Boy Meets Spa
One Spa, Edinburgh
In our world, some things are either blue jobs (recycling and dishwasher stacking) or pink jobs (dusting and holiday packing). When I think of spa days, I confess that, (like most blokes) I think of them as being ruled by the ladies. So, when Alie and Christina suggested the boys do spa, you can imagine my thoughts of “erm, surely that’s a pink job?”
The odds were doubly stacked against me as I freely admit, doing squat diddle doesn’t come naturally to me. There’s always something in life that needs attention. So the notion of going to chill for a day in a spa was always going to be something of a challenge for me. When I was informed I was going to experience a day at Edinburgh’s multi award winning One Spa, my ears perked up: the One Spa package for men – perhaps this boy could do spa after all…
My voyage into the world of spas began as I was welcomed to One Spa and introduced to my therapist Rebecca. My feet were then refreshed in a warming foot ritual, setting the tone for a sublimely chilled session ahead.
Following this, my back, neck and shoulders received some seriously good attention in an energising body massage – I was invited to select an oil for my massage based on my mood and I was told that today my body connected with the energising ESPA oil… Clever stuff and it seemed to work a treat.
By this stage, I was convinced that Rebecca could easily become a new best friend – and that was before the real revelation. The men’s facial.
Ok, you’ll have to excuse my male naivety here, but until this point, I thought a facial was simply a glorified dollop of nice smelling cream applied to a face in a suitably darkened room. How wrong was I…
The One Spa male facial was more of a magical choreography of scent, warmth, cooling, massage, stimulation, exfoliation and moisturising than my (ahem – youthful) face has ever experienced. I genuinely lost all notion of time and similarly lost count of the number of products Rebecca used on my skin (I gave up counting when I reached ten).
I later discovered another of the ESPA signature treatments was the Oriental head massage which ended my treatments. I could have gladly had it continue all day; it’s surprising that having your head gently squeezed can be so deeply therapeutic.
Following a sleepy doze in the relaxation room, I dragged myself to the upper levels of spa facilities – a large, warm, bubbling open air rooftop hydrofoil that lies at the heart of One Spa. There I lay in the sun, submerged by the calming waters for ages. Another highlight for me was the Aroma Grotto with the intense steamy jasmine interior and the menthol rain showers.
With a high tech gym at your disposal and eight treatment rooms (including one couples treatment suite) you could easily lose an entire day One Spa. Go alone if you need to escape the wedding planning for some precious ‘me time’, or plan it with a group of guys or girls if you want to share the experience. You can design your day with the resort team if you would like to create something bespoke for a group; add in a spa brunch, sprunch (spa lunch) or afternoon tea following your treatments… My advice, book your visit into the diary and just spend as long as you can get away with before you have to get back to those blue and pink jobs.
I left with a refreshed outlook – I’m thinking boys should meet spa regularly… Niels