Why Those Expensive Spa Massages Are Worth Every Penny!

Because I am a licensed massage therapist, people are often eager to share with me their massage experiences with other therapists or elsewhere. When they mention getting a treatment at a hotel spa, they often cringe at the prices… they can’t believe those therapists are getting so much money… I explain that spa therapists usually only get a percentage quite a small part of the total price of the service (usually around $20-$25 per hour, plus tip), and that “you are paying for the amenities”.

And it’s true. All those clean towels, the endless supply of hot water, the beautiful furnishings and fixtures, and the staff it takes to maintain and support your luxury experience don’t come cheap. Many of us think we can get three “regular” massages at a clinic for the price of a spa experience. So we opted for those instead. And that’s probably why I haven’t had a “luxury experience” at a hotel spa for seven or eight years when my sister and I had a spa day at the MGM spa on a trip to Las Vegas.

Until today…

I just had a hot stone massage at the Halale’a Spa at the St. Regis in Princeville, Kauai. Halale’a is, appropriately, Hawaiian for “House of Joy.” The spa is so named because the land on which the St. Regis is built was known as Halale’a in ancient times. From the moment I walked in, the entire spa experience was exquisite, and yes… deliriously joyful! Check it out with me:

• Arrive an hour early, there are “services” to experience. Walk in and be greeted by the friendly receptionist.
• Return to the women’s lounge to get your locker, which already has a robe, towel, hangers, and a secure space for your personal belongings. What’s your size? You’ll need your spa slippers!
• Head to the sauna and grab that amazing book called Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends that you’ve wanted to read for about a year. It can’t be a coincidence that you’re reading a book about taking care of people and “giving them love” in business when you’re in a space where you feel fully cared for and “feeling the love.” “
• Go from the sauna to the steam room. Vaporize it. Aaaaaahhhhhh! Call yourself crazy, but it seems like you can actually feel your toxins coming out of you.
• Drink a bottle of Hawaiian Springs water…come on, it’s right there waiting for you and you just lost a lot of water in your extravagant sauna and steam room.
• Take a shower in the one the receptionist recommended, the one with shower heads everywhere, and water raining from the ceiling too.
• Enjoy the smell of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and shaving cream…doesn’t rich, scented shaving cream make shaving your legs a delight?
• Put on your signature Halale’a Spa bathrobe. So soft and yet so cozy.
• Do you have time. Slip into the waiting area of ​​the women’s lounge and keep reading that book. The love is really flowing now, you and the author are one.
• But wait, you’re in a luxury hotel spa… don’t run out of flavored water in the salon. We have orange slices in the water today…oh, you needed that vitamin C…the real thing is so much better than a supplement pill.
• “You must be Mrs. Nino (or Mrs.________ or Mr._______, write your name here),” her therapist says quietly…she knows all about “inner voices” and she’s not even a teacher! from kindergarten!
• Follow her to the treatment room. Don’t worry, there’s a heating pad on the table…she notices that you look a little chilly and she assures you that she has turned on the heating pad.
• Go for it…it’s a hot stone massage…your favorite kind! Feel how the heat of the stones sinks into your skin, first superficially and then at a very deep level. Say “ta-ta” to tension… it’s heading south.
• Feel the heat and weight of the smooth basalt stones sliding over your skin. Feel the stones as they apply mesh-accented taro butter cream over the spot of your tired muscles.
• Watch your thoughts slowly walk out the door…you’re in the zone. You are thanking your body for the work it has done for you in the past… well, your entire life. “Here you go, body… it’s all about you today. Thoughts, go!”
• Marvel at the skill of the therapist. She has really smooth transitions. Have you read Anatomy Trains by Thomas Meyer? And that movement, in which he went from the soles of the feet to the legs, the buttocks, the back, the shoulder, the arm to the hand, and then back to the foot … it was spectacular! Speaking of fluidity of movement! Talk about honoring fascia lines… Well, she definitely learned about Anatomy Trains.
• Know that it will come to an end soon, but you are okay with it. It was so good and think of how many deep breaths you have taken over the course of the last hour. That’s enough oxygen to dive for hours. Your cells thank you.
• Thanks to her. Tell her that she has excellent skill. Because she does. And she feels good to be reminded of that.
• Take it one more time. Take a few final deep cavernous breaths. Listen after turning off the water. You can also hear another spa visitor let out a pleasantly deep sigh. People are happy here. They have found a relief that they have been looking for.
• Time to leave. Say goodbye to the pretty dress. It’s been nice taking you, but my time here is over.
• Pay… tip big… and know, those “services”… they were worth every penny!

I got back to my hotel room and was exchanging emails with a dear client. I mentioned that I had just had a massage and “it was heavenly.” She replied, “Couldn’t have been better than yours and probably twice the price.”

It was more than double the price. And yet, I am still, OUT LOUD, promoting my competition. Because from time to time, ladies and gentlemen, the entire hotel spa experience is just what the doctor ordered…so relaxing. It can end up being one of those moments where you feel totally and completely “taken care of,” and particularly as adults, those moments are few and far between.

At the end of the day, your wellness doctor is supposed to help you take great care of yourself. Sometimes, it can come in the form of an expensive hotel spa experience. And when it does happen, rest assured that if I’m your wellness doctor, I’ll say, “More power to you, sister (or brother)!”