The contrast could hardly be greater. As soon as the door of Amilda Wellness Boutique closes behind you, you forget the bustling traffic and shoppers on Bankastraat. The natural tones, meditative music and soft, white bucket seats wrap you in a cosy cocoon. Your pace and voice volume drop automatically, which is nice when you are preparing for a relaxing massage or high-quality facial.

“These can be very hot so be careful,” warns the beautiful namesake Amilda Peersmann (40) as she hands us a damp towel. It’s a pleasant refreshment the Singapore native has brought with her from her successful career with luxury airlines. “I worked as a purser for Etihad in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates, ed.). We gave business class passengers towels like this.”

Vips

From star footballers from the English Premier League to powerful sheikhs, countless VIPs were entrusted to her care. “Hospitality is my core quality,” she sums up. “And I have a great love for beauty and wellness. All over the world, I go to hotels with the best spas to immerse myself in the benefits of a good massage or facial. That combination led me to opening my own salon in October 2023, to create an experience unprecedented in the Netherlands.”

Yet, first and foremost, Amilda’s heart brought her to husband Sebastiaan's hometown of The Hague. They fell for each other at a Formula 1 event in Abu Dhabi, and the emigration that followed marked a turning point. “After 15 years, flying was taking its toll on me physically; getting up at ungodly hours and giving your best is no small thing. So, I started looking for another way to use my qualities.”

The Archipel neighbourhood was the most suitable place. “A village in the city,” Amilda calls it. “There is an enormous diversity of nationalities, cultures and ages here. It may sound like witchcraft, but I manifested this dream. One day Bas was driving around looking for a nice location, and he saw the windows covered up here. He went inside and it turned out that the then owner was having lunch nearby. After one cup of coffee, the deal was done!”

Best materials

The hostess par excellence takes us deeper into the salon, where we disconnect even further from city life under the influence of the calming lighting plan, muted acoustics and constant 23-degree temperature. “The property was completely gutted, so we completely rebuilt it using only the finest and best materials,’ she says. Amilda points to the bed in one of the three treatment cabins. ‘The beds, for example, are from Gharieni. They are the height of comfort,” she assures.

Husband Sebastiaan (44) got involved in the design and concept. ‘Amilda deals with the practical details and follow-through, I’m the creative one,’ he comments. “I came up with the cupboards and the handmade natural stone washbasins together with furniture designer and friend Joost Nijhuis. We bought the towels, with the incorporated Amilda logo, from a friend’s textile business in Portugal. Ceramist Esmee Pelgröm, also a friend, made the cups.”

So, visitors want for nothing in the individual cabins and the couple’s suite with two treatment beds and a steam shower with auto-mattifying glass. What can you expect here? ‘For now, we have deliberately chosen to offer a clear menu with a limited number of massages and facials, both relaxing as well as functional. And from autumn, an experienced GP will administer Botox treatments,’ Amilda says, who stocks the renowned care products from Natura Bissé, Aromatherapy Associates and Cosmedix.

Guests

She sees more opportunities for her business – bamboo massages, hot stone treatments, cellulite treatments – but only when she is sure her current team of five are fully competent in them. “We're building things organically, based on our guests’ wishes,’ explains the entrepreneur, who deliberately avoids using the terms ‘customers’ and ‘clients’. “This is a very intimate business, people really need to feel at home here,’ she explains.

As far as she is concerned, that’s also where the strength of the Amilda team lies. “Of course, our people are excellent at the “hard skills” but the ‘soft skills’ are just as important, which is rare to find. The vibe, the energy, is particularly important, because it always radiates to your guests: I want to feel the love! That’s what we want to convey to the guests, who are often at their most vulnerable here as it is.”

Judging from the reactions after the treatments, Amilda is doing particularly well at that. “People say: I don't know what happened to me in the past hour, I was in a state between waking and sleeping,” Amilda comments. She winks, ‘We often tell them there’s a secret ingredient in the essential oil. No, but seriously: it's not just about the treatment, our massages take you on a journey.”

Focus

Also rare: the one-to-one consultation prior to the massage. “We want to identify the goal as clearly as possible. Important questions are what you want to focus on and what exactly you want to avoid when we spend 50 minutes on your body,” states the wellness boutique's owner. “As a result, we often know our guests well; when they come in, their favourite drink is waiting for them.”

Expats in particular already make the weekly or monthly trip to Amilda. “They are usually used to high international standards,” Amilda knows.

In the longer term, Amilda hopes to roll out her concept in high-end hotels. “Before we do that, we want to have it fully crystallised,” Sebastiaan exercises restraint. In vain. His wife laughs, “But if the opportunity arises, of course I won't say no!”

www.amilda.nl