Stress-busting sound wellness treatments debut at Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel

The wild sounds of the natural world have been captured to create the Swell Room, a new sound wellness room at the Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel in Glasgow.

The new spa offering sees guests listen to curated compositions while reclining in a luxury Italian armchair with vibroacoustic delivery. This means guests will not only be able to hear the sound but also feel it.

Producer and DJ Brian D’Souza spent two years developing a new methodology which harnessed the therapeutic nature of sound to create the Swell Room.

To realise the sound wellness composition, D’Souza explored wild locations, including a trip to the Hebrides, Lake Geneva, Cape Verde and Lofoten in the Arctic Circle, to record sounds of the sea, fields and wildlife.

These natural sounds were then blended with traditional sound treatment instruments including gongs and singing bowls, as well as violins, the Gaelic harp, bagpipes and vocalists – all of which were brought together in a London studio.

The tailored therapeutic sound techniques are claimed to lower the heart rate, blood pressure and stress while promoting positive biochemical responses that bring equilibrium to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

The sound wellness treatment at the Swell Room can be added to existing spa treatments to create a multi-sensory wellbeing experience at Spa at Charlotte Square or can be booked as a stand-alone experience (40 minutes / £30, US$36, €36).

Guests merging the experience with another treatment can add on either a 20-minute (£10, US$12, €12) or 40-minute (£15, US$18, €18) sound wellness journey.

Finlay Anderson, area spa director at IHG Hotels, said: “After working with Brian on our biophilic forest bathing suite at Kimpton Blythswood Square last year, we’re excited to delve deeper into the benefits of sound therapy with our guests at Kimpton Charlotte Square this year.

“As we emerged out of lockdown, it was clear our guests craved more of a multi-sensory wellness experience than ever before.

“Evidence shows that more and more people used music for relief and to help improve their mood during lockdowns, so it made perfect sense to collaborate with Brian on the Swell Room to ensure our guests can have a 360-degree therapeutic experience when visiting the Spa at Kimpton Charlotte Square.”

D’Souza’s involvement with Kimpton stems from curating the soundtracks for the hotel over the past 10 years through his business Open Ear.

Drawing on his academic background in Music Psychology with an MA in Psychology, an MSc in Sound Design and training in Sound Therapy, D’Souza launched a 24-hour radio station dedicated to improving sleep, focus and relaxation called Ambient Flo during the first lockdown.

He said: “I’ve always been fascinated by how music has the ability to affect our emotional state. Whether it brings people together and takes them to a euphoric state at a festival or keeps the drinks flowing in a bar; or it works to reduce heart rate and create a sense of calm – it has a direct correlation with our mood.

“I’ve loved the process of creating this sound treatment, from recording around the world to bringing all the sounds together in my studio, it’s been a really rewarding experience and I’m excited for it to take guests on an immersive journey to a deeply relaxed state.”

D’Souza has now launched a sound wellness business called Swell. Kimpton Charlotte Square’s Swell Room will be the business’s first dedicated sound treatment venture.