Vela Wellness

Vela Wellness occupies the converted ground floor of a heritage building on Salcedo Village’s tree-lined streets — a location that, combined with its appointment-only policy, keeps the experience genuinely private in ways that hotel spas cannot replicate.

The hilot-inspired treatments that define Vela’s menu have been rigorously modernized without losing their cultural integrity. The studio’s consulting hilot practitioner, Lola Belen, has been practising for 40 years and still assesses each client personally before treatments are planned. Her diagnostic touch — reading tension, temperature, and energy patterns through the hands — informs the therapeutic direction that the licensed therapists then execute.

The Full Body Pamanhikan — a 120-minute ritual combining diagnostic hilot, warm herbal poultice, and a proprietary body oil formulated from Philippine-grown botanicals — is Vela’s signature. It is unlike any spa treatment available in BGC or Makati’s hotels. There is no menu item comparable.