile phones are discouraged in restaurant and other common areas. I wait until I’m back in my room, which is well served by Wi-Fi, before I establish that this call is made by the Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto). The dove is most vocal in the late afternoon. At that time, the sun sets and the sea breeze picks up. Even the landscape comes alive. It has been holding its breath and bracing against the searing heat. At dusk, it exhales with relief.

I make many such discoveries as I wander Zulal Wellness Resort, which is situated on 18 hectares. At its heart of the resort are the restaurants; treatment, assessment, and group fitness rooms; accommodation; and other built elements. Fulfilling the promise of Zulal’s name, these are broken up by a sprawling lagoon, along with numerous ponds, fountains, and waterfalls.

Despite the harsh climate, the resort also contains lush gardens, which are maintained as much by determination as irrigation. I can’t help but notice a collection of snake plants, which are so hardy as to be considered environmental weeds in Australia, trussed together, to keep them standing upright. Other plants found onsite include sacred sidra trees, pomegranates, and peppermint.

Minimalist architecture combined with traditional Arabic design principles have been used to create a ‘village’ atmosphere, with a palette selected to represent traditional mud hut housing. The buildings appear to rear up out of the desert, and were inspired by the interplay of earth, sun, sea, and sky. Biophilic design has been used to support the resort’s health-supporting objectives, given that connection with nature is known to reduce stress, decrease blood pressure, and slow heart rates, while also boosting creativity and wellbeing.

I enjoyed spending time in the House of Wisdom, a vast library furnished with thousands of books from the Qatar National Library. Adjoining this are Zulal’s Tea House, home to dozens of different organic herbal teas, and an apothecary lined with rows of glass jars filled with TAIM ingredients such as dried herbs, crushed leaves, and desiccated roots. This entire area is fragranced with white musk, an intoxicating scent made exclusively for Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som.

Zulal Wellness Resort’s program and activities

Zulal Wellness Resort takes the assessment process seriously. On the day of my arrival, I met with a health and wellness adviser, who scheduled additional assessments, classes, and spa treatments. I also saw a TAIM specialist, who asked me a series of questions and wrote a three-page ‘prescription’ of food, herbal medicine, exercise and lifestyle recommendations.

I also consulted a physiotherapist, who identified that I work too hard, sleep too little, weigh too much, and have poor posture. Subsequent sessions with her focussed on remedying my various issues, and I left with an illustrated program of exercises to continue at home.

I also consult with an aesthetic specialist (dermatologist/plastic surgeon) who recommends an assortment of fillers, plumpers and peels, but suspects (rightly) that I have no intention of following his advice. (To read more about the TAIM assessment and prescription, read my upcoming story in The Australian’s Travel + Luxury pages – link to come.)

Guests can participate in a range of different group classes and individual training sessions. I join a group stretch class run by an incredibly flexible Russian, who has us attempt a straddle stretch against one mirrored wall of the studio. I’m sitting so far from the wall, she doesn’t really believe I’m doing my best, but when she tests my inner thigh, it’s taut as a drum. She nods approvingly.

Many studios are positioned overlooking the lagoon. It’s in these that I participate in a ‘super-stretch’ session, which involves a personal trainer stretching your limbs, and a one-on-one yoga class. Other classes include aqua boxing, meditation, chair yoga, floating meditation, mat pilates, and more. Zulal Wellness Resort also has a walking track, but this is best tackled in the early morning or at dusk.

Nourishment at Zulal Wellness Resort

I’m surprised to find croissants on the breakfast menu. My waiter brings one out, and I admire the alternating layers of golden brown and charcoal pastry, looped around each other to resemble a little snail. The croissant is accompanied by a glass jar of a deep, dark brown mixture. “What’s that?” I ask. “Try it first,” my waiter says. “And then I will explain.” It turns out that this is house-made hazelnut butter mixed with cocoa, coconut sugar and coconut oil. It’s delicious – a grittier version of Nutella. And just in case you needed to know, this serving size of ‘Zutella’ totals 64 calories, and contributes one gram of protein, eight grams of carbohydrates and three grams of fat.

Such precision is important because Zulal Wellness Resort aims to maintain guests in a calorie deficit without allowing them to feel hunger pangs. In all four onsite restaurants (Al Sidr, Aizoon, Acacia and Malbu) serving sizes are small, but the food is flavoursome, and nutrient-dense. Ingredients are fresh, seasonal, locally sourced and organic, and everything is made in-house from scratch. There’s even the option to add on a cooking class, if you’re keen.

