Which spa is right for me?
A stay in the spa can awaken spirits and be pure relaxation – but also exactly the opposite. Choosing the right spa is important. These are the basic spa types:
CUISINE INSTEAD OF COUNTING CALORIES
Many hotels, including some that have a star-level restaurant on-site, offer wellness in the spa before the candles are lit for a five-course candlelit dinner in the evening.
Sounds good at first glance and can mean relaxing hours, especially in the off-season, while storms and rain may be raging outside. In addition, you have a good excuse if the dinner in the evening turns out to be too rich. After all, you’ve done something for your figure, swam a few laps, perhaps enjoyed a massage and spent time in the sauna and steam bath.
Here, the spa mainly provides caressing for the soul — also important from time to time. But be careful: After an intensive session in the sauna and steam bath, the effects of alcohol are much stronger and faster.
So don’t be surprised if you’re already slightly tipsy after the champagne as an aperitif and, after the subsequent glass of white wine and red wine, you go to the Powder Room to freshen up your lipstick, slightly unsteady.
It’s really a pity about the immense effort that a fantastic dinner at star level requires in terms of preparation and commitment. After an intensive wellness session, you will not really be able to enjoy the fine nuances and will find ten courses rather exhausting.
SPA MENU INSTEAD OF DINNER MENU
A serious spa has an extensive range of wellness options and professional treatments, which are often listed in a so-called spa menu. Thorough study of the spa menu gives you a good impression of the specialization of the respective spa. You should pay attention to the following points:
What is the relationship between applications, sports and relaxation options compared to cosmetic applications?
Is there an extensive range of different massages or is there a specialization in specific types of massage? What does the spa menu say about the qualifications of the staff who do these massages? A serious spa describes the qualifications of the employees.
If a long pre-booking time is indicated on the spa menu for a relatively large number of treatments, this indicates that spa treatments are not the focus here and that a therapist has to come to the house for many treatments.
Here the spa is more of an add-on business that you would like to take with you. Most of the time, the treatment rooms look appropriate and don’t allow for any real relaxation, and even a therapist who appears rushed to your treatment often lacks the necessary calm.
Better leave it alone, because you are rushed yourself. A quiet hour with a good book or music usually has a better effect here.
PERFECT ALL ROUND
If you are willing to invest enough time in a spa stay, then you deserve that the spa has invested accordingly.
A good spa offers the opportunity to view the rooms in advance without obligation. Take the opportunity to find out whether you will really feel comfortable in the area later.
A perfect spa begins in the entrance area. This should be staged in such a way that you feel calm and a first moment of relaxation as soon as you enter. This can be staged very differently.
At a spa, you’ll walk down a candlelit and soothing scent-filled aisle to register. Elsewhere, a waterfall greets you or you suddenly have the impression of standing in the forest, in the jungle or in a Japanese Zen garden.
It is important that from this first moment you have the feeling that you can relax and do something good for yourself. If the entrance looks like an average doctor’s office or the salesroom of a perfumery, skepticism is called for, because the first impression is usually not deceptive.
Do you receive towels, bathrobe and shoes from the spa for their stay there? What is the waiting room like? Do they offer you a drink upon arrival, or do you have to sit in a sober, cool waiting room next to a sad hydroponic until you’re picked up for the treatment?
What is the changing room like? Are there items such as shampoo, body wash, good hair dryers, etc.? Can you go directly to the showers and the preparatory rooms such as sauna, steam bath from there? Is there a pleasant, quiet room atmosphere overall or is the spa more reminiscent of a hectic transit station?
What are the treatment rooms or massage rooms like? Do you look at an ugly floor from the massage table or have you made an effort and for your
Relaxation staged a beautiful bloom there? How is the transition from one area of the spa to the other designed? Does this path itself offer a stimulus for relaxation, or are you being sent through bare corridors?
What impression does the relaxation room make? Would you like to relax there? Is there a nice view of nature from the room? Does the relaxation room offer enough privacy or is there a lounger close to the next lounger and tattered magazines piled up on a small table?
How does the staff welcome you? Do you have the impression of being welcome or are you made to feel that you are more of an annoying appointment that has to be “worked through”? Are you offered a cup of tea or are you just nodding and pointing to a carafe of water over which cling film has been carelessly stretched?
As you walk through the spa, do you feel that the employees are proud of their spa and enjoy working there for your relaxation?
Are you trying to find out what you want and expect from the applications? Are you informed about the qualifications of the therapists? Do you get advice on the combination of applications or do you just wait silently to hear your “order”.
Are they trying too hard to sell you too much, or are they so convinced of their own performance that they are sure that they will be able to win over a future regular customer after their first visit to the spa, who will enthusiastically tell friends and acquaintances about the spa?
THE SPECIALISTS
Some spas are part of a holistic concept that offers treatments, nutrition, sports facilities, trainers and coaches, sometimes even with a doctor’s check-in.
A longer stay is usually planned there and thorough research is therefore even more important. Depending on what you decide on, whether it should be Ayurveda treatments, thalassotherapy, a boot camp with strenuous hiking tours through the desert and raw food with a few almonds for dinner, the recommendation here is to choose the qualified specialists, that focus on one topic.
An Ayurveda massage between skiing, hay sauna and après-ski is nice, but don’t expect great effects for your body, your soul and your future lifestyle. Decide here for those providers who, with experience and qualified therapists, coaches and trainers, concentrate on one thing.
Then you will be amazed and the stay in the spa will change you in a positive way and maybe even have a positive influence on your lifestyle for years to come. However, you will only smile mildly at the attempt by many hoteliers to offer a spa that does not deserve its name.
