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| - I really enjoyed my time at Elmwood. I was pretty impressed by the change room--clean, pretty, had a whirlpool, was stocked with beautifying essentials (e.g. hair straightener, all sorts of creams in the showers, etc.)--and of course the spa services did what they were supposed to do, which is to relax me and make me feel pampered. And nearly all of the staff were very friendly and consistently checked to make sure that my day was going well. I had the three course lunch; as others have said, the food didn't blow me away, but it was still pretty decent.
Why this wasn't a five was had to do with the actual length of the services. I had the Elmwood Escape package, which according to the schedule, consisted of a 60 minute massage, a 50 minute facial, a 50 minute pedicure and a 35 minute manicure. It seemed like the set up time for the staff members performing these services were accounted into these time frames, so everything was notably shorter than the advertised times (e.g. I definitely know my pedicure was about 30 minutes of actual foot-attention time.) So while the services were well executed, I still felt slightly ripped off.
Oh, and I know supposed "calmness-enhancing" words like "water therapies" and "whisper room" are a part of the spa industry, but my down-to-earth sensibilities still cry foul at this. Let's just leave the silly adjectives aside people. Can we just not call these things what they are? (In this case, a swimming pool and a lounge.) A fantastic spa can still be fantastic without the cheesy descriptors.
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