Hotels help you stay in shape for summer

By Kim Rahn

The hot weather has already come and summer vacation season is arriving soon. Many people ― especially women ― pledge to go on a diet around this time of the year, the season when people can’t hide their extra pounds and bulges with thick clothes.

Here are hotel packages and detoxification menus to give tips for dieting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

For ladies wishing to slim down, the Ritz-Carlton Seoul offers the Magic Moment Package through Aug. 21.

It presents a low-fat menu for dinner and breakfast, such as stewed chicken breast, muesli, egg white frittata and yellow pumpkin porridge. Guests opting for the package will stay at a balcony room where sun beds for tanning have been prepared.

Guests can also take a training class with one of the hotel’s fitness club trainers, such as diet gymnastics and learn exercise routines. Free one-hour swimming and training in the gym is also available.

The package price starts from 270,000 won for two persons. For more information, call 02-3451-8114.

Novotel Ambassador Gangnam presents Free Summer Health Package through June 17.

The package is subtitled “7 and a 1/2 package,” and the amount indicates the seven and a half bottles of mineral water that is the suggested daily water consumption for healthy life.

For guests’ health, the package features one night stay and breakfast at The SQUARE, where various cuisines are presented by Michelin Star chef Gerard Mosiniak. Up to two children under 16 are eligible for free dining when accompanying parents. A bottle of Evian special limited Issey Miyake mineral water is also included.

Personal training and free indoor swimming pool access are available at In-Balance Wellness Fitness Club. The package is priced at 189,000 won. For more information, call 02-567-1101.

Lotte Hotel Seoul introduces macrobiotic specialties at Korean restaurant Mugunghwa in June.

Part of the slow food movement, a macrobiotic is a dietary regimen featuring home-grown ingredients, natural seasoning and whole grains, and the specialties will help restore appetite and energy.

The lunch and dinner courses include duck steamed with black garlic, mussel porridge, steamed dumplings of seafood and vegetables, seasoned mountain herbs, barley “bibimbap,” pan-fried sea bream and vermicelli, and sliced chicken boiled with ginseng.

The lunch courses are 60,000-120,000 won and dinner, 90,000-250,000 won. For more information, call 02-317-7061.

For those seeking a body massage, Imperial Palace Hotel presents an Aroma Beauty Package until the end of the year.

The package includes a night in a deluxe room, breakfast buffet for two, free access to the indoor pool and fitness club, and a 30-minute aroma back treatment program for two at Medical Square IP Esthetics. It is priced at 299,000 won and an additional 100,000 will include a 60-minute whole body treatment program. For more information, call 02-3440-8000.

Seoul Palace Hotel’s Japanese restaurant TA BONG offers a detoxification and slow food course menu for guests to eliminate accumulated toxic metals and waste from the body.

The menu includes dioscorea batatas (yam) to clear blood, salted sea cucumber for preventing aging, allium victorialis herb for activating intestines and lowering cholesterol. The course is available throughout June at 70,000 won. For more information, call 02-2186-6888.