The new Caribbean spa resort focused on helping you live longer - The Times

Kate Moss visits TheLifeCo in Bodrum, Turkey, every year for a juice detox. I prefer my teeth to be gainfully employed at mealtimes so TheLifeCo’s first Caribbean spa sounds more the place for me. Its focus is as much on longevity, which might actually extend my life, as fasting, which — for me at least — just makes every day feel like an eternity.

St Lucia is TheLifeCo’s fifth resort and part of a £1 billion A’ila Resorts development on Mount Pimard, a headland overlooking the golden smile of Rodney Bay in the island’s glitzy northwest. The property has 54 stylishly uncluttered sea-facing bedrooms and three bells-and-whistles floors of wellbeing, overseen by a clinical team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and therapists.

There are 14 treatment rooms, a glamorous alfresco thermal suite and an open-air IV infusion lounge. There are some biohacking big guns too: red light, high-altitude and ozone sauna therapies, cryotherapy and a hyperbaric chamber. There’s even a Mind Atelier where I can play with the latest wearables promising to stimulate my brain.

It’s an impressive tick list of tech but that’s because this spa also anchors what’s being billed as the Caribbean’s first purpose-built “longevity village”, with multiple accommodation options across a large site. Guests can stay at the nearby Bluezone Club, which has 33 apartments, and the family-friendly A’ila Palm Resort hotel a short walk away (which will partially open in December), and still book in for treatments.

The beachfront adults-only A’ila Cove resort hotel and 467 more villas and residences, spread across the resort estate and wider headland and costing up to £11 million, will open in phases over the next 18 months and will all have access to the medical facilities.

Look away now, detoxers, the village will also be home to 20 restaurants by the time the last builders pack up. Croissants and callaloo are off limits for wellness warriors; food is raw, plant-based, surprisingly tasty and, actually, chefs can “cheat”. They cook at up to 48C as low-temperature cooking doesn’t damage nutrients and enzymes.

I start on the green salad detox, eating 800 stone-cold calories a day. Chomping my way through mountains of kale, cucumber and quinoa gets boring quickly so I look forward to my daily supplements, a multi-enzyme complex for digestion and spirulina, kelp and nettle tablets, to break up the monotony. There are help-yourself detox soups and herbal teas too, so I never feel hungry, but I’m not sure my liver and kidneys need quite so much help to expel toxins.

After a couple of days I switch to the low-cal diet and 1,200 daily calories that are genuinely delicious. This might include a breakfast of flaxseed crackers, figs, cashew cream, black olives and blueberry jam, a lunch of hearty roasted red pepper and tomato soup and flavour-packed vegetable frittata, and a dinner of veggie sushi with pickled ginger and wasabi. My Zoe tracker approves. I scan each course for its nutritional value. Typical is a moreish chocolate and almond pudding with blackberries and coconut that Zoe scores 84/100 with 9g of protein. Who knew detoxing could be such fun?

Probably not my fellow guests on the master detox. It serves up just 400 liquid calories and, I imagine, requires much girding of loins for the daily gut cleansing. I pop my head into a colonic irrigation room and declare that’s close enough. My therapist mentions the “angel of water” alternative. It’s the self-administered version. My pained expression communicates my thoughts on that suggestion.

Moving swiftly on, the hardcore crew can opt for a water fast. I chat to thirtysomething Aslihan, who is seven days into a ten-day water fast. Yes, she has a luminous glow, but Charlotte Tilbury’s Unreal Skin Sheer Glow Tint also achieves a great complexion, no willpower required. Aslihan insists that having nothing but four litres of water a day, some supplements and St Lucia’s finest fresh air is giving her mental clarity and creativity. This may be true. It’s well documented that fasting has health benefits, especially when tailored to age and health, as it is at TheLifeCo, where guests are closely monitored.

Still, I’m sticking in the cutlery corner, especially as the vast open-air lounge-diner is an inviting space. There’s a chillout area with creamy armchairs and sofas, a cellular nutrition bar, where I can have a quick wobble on a vibrational workout plate while waiting for my fruit smoothies and green juices. Mainly it’s a clean-lined, casual restaurant with a team of friendly servers who are sensitive to the mood swings of detoxers. It’s also the perfect place to watch yachts bobbing in the bay or the sun setting.

