Ho. Ly. Smokes. My best friend and I decided to take an adventure day and go to Wi. Neither of us…read morehad ever been to a day spa like this, and we were game for a new experience. Turned out to be one of our favorite things we've done! I don't have any photos, because it seemed weird to have my phone with me, but the ones online are pretty accurate.
The valet and check in process were very smooth and easy. We got into our lockers and put on our very spiffy shorts/t-shirt/slippers combo and checked out the Jijimbang floor where the clay, jade, salt, and cold saunas were. We LOVED the clay sauna best - very relaxing to lay in a bunch of clay balls at a very pleasant heat. It also made for a little comedy trying to crawl our way out. We are 2 middle aged ladies... the comedy was bound to happen. The jade sauna was also great, and little hotter, which we also appreciated. They also have this domed sauna that I swear feels like a portal to hell. It's well over 215 degrees, and made me nervous to stand in. We were there for a minute or two and decided we weren't THAT hard core yet.
We realized it was almost time for our treatments, so we showered and got into the hot tub as requested, and then sat and waited for the women to come get us for our treatments. We got the super fancy deluxe package that came with a scrub, oil treatment, hair wash/deep condition, mini facial, massage, and finishing oil. My services were performed by Rose, who, quite frankly, worked miracles in that semi-private room. I gallumped in, a scaly, dehydrated, sad little gila monster and after about 2 hours, emerged from the primordial goo a sleek, and slithery little skink...
Rose probably scrubbed a toddler's worth of dead skin off me (yikes! Not the nips!), dousing me frequently with fragrant water that conjured up scenes from "The Ten Commandments." She went kind of light on my vampire feet, which I was fine with. Rose didn't need to be a hero. Flipping on the table was quite the feat, as it's very slippery, but Rose was there to prevent me from torpedoing right off the end. Next came the hair wash, which smelled amazing, and a deep conditioner that was wrapped in a towel to work its magic. We were instructed to shower and hit the dry sauna for 5 minutes, and were summoned back for round 2.
Next, we were back on the table, on top of a Mylar blanket. Oil was poured on, and we were wrapped like baked potatoes to marinate while a refreshing mask was applied to our faces. After 10 minutes or so, the mask was removed, and the massage was up. Now, I hate massages, but this was about as pleasant as it could've been. Rose pretended to not be horrified by the way my back sounded like a güiro when she rubbed it, and I pretended not to want to roll off the table out of being extremely ticklish. We got through it, and I was rewarded with another face mask, hair rinsed out, and another oil applied with gold flakes. It smelled, coincidentally, like roses.
After our saga, oiled up, and not a flake to be found for miles, we ate at the restaurant, and the food was delicious and reasonably priced. We checked out the salt sauna (kinda scratchy and hot to sit in), and the clay sauna again (I actually dozed off, which I don't recommend), and the cold sauna, which reminded me of the ol' walk-in at the VIP Pizza I used to work at. At this point, we were a little "hotted out," but vowed to return, and to take advantage of the ability to nap at all kinds of spots around the multiple floors. I will definitely get scrubbed again, and probably another facial and oil wrap. They were GLORIOUS.
All in all, the $40 day price is absolutely worth it, if you don't want/need services. The fee is waived if you get a certain level of service, which makes it even MORE worth it for a nice day of saunas, spas, and generally lazing about. That said - if you are in any way precious, priggish, or prudish, this may not be for you. It's a very naked place, and all the services are conducted in a semi-private place. You can hear people's conversations, see (kind of) what's going on with others, and you're slithering around on a table in some pretty interesting ways.
Overall, this was GLORIOUS. I absolutley can't wait to go back, and neither can my friend. We are already looking for dates! Worth every penny.