Since its creation in 2000, Balnéa has become the leading thermal water relaxation complex in Loudenvielle, Occitania (Hautes-Pyrénées, France, Pyrenees).
According to Claire Bourg, accounting and communication director of Balnéa, the center is suited for a wide public who like combining the art of living with fitness, healthy eating, and staying in shape; it gets about 165,000 visitors annually.
Surrounded by mountains on the shores of Lake Génos-Loudenvielle, the balneotherapy centre taps into naturally warm water at between 30 and 33 degrees thanks to two boreholes drilled above the Bains de Saoussas at depths of 170 and 600 metres.
This water, loaded with trace elements as it travels underground through the bowels of the Pyrenean massif, is then channelled to Balnéa. Neither a leisure pool nor a spa, Balnéa is first and foremost an invitation to relaxation through all the pleasures of natural hot waters natural hot springs.
The centre is aimed at a wide range of people who like to combine healthy lifestyle with fitness and healthy eating.
On the 1st floor, a restaurant offers healthy, natural and balanced food. No pure dietetics, but appetising meals with delicate, subtle flavours.
Balnéa strives to produce recipes that respect a balanced diet, with no added fat and a preference for organic produce. Balnéa has been awarded the “Famille Plus Montagne” label.
From the outset, Balnéa has had two indoor bathing areas (Amerindian and Roman).
In 2011, the creation of the Japanese Baths opened up the centre to the outside world. In April 2015, Balnéa completed its offer with the arrival of the Bains Incas, an outdoor family relaxation area. In 2019, Balnéa opened the outdoor Mayan Baths, also for families. This year also sees the arrival of an indoor swimming pool. With these six facilities totalling 4,500 m², Balnéa invites you to enjoy a change of scenery.
Since 2011, Balnéa has been taking concrete action to reduce its impact on the environment. A wood-fired boiler heats Balnéa’s air by burning shredded wood waste. Balnéa’s hot water is recovered to run the heat pump that heats the Japanese, Amerindian and Roman pools. The cold water is used to cool certain areas at a lower cost.
The new Olympian pool is equipped with an artificial intelligence system that optimises the pool’s energy consumption according to the number of people using it, the time of day and the temperature. Finally, since this year, Balnéa has had a hydrolysis system that treats the water with salt from France.
Les Bains Amérindiens: here, it’s all about having fun as a family with young children. The activities at the Bains Amérindiens are fun and energetic: swimming against the current, geysers, waterfalls… all in water at 33°.
The architecture is inspired by the ‘green’ dwellings used by North American Indians to house their families.
Les Bains Incas: outdoor family relaxation (FROM 9 MONTHS-OLD). Directly linked to the Bains Amérindiens, the Bains Incas offer an outdoor pool next to the River Neste, with views of the surrounding mountains.
They have their own privacy and an environment reminiscent of this prestigious civilisation whose name means “Sons of the Sun”. Temple, totem poles, bamboo and statuettes make up this playful and exotic
exotic space.
A Peruvian musical accompaniment completes the experience.
Visitors enter the Inca Baths, where the water temperature is 34°C, through a covered airlock. They then enter the 85m² pool via an access corridor leading to a number of activities: a counter-current swimming corridor with whirlpools, a massage corridor, a jacuzzi open to the outside landscape and hydromassage jets.
Balnéa has opened the Bains Baths. Adjacent to the Inca Baths, this outdoor 100m² outdoor bathing area with a temperature of 34°, includes “bubble beds”, jets for massaging the feet and arches of the feet, and current swimming against the current…
The Bains Mayas are a dynamic place for the whole family, including children from 9 months-old.
The Japanese Baths, the Zen tradition (FROM 12 YEARS-OLD): Inspired by the sumptuous Japanese spas in the heart of the mountains.
Summer and winter alike, visitors can enjoy the warmth of the water without suffering from the cold. The adventure begins with a passage through a corridor of water at 33°. Visitors then move on to the three panoramic pools, each measuring between 30 and 33m².
The first is a 33° whirlpool with a lumbar and calf massage. The second is a 34° whirlpool and the third is a 34° whirlpool. Facing the Pyrenees, these last two pools invite you to contemplate and feel good.
It’s ideal place after hiking or skiing.
Adjacent to the Japanese Baths, the Cryo-Tonic Pavilion offers three thermal deckchairs for relaxing while controlling your temperature individually, a bithermal footbath that massages your ankles and calves thanks to 20 lateral sulphurous water jets distributed along the corridor, and a 4-season high-flow shower (hot, cold, warm, jets, fine rain) with 8 water jets and 4 different programmes.
But above all, the 1st ice cabin in the Pyrenees, equipped with a wall of ice and an ice fountain where the inside temperature is around 8°C.
Les Bains Romains (FROM 12 YEARS-OLD): a world of stone, wood and glass with a view of the Pyrenean mountains.
With its geometric lines, the Bains Romains is a world of raw beauty: a gigantic glass dome topped by Romanesque vaults, Greco-Roman inspiration, Moorish tiling, a striking composition of megaliths carved by hand…
In the light, a fresh waterfall and soothing mists lap at the edge of a large 32° lagoon reflecting palm trees and exotic plants.
Invigorating jets, whirlpool baths, goosenecks, hydro massages and aquatic massages. The underwater musical bath immerses you in a pool covered by a wooden dome.
The senses are awakened as you experience the pleasures of the caldarium (bath at 36°) alternating with the frigidarium (bath at 18°) and the tepidarium (whirlpool bath at 33°).
Address: Génos, 65510 Loudenvielle, France
Phone: +33 5 62 49 19 19
Hours:
Saturday 10 AM–9 PM
Sunday 10 AM–8 PM
Monday 2–7:30 PM
Tuesday 2–7:30 PM
Wednesday 2–7:30 PM
Thursday 2–7:30 PM
Friday 2–7:30 PM
How to get to?
From Paris: 8 hr 31 min (830 km) via A20
From Toulouse: 2 hr 2 min (160 km) via A64
From Andorra: 3 hr 51 min (201 km) via Eix Pirinenc/N-260
From Barcelona: 4 hr 37 min (365 km) via A-2
From Madrid: 6 hr 33 min (574 km) via A-2
From Monaco: 7 hr 26 min (733 km) via A8
From Moscow: 37 hr (3,606 km) via E30/M1
From Belgrade: 20 hr 25 min (2,036 km) via E70
From Istanbul: 20 hr 25 min (2,036 km) via E70
From Bern: 9 hr 36 min (991 km) via A9
See here Pyrenees travel guide
See here France travel guide
See here Spain travel guide
