This week was Stuart's birthday so I decided I'd push the boat out for his birthday present - and also complete something off the list of 52 New Things. For years Stuart and I have talked about going to Bath, but we'd never got round to it. Therefore I decided we would have a spa day, at the famous Thermae Bath Spa.
We arrived in Bath, and wandered around for a while before heading along the cobbled streets to the Spa.
We choose to go for the standard entry, which includes entrance to the rooftop pool, the Aroma steamrooms, and the Minerva baths. And as it was a special occasion I added on a neck and back massage for us both. We grabbed our complimentary towels and gowns and got ready to relax. The spa has a strict policy of no phones or cameras so the pictures going forward are all taken from the spa's website. We started at the top, going straight to the roof top pool to enjoy the views across Bath
The view was pretty nice, but I think it might be better in the evening with all the city lights on. It was fun to be in a warm pool whilst it was so cold outside but it was a lot busier than the stock photos show, with most people in the jacuzzi section. We relaxed here for sometime but after a while it was time to warm up in the steamrooms downstairs.
There are four different steam rooms, each with a different aromatherapy scent. When we were there, there was a frankincense room (too overpowering) rose room (too flowery) ginger and lemongrass (smelt amazing, but the room was far too hot) and finally a mint and eucalyptus room. This was the room we spent most our time in, the heat was okay, and I hoped the scent would help clear my stuffy nose. To be honest though, I'm not really a steamroom fan. I don't know how you can relax when it's so hot you're sweating from every pore, but having different scents and rooms to go in and out of made it more interesting. However, after all that steam we were ready to head to the final floor, the Minerva bath.
This was my favourite room. It wasn't as busy as the rooftop pool, it had a little jacuzzi, and a lazy river. As it wasn't as busy as the roof it meant I could really relax and switch off. The lazy river had a gentle current which took you gently round the pool and I really felt quite serene. So now the spa had done its job of helping me unwind it was time for our massage. I felt this would be the icing on the cake for a gentle and restful day.
We started by completing a little form saying what kind of massage we needed (I put one to help me destress and unwind) and the therapist had a quick chat to see where I thought my stress was held. As I spend most days switching between sitting at a computer and moving boxes I said my shoulders might need some extra attention. And with that I started to have my first ever massage. To begin with, it was quite nice, there was some pressure, but light music and sweet smelling oils distracted me. Then the torture began. Now, as I've said, I have never had a massage before so I don't know if this is normal or not, or if the therapist decided I had so much stress she would beat it out of me, but man, did it hurt. She used her forearms to roll down my back, pushed with all her body weight, and generally made me want to ask her to stop. But as I am British and would never complain about a haircut, nevermind a massage, I just lay there and waited for her to finish. Once it was over the therapist was so nice and helpful; explaining what she did, giving me shoulder exercises to do at the computer, and generally making me forget the pain I had just endured. She definitely knew what she was talking about, which leads me to believe massages are meant to feel like that one had. All I know is, although I will take her advice and do some shoulder rolls at my desk, I am not a massage convert. I headed out of the room to find Stuart had endured similar pain, which reinforced my idea that massages hurt!
Feeling a little more tender than we had started the day we decided it was time to head out, and get a big fat burger to recover with. Once we had taken a final selfie outside the spa of course.
We arrived in Bath, and wandered around for a while before heading along the cobbled streets to the Spa.
We choose to go for the standard entry, which includes entrance to the rooftop pool, the Aroma steamrooms, and the Minerva baths. And as it was a special occasion I added on a neck and back massage for us both. We grabbed our complimentary towels and gowns and got ready to relax. The spa has a strict policy of no phones or cameras so the pictures going forward are all taken from the spa's website. We started at the top, going straight to the roof top pool to enjoy the views across Bath
The view was pretty nice, but I think it might be better in the evening with all the city lights on. It was fun to be in a warm pool whilst it was so cold outside but it was a lot busier than the stock photos show, with most people in the jacuzzi section. We relaxed here for sometime but after a while it was time to warm up in the steamrooms downstairs.
There are four different steam rooms, each with a different aromatherapy scent. When we were there, there was a frankincense room (too overpowering) rose room (too flowery) ginger and lemongrass (smelt amazing, but the room was far too hot) and finally a mint and eucalyptus room. This was the room we spent most our time in, the heat was okay, and I hoped the scent would help clear my stuffy nose. To be honest though, I'm not really a steamroom fan. I don't know how you can relax when it's so hot you're sweating from every pore, but having different scents and rooms to go in and out of made it more interesting. However, after all that steam we were ready to head to the final floor, the Minerva bath.
This was my favourite room. It wasn't as busy as the rooftop pool, it had a little jacuzzi, and a lazy river. As it wasn't as busy as the roof it meant I could really relax and switch off. The lazy river had a gentle current which took you gently round the pool and I really felt quite serene. So now the spa had done its job of helping me unwind it was time for our massage. I felt this would be the icing on the cake for a gentle and restful day.
We started by completing a little form saying what kind of massage we needed (I put one to help me destress and unwind) and the therapist had a quick chat to see where I thought my stress was held. As I spend most days switching between sitting at a computer and moving boxes I said my shoulders might need some extra attention. And with that I started to have my first ever massage. To begin with, it was quite nice, there was some pressure, but light music and sweet smelling oils distracted me. Then the torture began. Now, as I've said, I have never had a massage before so I don't know if this is normal or not, or if the therapist decided I had so much stress she would beat it out of me, but man, did it hurt. She used her forearms to roll down my back, pushed with all her body weight, and generally made me want to ask her to stop. But as I am British and would never complain about a haircut, nevermind a massage, I just lay there and waited for her to finish. Once it was over the therapist was so nice and helpful; explaining what she did, giving me shoulder exercises to do at the computer, and generally making me forget the pain I had just endured. She definitely knew what she was talking about, which leads me to believe massages are meant to feel like that one had. All I know is, although I will take her advice and do some shoulder rolls at my desk, I am not a massage convert. I headed out of the room to find Stuart had endured similar pain, which reinforced my idea that massages hurt!
Feeling a little more tender than we had started the day we decided it was time to head out, and get a big fat burger to recover with. Once we had taken a final selfie outside the spa of course.
Overall I thought the spa day was interesting. It's a little too expensive to do again, unless it was a special occasion, and if I do have to attend one in future, I might go for a body wrap or facial, rather than a massage!
No comments:
Post a Comment