Spa

Spa Visit: Banyan Tree Spa at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore – Wonderful for body and soul, hard on the wallet

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banyan tree spa marina bay sands singapore

I’d been doing a bit of travel back and forth in recent weeks and haven’t had a weekend to myself in what seems like ages! I need a break. A proper one with no telephone line and no internet 😛 But since that isn’t happening any time soon, the next best thing is to book myself in and splurge on a luxury spa experience 😀

While at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore not too long ago, I saw they had a Banyan Tree Spa at Level 55 of the hotel. Views over the city state are lovely and I have one for you below pre-haze 🙂 Some quick enquiries turned up a free slot just after lunch. Its incredibly busy so I do recommend making reservations ahead, if you want to go there. Walk in customers like me either have to be incredibly lucky or be turned away. It was pricey, lets make no mistake. but I thought heck! If I’m going to work hard, I might as well play hard! *gulp*

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Spa Visit: St. Gregory Spa at Parkroyal Hotel Kuala Lumpur – World Luxury Spa Award Winner!

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st gregory spa parkroyal hotel kuala lumpur

I was recently asked what my guilty beauty pleasure was and I didn’t have to hesitate too long to answer – massages and facials. Its debatable how necessary they are for a healthy beauty routine, but I thrive on regular facials and massages. It may not be necessary, but it helps me keep my sanity and that makes it necessary, right? 😉

So, I’m always looking for new spas and massage places to try out. About 2 months ago, while I was having my haircut, I browsed through a Harper’s Bazaar magazine that had a whole section on spas. I was doing my best to memorize every single one (failed of course – should have bought that issue!) One of the winners of the Bazaar Spa Awards was St. Gregory Spa at Parkroyal Hotel Kuala Lumpur and I was planning to visit but kept putting it off until, as providence will have it, I received an offer to try the award winning “Most Soothing Body Rejuvenating Ritual” ~ A mother’s day special package. It was so good, I signed up for 2 more on the spot! 😀

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Spa Visit: So Thai Spa in Bangkok – 3 Hours of Affordable Luxury

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By way of explanation for my silence on the comment and email reply front, I just returned from a short trip to Bangkok so I’m catching up on everything now! 🙂 It was a trip I was supposed to have made last year but got pushed forward to this year instead. I’ll have some Bangkok tales come up later but there’s one thing people go for while in Bangkok or Thailand generally, and that is massages. Massages or even spa packages are relatively cheap by comparison to many parts of the world, even Malaysia and its so easy to find massage places. Almost every soi (street) has a few.

But this time, I wanted something different. I did not want to just pop into a random massage shop for a 1-2 hour RM30 (about US$10) foot massage, and I did not really want to have the traditional Thai yoga style stretching massage either. Based on previous experiences, some of them do more harm than good to my old bones and back. I was itching to try something different – a proper head to toe spa – so I looked around online and what do you know? My search yielded one – So Thai Spa.

so thai spa bangkok

I thought it interesting because So Thai Spa is also in London and they had recently opened up their Thai branch. But what got me most intrigued was that they are ranked #1 on Tripadvisor (as of January 2013) for spas in Bangkok (here). That can’t be an easy feat! The reviews on Tripadvisor sounded promising and I didn’t think their spa packages too pricey, so I bit the bullet and made a reservation!

What this meant was that I had to allocate 3 hours of my day (not hard, I’m on holiday after all!), find out how to get there (really easy) and see how the treatment went! I’m always open to other massage/spa suggestions so if you know of a good one in Bangkok, please tell me so I can visit next time! 🙂

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Spa Visit: Energy Day Spa at Mont Kiara Kuala Lumpur (Awesome body massages!)

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Note: This branch at Mont Kiara is now closed. Head to the outlet at Great Eastern Mall instead.

If there’s one pampering luxury I enjoy, it is a good body massage. And I recently realised that I hadn’t gone for one in ages. Months, in fact. My shoulders had been feeling very stiff lately, and I suddenly remembered that early in the year, I’d purchased some credit at Energy Day Spa. No better time than the present to use it (and the best part is that since I’ve already paid for it, I didn’t have to feel guilty or extragavant – yay! 😉 )

energy day spa mont kiara

A while ago, I experienced a massage at Energy Day Spa at Great Eastern Mall, Ampang. Whilst I enjoyed it, I didn’t like going there, because traffic is killer and I didn’t want to be all zen and relaxed after my massage only to have it all undone by the traffic. So, I have made the Mont Kiara branch my regular and I love it!

Energy Day Spa, as the name implies, has various spa packages that includes facials and body massage. They use Swissline skincare products in store and also are the distributors of the premium salon based skincare line. I don’t go for facials however. I go for their body massages which I find consistently quite good and relaxing.

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