The Spa & Gym

This is the problem with a good massage: you don’t want it to end. The rubdown at The Spa & Gym made me unwilling to shed my bath robe and leave the comfy massage bench. I was that spoilt.

You’d expect a spa centre in a five-star hotel to be classy. Sure enough, the gilded spa area is just above the gym where patrons sweat it out on the treadmill and spinner bikes. The staff ushered me upstairs for my Serenity Massage (90 minutes/RM280), and greeting me at the doorway is warm sandstone with rich Italian marble flooring. Rooms are limited – two couple rooms, four individual rooms – but the décor inside is nothing minimal at all. Bedecked with a round soaking tub behind gauzy curtains, mirrors, wooden beams and soft lighting, my room almost looked like a handsome boudoir.

Once pillowed on bed, I could feel the world behind me. The Serenity Massage is meant to restore a feeling of wellbeing and sooth the mind. My therapist stippled some Pevonia Botanica oil on my back and almost immediately, the sweet aroma of safflower and lavender tickled my nose. Imposing powerful strokes after another, my therapist literally used her entire hand – knuckles, palm and fingers – to knead my sore body. She made smooth circular motions around my shoulders to sort out the kinks, causing my nerves to vellicate a little. And I like that very, very much.

So, just how good is my therapist? Her touch worked better than a lullaby and I swear that I was dreaming at some point but I could definitely use more pressure around my collar and neck. Also, there was almost no hint of stickiness after my massage since the spa uses non-mineral based oilment (trivia: sticky after-feeling means no good as the oil doesn’t absorb into your skin). Wait, happiness didn’t end here. More relaxation beckoned like the bubbling Jacuzzi and steam rooms if you care for a pore-piercing soak.

The Spa & Gym also offers other treatments such as facial, body wraps, mani-pedi, reflexology and indulgent milk baths. And to sum up your healthy endeavour, take a swig of fresh fruit juice at the bar outside the gym and linger around the pool overlooking the verdant KL scenery. Not only I didn’t want my massage to end, I wanted more of it. Kong Wai Yeng