Guests dine on three meals a day, with each made up of several small courses, which further builds a sense of satiety. For example, lunch at Al Sidr might start with Thai beetroot cured salmon (156 calories), followed by Tom Yum Goong soup (45 calories), stir fried seafood with hot basil (118 calories) and wheatgrass sorbet (94 calories). At Acacia, the fine dining restaurant, I dined on beef carpaccio (115 calories), followed by seafood cream (103 calories), grilled octopus with saffron (167 calories) and halva (125 calories).

Zulal’s culinary philosophy is structured around the notion that nutrition is the key to healing the gut, known as the body’s ‘second brain’. The resort’s menus feature anti-inflammatory ingredients, so you won’t find any dairy, gluten or refined sugar. This approach extends to the minibar. You won’t find chocolates or chips in the bar fridge here. Instead, on arrival, I discovered a dish of plump strawberries. Supplies are replenished daily, so on the next day, I find dates, and after that, dried apricots. House-keeping staff also refresh loose leaf teas, small bottles of juice and large bottles of water. (Guests are encouraged not to drink the tap water.)

Zulal’s spa and wellness treatments

Zulal’s wellness centre facilities are segregated by gender. At first glance, Westerners might find this restrictive, but I quickly came to enjoy being liberated from the critical male gaze. Still jetlagged from a 15-hour flight which took me half-way around the world, I first ventured into the salt room, wearing the white pyjamas which are provided for guests to wear around the resort – anywhere, that is, except for the fine dining restaurant Acacia.

In this cocoon-like room with its semi-transparent Himalayan salt brick walls, I stretched out on a heated mosaic bed and promptly started to doze. When I woke, the mild sniffle I’d picked up during the flight had disappeared. I later read that halotherapy (salt therapy) is considered an alternative treatment for lung problems including asthma, bronchitis, and cough.

Other wellness centre facilities include hot and cold plunge pools, a lap pool, sauna, steam room, arctic cave, hammam, and ‘experience showers’ which pulsate with light, sound, and different water flow rates, to simulate thunderstorms, or tropical showers. The hydrothermal facilities are a great way to prepare for, or relax after, a scheduled treatment.

Many treatments are inspired by TAIM. These include Massage Al Batin (Abdominal massage), Hijama (cupping therapy) and treatments based on TAIM herbal medicines. A relaxed ambience pervades the wellness centre and hygiene standards are high. I enjoyed invigorating, relaxing, Oriental scalp and Thai traditional massages, a manicure, and more. Watsu (a form of shiatsu undertaken in warm water) is also available, but you need to book well in advance for this.

Location, surroundings, staff and climate

Zulal Wellness Resort is located adjacent to a tide-dominated beach fringed by mangroves. The mangroves are the focus of Zulal’s environmental efforts. With the wide-open sky and the lack of city lights, Zulal’s isolation amplifies the sense of tranquillity. There are no real opportunities to explore beyond the resort – but everything you could possibly need is here.

I visited in May, when the temperature peaked at 38°C. Due to its seaside location, the temperature here is around 5°C lower than in Doha, the Qatari capital, on any given day. However, because Qatar has a dry heat, 38°C is not as uncomfortable and tiring as it would be in a high-humidity climate.

Around 260 staff from 40 different nationalities make up the highly professional team at Zulal Wellness Resort. They go above and beyond to ensure guests’ needs are met. The wait staff are skilled at making recommendations based on the knowledge of guest preferences.

When I asked a question about sidr honey, for instance, my waiter took me outside to show me the type of tree from which it was sourced, its importance to Middle Eastern culture, and its significance in the Quran.

On the same day, laundry staff returned a $5 note and coins I’d left in the pocket of my trousers and had promptly forgotten about. (They’d probably been through several washes at my house!)

On a couple of occasions, I thought certain staff were over solicitous of positive feedback, but this was a minor point.

Overall recommendation

During my time at Zulal Wellness Resort, my joint pain vanished, I repaid my sleep debt, I enjoyed moments of pure bliss, and I even lost some kilograms.

Zulal suits couples, groups of friends and families, but solo travellers are well catered for. Meals are usually taken on your own schedule and, if you travel alone, you tend to dine alone too. Extroverts who are accustomed to the relentlessly social environment of an Australian retreat like Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat or Eden Health Retreat might find this confronting, but as I’m an introvert, I loved it. I revelled in the opportunity to focus on myself and what my body needed that day.

My initial stay was hosted, but I’d definitely open my wallet for this experience.

Details

Open since 2022, Zulal Wellness Resort is located just over an hour by road from Hamad International Airport. Multi-day packages include accommodation, spa cuisine, wellness consultations, a personalised program of treatments and a daily program of classes.

Denise Cullen was a guest of Zulal Wellness Resort.