Relaxation rooms

I hate having to get dressed and join the real world after a spa treatment – is there anything I can do to ease the let down?
18 April 2007

Miranda responds: I have to agree that I dread the pressure of knowing my wonderfully relaxed state is about to come to an abrupt end. Whether we like it or not the spa needs your room for the next client and however gently the therapist tells you to take your time you feel you shouldn’t lie there for more than a couple of minutes.

There is even less time for those who have to change inside the treatment room and one finds oneself actually rushing to pull on clothes, opening the door to a busy reception area, scrabbling around for a credit card to pay while worrying about whether a tip is in order, before exiting into a busy world – all in a state of semi stupor.

To help ease the pain there is one aspect to a spa which I always look for and it is high on my list of priorities when looking to book spa treatments – the relaxation room. I do not mean the comfortable room where you originally met your therapist – these meet and greet areas are fine before your treatment but very disturbing for anyone trying to snooze off the effects afterwards. In my opinion all good spas should have a darkened, quiet room with beds and covers where clients can retreat to in their woozy state.

The therapist should guide you along and tuck you up with a long glass of water. Rest is essential for the treatment to take full effect - allowing you to join the world again at your own pace. Water is also an important factor, both replacing lost fluids and ensuring your zombie like state is not actually due to dehydration and low blood pressure. The longer you can hang around in the spa environment the better, but you will find as little as 30 minutes of real rest together with hydration will make an enormous difference to that “let down” so often experienced when returning to the world too quickly.

An exceptional post-treatment relaxation room can be found at The Spa at Pennyhill Park Hotel near Bagshot where warm waterbeds and duvets provide the perfect environment for a serious snooze. For an overseas treat The E’Spa Spa at Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo has comfortable beds with blankets, music through personal headphones and a selection of health drinks and nibbles to re-energise. Samas spa at the Park Hotel Kenmare in Southwest Ireland has slick glass cabins that are separate sex and overlook a soothing rocky glade. Post treatment the therapist tucks you into a sage coloured fleece blanket and, for ultimate comfort, puts an ergonomic remote-contolled bed adjuster in your hand.

For the more budget conscious The Quellenhotel and Spa in Austria includes 10 minutes at the end of each treatment for the client to stay put and drift off before retreating to a “quiet room”. If you book into a spa hotel and discover they do not have a relaxation room it is worth checking whether they offer an “in room spa service”. One is always tempted down to a lovely spa facility but actually maximum effect has to be felt by an evening treatment followed by falling into bed for a great night's sleep.

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