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| - On my "fancy spa" tour of 2014, I went to Elmwood Spa for an aromatherapy 50 min massage. And I loved my experience at Elmwood Spa! I used to go exclusively to Body Blitz for splurging on massage therapy, to make use of their water therapy circuit but I think in terms of extra fringes, Elmwood is better.
Ambiance and amenities:
- From the minute you walk into the lobby, you're greeted with a delightful and relaxing scent. It puts you in a relaxed state-of-mind
- There's also a "spa soundtrack" played, with birds chirping etc
- I love that there's fruit infused water everywhere, great for making sure you're hydrated throughout the day. Also free tea as well.
- Free apples too!
- I know there were complaints earlier about cleanliness but when I was there on a weekend, it seemed quite clean. There were some guests that apparently have no common courtesy (or absent-minded) who had left their cups around but I did see cleaning staff making the rounds to remove the garbage and mop the floors.
- Weekends are quite busy, full of large groups of people and tourist-y people talking loudly. I guess that is to be expected.
- The women's change room has its own steam room and whirlpool, but you also have the choice to go to the 3rd floor for the co-ed steam room and whirl pool.
- The co-ed steam room is in the dark whereas the women's change room one is sunlight drenched.
- Unlimited towel usage.
- When you check in, they give you a warm moist towel to freshen up your hands with.
- First time customers who have to fill out the health form, it's a super easy process completed on an iPad and then you can go straight up to the change room. No need to wait for someone to pick up the form from you.
- Digital locks on the lockers so you don't have to carry around a key!
- Shampoo, conditioner, lotion and two choices of shower gel available in the shower.
- (Women's change room) Two showerheads you can use: handheld or rainfall
- A lot of space in the women's change room.
- A swimsuit dryer.
- Hair curlers and flat irons available as well.
The massage:
- I had a great relaxing massage with a Muscle Comfort oil scent.
- I believe there were 5 choices of scented oils to choose from if you go with the aromatherapy massage.
- I like that they put in extra touches/frills to help you relax during the massage: when you're flipped over from your back, a hot moist towel is put under your neck and a cool towel is put over your eyes.
- I even got my feet massaged!
Compared to Body Blitz (my usual go-to-spot):
- I don't have to carry around my locker key on my wrist which is great!
- Filling out the health form on paper vs the iPad at Elmwood, then having to wait until someone is free at the desk to take the form from you
- Body Blitz does have a better water circuit though. While Elmwood has the regular warm pool, the steam rooms and the whirlpools, Body Blitz has the dead sea salt pool, a green tea pool, a cold plunge pool (always seemed useless to me because I never used it), a sauna and a steam room.
- Body Blitz is also women only and "bathing suit optional" whereas Elmwood is co-ed and not bathing suit optional.
- More showers at Elmwood than Body Blitz.
- The massage at Body Blitz is good and great, depending on the RMT you get, but here as an extra "perk", there's the warm moist towel and the cold towel to cover the eyes when you're flipped over.
- Different music choices. IIRC, Body Blitz played an assortment of Enya type tracks whereas at Elmwood, it's quieter music but it's like bird sounds and non-descript nature sounds.
- More lounging spots in Body Blitz than Elmwood. Body Blitz has a wall of red lounge chairs to hang out on but Elmwood, there's upholstered chairs a la wait room feel by the 3rd floor pool. During busy times, all the chairs are pretty much taken.
- Better towel policy at Elmwood. At Body Blitz, everyone gets one robe, one smaller towel and one larger towel when you open your locker. Sure you can always ask an attendant for another towel (I rarely did) but at Elmwood, there are towels everywhere for you to grab when you need one so you don't have to keep reusing a wet towel.
- Online reservation system at Elmwood vs currently no online reservation system at Body Blitz.
- Price-wise, it's basically on par with each other.
- There's a place to eat lunch and alcoholic drinks menu at Elmwood but there is just a juice bar at Body Blitz.
Overall, I had a fantastic experience and would definitely go back!
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