I interrupt the regularly scheduled food discussion to take a breather. Relax. Chill out. Take a deep breath and enjoy the ocean breeze (or your office a/c. Whatever.) Inhale the scents of lavender aromatherapy oil.
As part of a blogger event at the Casa Marina and Reach resorts this week, I indulged in a spa treatment (they fed me, put me up in
two fabulous resorts and “forced” me to have a spa treatment. It’s a tough life.) I had my choice of massages or facials, yet I found it interesting that they offer no nail services. Alas, my badly-in-need-of-a-pedicure feet will just have to wait.
I chose a deep tissue massage, and I opted to have the massage on the beach. There are a couple of little huts right on the Casa Marina beach, with a shower/changing hut in the middle. I met my massage therapist, for a brief chat about my “problem areas”, which I hesitantly explained to her this way: “Um, well, I managed to hurt my knee yesterday while I was sleeping. No, I have no idea what I did, but it hurts like hell. Oh, and my back and neck are complete knotted messes.” I was pretty certain she would need several days to take care of all that and yet I only had 50 minutes.
Nonetheless, I settled into the massage table, with a view of the ocean (until my eyes were covered with a lavender-infused cloth), listened to the breeze and relaxed. It was like a Tuesday morning miracle. It felt good to know that my phone was not accessible for a few minutes.
The massage itself was great. She managed to work out most of my mystery knee pain and make quick work of some of the back issues, too. The fact that I manged to get up from the table was a feat in itself. Frankly, the fact that anyone has a massage and then leaves their little hut is impressive. You just want to camp out there forever. (But then you (I) realize there is an awesome dinner in your (my) future, and you(I) reluctantly get up.)
I made my way back to my room and sat on the balcony for a few minutes. I had a perfect view of (the beach, and also) my massage hut and really had to keep myself from yelling at the next person walking in to get out of my hut. It must be a testament to my state of relaxation that I was able to restrain myself.
You should go. Is it worth the price? I would say yes. The cost of the massage, including a 20% gratuity is about $150, which is fairly typical of a resort town or big city. The massage was very good and the setting was unbeatable. (In a hurricane, I might opt to have the treatment inside, though).
