The only memories I had of Monarto were vague and blurred at the edges. School holidays, heat, forced family bonding, and the particular chaos of being young and unimpressed by anything that involved leaving the games on the desktop computer.
So when I was invited to the luxury day spa out there – a proper one, with a full treatment menu and a Soak House, overlooking actual animals – I was intrigued.
Admittedly, I was sceptical the experience would actually relax me, the way you are when you’re highly caffeinated and your alarm has gone off just shy of 5am.
I didn’t expect it to work on me. And then it did.
Marula Day Spa sits quietly within Monarto Safari Resort, the kind of place that feels like you’ve transported into some tranquil, peaceful, utopian bliss that couldn’t possibly be just minutes away from the main freeway. The moment you step inside, the outside world softens. The palette is warm and earthy, the air scented, and all the employees earnestly greet you with a smile. The pace is immediately slower than anything I’d allowed myself that morning.
“The vision was to create a sanctuary where people could restore their wellbeing in a way that feels deeply connected to the land,” Day Spa Manager Alison tells me. Monarto, she explains, already carries a sense of wonder and stillness, so opening a luxury spa here became an opportunity “to merge two worlds – wellness and wildlife – in a way that hasn’t been done before in Australia.”
The intention was to let the environment lead. “We wanted guests to step into a space where the noise of everyday life falls away, and the rhythm of nature becomes the guide,” she says. “When you can see giraffes grazing in the distance or hear the wind move across the plains, your nervous system shifts almost instantly.”
The rituals here are slow, immersive and deliberately mirroring what Alison calls “the calming, unhurried energy of the savannah.” The experiences span Soak House facilities, rhythmic massages, botanically based facials, enhancements, escape packages and couples treatments, covering everything from soothing and restorative to revitalising and energising.
My treatment was the Herbal Recovery Revitalising Facial, designed for tired, stressed skin and built around Jurlique’s biodynamic botanicals – Holy Basil, Iris Root, Echinacea and Black Elderflower. There was an ice-globe moment I’m fully convinced transported my skin back to infancy. Warm and cool compresses, delicate massage, subtle aromatics drifting through the room.
By the end of the session, it felt like I had to relearn my anxieties – the ones that had quietly and willingly departed with every finger kneaded into my arms and warm towel delicately pressed on my face. It was a kind of euphoria I usually associate with holidays abroad. The sort – I thought – only possible with no deadlines and no emails in my inbox. Except this was happening on a random Thursday, just 55 minutes from Adelaide, down a dirt track, in a room overlooking open plains.
When I stood up, the only remnant of my former panicked self was one hoop earring I’d forgotten to remove. The rest of me felt new. Calmer. Skin glassy. Eye bags suddenly reading Kate Moss instead of “has escaped a mental asylum” or “forgot to take off her Halloween costume.” I briefly identified as a person who drinks enough water.
That feeling is central to Marula’s philosophy. Alison describes it as taking “the raw beauty of nature – its colours, botanicals, scents and stillness – and refining those elements into meaningful guest experiences.” Every detail, from the design of the treatment menu to the architecture itself, is guided by simplicity and purity, “but executed with artistry,” she says. “Nature provides the inspiration; our role is to elevate it just enough to create a crafted, luxurious experience without losing its authenticity.”
The partnership with Jurlique fits neatly into that philosophy, and the brand is woven through the experience at every turn. You can even choose your favourite oil from their selection to use during your facial.
“Jurlique was a natural fit for us,” Alison explains. Their biodynamic farm sits just 25 minutes away in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Barker, and their skincare philosophy is built around purity, sustainability and botanical excellence, values that align closely with Marula’s own.
“Partnering with a local brand that grows and formulates their own ingredients allowed us to offer treatments that feel both luxurious and deeply connected to South Australia’s landscape,” adds Alison, with the potential for future farm-to-spa collaborations already on the horizon.
But the treatments are only half the experience. The other defining feature of Marula is the Soak House, a 60-minute experience designed around hydrotherapy, contrast and stillness. Moving between the vitality hydrotherapy pool, cold plunge and dry cedarwood sauna feels both cleansing and invigorating – and I wasn’t sure how to navigate those feelings, but they felt damn good.
“The Soak House was inspired by modern bathing cultures around the world – Scandinavian, Japanese, and contemporary Australian coastal wellness,” Alison tells me. The aim was to create a unique experience that feels grounding and energising, but also visually beautiful. “As guests move between heat, cold and hydrotherapy, the intention is for them to feel their stress dissolve, their senses awaken, and their body re-energise.”
And then there’s the Wild Africa precinct, where Marula really sets itself apart.
I stepped into the Soak House expecting beautiful facilities and spa privacy, especially on a quiet weekday afternoon. But that all came secondary to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that pull the outside in completely, and as I sipped a glass of bubbles and grazed on charcuterie, two giraffes moved slowly across the landscape in the distance. This has to be royal treatment, or whatever comes above that.
The Soak House is a shared space, servicing up to eight guests at a time, though private sessions are available for those after complete solitude. Included are towel and robe hire, a glass of bubbles and your choice of tea or infused water, and permission to make the journey from spa to sauna to cold plunge entirely your own.
Alison says, the goal is that guests leave feeling “lighter, clearer, and deeply connected to themselves and the environment around them.” It sounds aspirational. It also happens to be true.
For first-time visitors, she recommends The Whisper of the Wild package, a combination of grounding foot ritual, full-body massage using warm Jurlique oils, and a deeply nourishing facial. Paired with time in the Soak House, she says, it offers “the perfect balance of hydrotherapy, heat, and hands-on nurturing,” and the best way to feel the full rhythm of the spa. Having now done exactly that, I’m inclined to agree.
You arrive sceptical, if that’s your thing. You leave quieter. And somewhere between the glass, the expansive surrounding savannah, the heat, the stillness and the giraffes grazing in the distance, you remember what it feels like to take care of yourself.
Marula Day Spa is open to both Monarto Safari Resort guests and the general public, bookings essential. For the website and to book your treatment, click here.
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