My day one health assessment, which includes a 3D body scan, live blood analysis and blood sugar, reveals nothing alarming, according to the reassuring Dr Omar Tamayo Gallardo. We chat about my health goals, fitness and longevity, and he creates a personalised schedule, which includes a daily short chat to ensure I’m happy.

My days begin with tongue scraping (the NHS recommends it to lower bacterial load) and swilling with coconut oil for up to 15 minutes. It’s an ancient ayurvedic practice and although the scientific support is sketchy, it’s not unpleasant.

I take the short walk through the complex and along a pergola path for a swim most mornings, then have a yoga or Pilates class or personal training. I also have a daily IV infusion, with my personalised cocktail including the powerful antioxidant glutathione as well as vitamin C for immune support and magnesium to aid sleep. I don’t notice any particular difference from the drips, though the sea views are soothing.

Later, I might join a lecture on mindful living or a cookery workshop (the vegan brownies are wickedly rich), while I also have pampering massages. In the afternoons I try out the high-tech toys including old favourites such as red-light therapy to perk up my mitochondria, the cells’ powerhouses, and new experiences including pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.

For that, I lie under a blanket that sends low-frequency electromagnetic pulses through my body, claimed to kickstart its natural healing process. In practice the pulses make me jerk about like Peter Crouch doing his robot dance. It’s generally invigorating and I can really feel the crunch when it targets my ab muscles. I think of my friends who say regular PEMF therapy slays aches and pains.

I also try ozone sauna therapy. Only my head sticks out of a hot box that’s pumped full of steam to open my pores. This aids absorption of ozone gas, which is said to increase delivery of oxygen to my tissues and organs. A nurse mops my brow as beads of sweat appear and I feel euphoric afterwards, although that might be partially relief at escaping the intense heat.

My five days are so packed with exercise and health optimisation that they whizz by — and really that’s the only kind of fast I want at a spa.Susan d’Arcy was a guest of the St Lucia Tourism Authority (stlucia.org) and TheLifeCo, which has one night’s full board from £445pp, including treatments (thelifeco.com). Fly to St Lucia

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This adults-only property puts wellness at the forefront, with areas dedicated to sensory, silent and social activities, designed to focus attention on each in turn. These might mean workshops in the botanical garden or a session of sound healing. Vegan menus and detox cocktails are available for those wanting a healthy reset, and there’s a 24-hour gym, a golf course and a large spa offering traditional and modern therapies. Some spa treatments are included for those staying in certain room categories.Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £1,001pp, including flights and transfers

On a private island in Turk and Caicos, this swish five-star resort has a four-mile white-sand beach and a wide range of wellness activities to fill your days. There’s a 24-hour gym, a full programme of exercise classes, a yoga pavilion and Pilates studio, plus yoga mats and TV classes on demand in every room and villa. Bikes are free to borrow, and guests can join in mangrove kayaking, fishing excursions and local farm tours. A spa specialises in Asian-inspired holistic therapies and offers complementary nutrition programmes and resident specialists. B&B doubles from £958, including afternoon tea. Fly to Providenciales 

This popular all-inclusive fitness and fun-focused resort in the north of the island has guests returning year after year for its pick-and-choose programme of daily activities. You could start with a fast-paced group run to nearby beaches and hills (or some relaxing yoga), go on to play tennis or join a spin class (or enjoy a free massage) before lunch in the healthy beach café (or a feast at the buffet), then an afternoon of water sports (or snorkelling and piña coladas as the sun goes down). Certain months have themes — jive June, September solos, October yoga — with lots of workshops tailored to suit. Almost everything is included, but it’s worth paying extra for the I-TAL Farm to Table experience, a Rastafarian plant-based meal and garden tour in a treehouse-style cabin among the luscious grounds (from £55). Rooms and villas are airy and elegant, often with a sea view. All-inclusive doubles from £423. Fly to St Lucia