Somehow planning a trip to Victoria this popped up on my feeds and then somehow I also caught this place watching Global TV news and showed the wife who got on to it and booked our little relaxing getaway. It seems like we have been on a search whenever we go somewhere that is not our home city for places like this and this was a unique experience.
Right in Victoria, located on the main level of a condo building, you first enter and you are greeted by reception, and depending on what extras you have added to your stay, we went in just for a 2 hour stay to use the facilities and what is cool is they have a sheet and also posted on the wall how you should approach a Nordic spa, first by going 'hot' (sauna or steam room) then 'cold' (cold plunge or Nordic shower) and then 'relax' (salt room, or outdoor patio) rinse and repeat.
First off I have to say I am from Vancouver, and I wished that we had one of these tucked into our city, it maybe smaller in size than most spas I have been to of late, but the set up is brilliant with really no space wasted, and a way to unwind and relax (I didn't get to see the massage area, but I bet it is great). Most of the time you have to make effort to get to places like this, and if I was living in Victoria I would come around here more often.
The place is super clean, you are going to say 'cause it is new', yes.. and also while sitting in one of the steam rooms I saw the staff wipe down areas constantly so to keep this place pristine. The changing room lockers all have self set locker codes, and are nice a roomy. The showers in the changing rooms have the cleaning products loaded up for you (shower gel, shampoo, conditioner). The area we used had a dry sauna and a steam room, and both were roomy enough for 8 people, if you are lucky and no one is in there with you, just relax and let the heat do its work.
The second part of the 'circuit' was to do something cold, and let me say that the cold plunge located at the centre of the area was one of the coldest plunges I have done compared to others I have been to (korean spa, montreal spas.. etc)... I was impressed at people who went in here and stayed as long as they could... also a fun thing to watch people go in when they don't know what to expect. If frigid cold is not your thing there is a shower room right next to the plunge with a bucket that is being filled, you just pull the rope and get soaked... don't worry it is not that cold... nothing like that plunge.
The third part was the relax part, and I sat in the salt room which also had an air purifier, and it was nice.... I also went to the outside patio where there was a slush maker where you could put on your skin, all in all it was a great experience, truly a place to unwind that is not out far.
One last note, I was fortunate to speak to Marci and I had no idea who she was at the time but told her my experience, as she asked, and found out some things about this relaxing retreat.
I hope to be back in Victoria, and will gladly take a few hours to go through this 'rinse-and-repeat' session all over again. read more