Inside The High-Tech, High-Touch New Spa At The Global Ambassador

16.05.2024 - 14:15 / forbes.com

Step into the lobby of The Global Ambassador in Phoenix, Arizona, and you are bound to smile. It is open, airy and refined, with comfortable sofas, a Euro-style espresso lounge and a stylish lobby bar where laughter bubbles up like champagne, as cocktails (and mocktails) flow freely. An enticing glimpse of the playful Pink Dolphin poolside restaurant and Barbie-inflected outdoor pool is a wink at the fun ahead.

It would be hard to place The Global Ambassador in Phoenix, the American Southwest, or, actually, anywhere. In fact, there is a “global” vibe that could easily transport you to any number of chic international hotspots—Amalfi, Deauville, the Hamptons, Malibu—and a joyous, welcoming energy that just makes you feel good.

Wellness is alive—and well!—at the beautiful new 141-room Global Ambassador, a Preferred Hotels & Resorts Legend Collection and brainchild of 12-time James Beard Award nominee and restaurateur Sam Fox. In fact, it’s everywhere. Especially, of course, at the spacious 10-room spa and wellness center with two spacious outdoor terraces that face Camelback Mountain head-on.

“We’re pushing the idea of what wellness can be,” says Shazz Narduzzi, Director of Spa & WellBeing. “The evolution of wellness has shifted to include technology, and the innovation of tech has science behind it,” she says. “Here, there is a well-calibrated mix of human and machine.”

The extensive spa menu includes the innovative Mova massage, a Brazilian lymphatic drainage treatment that focuses on enhancing gut health and reducing bloating by increasing lymph and blood flow and manipulating the connective tissue. The Oxylight Sapphire facial includes a rejuvenating light treatment and manual massage—inside the cheeks—to tighten and tone facial muscles. “We don’t hesitate to introduce people to things they’ve never seen before,” says Narduzzi.

The Spa and 9000 square-foot fitness center at The Global Ambassador offers cutting-edge therapies at every turn, with biohacking technologies and recovery tools such as IV Hydration Therapy, Stretch & Theragun, Air Compression, PEMF, Cryotherapy, full-spectrum infrared sauna, light therapy. A range of tools and techniques for recovery are available, with treatments typically geared toward professional athletes now available to all. Soon to come, an expanded wellness menu, hiking program, meditative sound journeys led by Narduzzi, a classically trained pianist, who considers sound meditation a “spiritual energetic expression.”

“Everything we do here is based on energy–the energy of healing touch,” she says. Certified in sound therapy, a reiki master, yoga teacher and breathwork facilitator, Narduzzi brings an innovative and playful aspect to healing. The facilities offer