Guide on choosing the right spa and spa etiquettes to follow

choosing the right spa and spa etiquettes

Visiting spa for better wellbeing is an ancient practice but people had fewer options and lesser accessibility. But in this 21st century, spa goers have swelled astronomically whether it is for better appearance or health. Not choosing the right spa would be a sheer waste of money and time and of course damaging to your health and wellness.

With different types of spas flooding the market, making the right choice could be tricky. Let us also not forget the growth of Spa tourism where countries are creating enticing packages for tourists. Here we deal with some of those vital aspects like why do you at all need to visit a spa and how to choose the right one whether it is in your locality or away from home and few tips on spa etiquettes.

Guide on choosing the right spa and spa etiquettes to follow

Why do you need to visit a spa?

spa visit

Well, the obvious reason is to pamper yourself and enjoy a day of relaxation! Just the thought of spending a day at a spa makes you feel happy and you look forward to it, with all your heart! If you have never been to a spa, here are some of the best reasons why you need to visit one, pronto!

Spa for health

We live in a busy world where nobody has time to relax and enhance his or her health. Spa is the best and less time intensive way that helps you to feel relaxed and tension free. It helps to cure problems like high blood pressure, energy blockage, and various skin diseases. Various skilled and qualified therapists can help you to feel better in several chronic diseases. Regular spa sessions can help you to release muscle tension. This will help you to live a healthier and fit life.

Spa to enhance beauty

beauty treatment at a spa

Obesity, pimples, blemishes, and bulges are the results of unhealthy lifestyle. Spas help you get rid of these problems. A spa helps you to lose few inches, shape your body, and helps you to enhance your overall personality and beauty. It opens the pores and removes dirt or harmful bacteria. It is beneficial for those who are keen on having a radiant and glowing skin as it restores the glow in your skin and makes it healthy and bouncy.

Spa for relaxation and holiday

Spa tourism is becoming very popular these days, as it is an opportunity to get the benefits of curative properties of water. Every year, millions of people travel across national boundaries to release their physical and mental tension in different spa resorts. Many spa resorts offer quality and affordable holidays for their guests and offer them huge variety of relaxing and healthy therapies and spas.

How do you choose the right spa?

choose the right wellness centre

Spas in resorts and hotels are one of the fastest-growing market sections in the hospitality and tourism industry. A visit to a spa can really help rejuvenate your mind and body, as we have mentioned above. These days, various spas offer a wide variety of wellness and treatment packages as per your needs and budget.

With so many spas worldwide offering you innumerable ways and traditional and modern spa therapies, in various settings, it is difficult to know how to choose the right spa. If you are traveling overseas for wellness treatment, one of the vital things to consider is the selection of the right spa facility. Spas these days offer a wide range of wellness and treatment packages to suit the needs and budget of their customers.

Before you choose a spa overseas as the part of your wellness trip, or whether it’s a day spa locally you want to visit, it is important to understand a few important things in order to make an informed decision. But which is the right spa for you? These tips for choosing the right spa will help you enjoy your spa day or spa week and make you want to visit again soon!

Choosing the right spa matters

Why does the choice of a spa matter, you may be thinking? Aren’t all spas awesome and provide amazing relaxation, so that you forget all your day-to-day worries? The thing is, that every spa offers different types of treatments, the sizes of the facilities and the charges are different. Once you zero in on the kind of treatments, then you will know which is the right spa for you, according to your budget too. So check out the things to check while choosing the right spa, and you will definitely get what you were looking for. 

Understanding your goals

spa treatment

It is essential to understand your objective of visiting a spa in advance, so that you may choose the best spa according to your needs. As a wellness tourist, or wellness seeker you should have a clear understanding of your goals because it will help you choose the right spa treatment.

There are certain things to look for when choosing the right spa for you – are you looking for a spa treatment to get rid of the stress? Are you seeking a natural anti-aging treatment? You should know your goals, as they will help you in knowing how to choose the right spa.

Reputation of spa

Some things to check while choosing the right spayou should ensure the reputation of the spa both locally and internationally. In addition to this, you should enquire about the spa, the staff training, licensing and authentication, so that you do not have to face any problems when you are abroad. Therefore, you have to engage in scrupulous planning and research when selecting a spa overseas, or even in your own country.

It is advisable to let the spa know specific requirements, if you have any, well in advance. You must engage in meticulous planning and research when selecting a spa abroad for a wellness experience.

Once you identify what you want to accomplish with your health-promoting vacation, you can select the best spa, which is the right spa for you, that can help you focus on your preferred area of emphasis.

Fitness

friends opted for natural hiking

You must opt for spa that offers fitness classes and a range of outdoor activities in order to enhance your health. Some of the things to look for when choosing the right spa for you, are those that are good for your physical health. For example, you might want to visit a Wellness Resort and Spa, where you would have various spa therapies, as well as experience healthy eating habits, and workout indoors or outdoors, go on natural hiking trails and so on. So when you are researching how to find the right spa, you could search Wellness Resorts near you, which are also famous for their spa treatments.

Stress management

If you are seeking spa services that can help you manage the everyday stress, you should prefer a spa that educates you on stress management and offers therapies, yoga classes to help you fight against stress and attain a healthy balance of body, mind and soul.

One of the things to look for when choosing the right spa for you, is whether the thought of the services provided are enticing enough, and whether they would be able to reduce your stress levels and help you cope with any kind of stressors. Some Auyrvedic massage treatments work wonders in massaging the tension out of your muscles!

Delight

body wrap therapy

If you are looking to combine your vacation with wellness, and finding how to choose the right spa, you should choose a spa that provides a broad range of spa services and wellness therapies. Some of the things to check while choosing the right spa is how beneficial the treatments would be for you.

You can benefit from massages, facials, alternative therapies, body wraps, Ayurvedic treatments and other specialized wellness treatments. Or less, be relaxed in a spa which offers touchless therapies.

Lifestyle choices

Wellness is all about making healthy lifestyle choices to enhance your overall wellbeing. You can learn about healthy eating habits, stress management techniques and take wellness treatments in order to achieve best health. Wellness tourism involves various activities for the health conscious consumers.

So, one of the things to look for when choosing the right spa for you, is overall wellness. The menu in a Wellness Spa would help you imbibe some healthy eating techniques, which you can practice at home.

Fitness

group of people joined Fitness activity

If the purpose of your spa visit is to improve your fitness, you must choose a spa that offers fitness classes and a range of outdoor activities that interest you. You can benefit from various body treatments, outdoor sports activities, or enroll in weight loss classes at the spa facility.

Sauna spa

Sauna Spas are the places that provide you with the best pamper and relaxation. A visit to a sauna spa makes us feel refreshed, rejuvenated and free from stress. However, it is very essential to choose the correct sauna spa that would completely satisfy your requirements.

  • Sauna options: The Sauna Options provided at the spa, is the primary requisite for selecting the correct spa. The spa that you select should offer you various types of saunas and not merely an old fashion sauna with a steam bath.

You should opt for a spa that has both, infrared and hybrid sauna. While hybrid sauna is a combination of traditional hot sock sauna and infrared sauna, it also provides additional heat from the traditional sauna as well as therapeutic advantages from the infrared.

●        Privacy: The next thing that is also one of the important issues in selection of a sauna spa is the privacy. Many a times there are large saunas and steam baths at large community spas. Though the large saunas are beneficial, they are difficult to maintain and sanitize as many numbers of people come and leave the sauna at the same time.

  • Temperature control system: In addition, these larger units may generally have a common temperature control system, which might not suit the temperature that is comfortable to you. Therefore, you should go for a spa that has both, large traditional sauna and small private sauna. You should also opt for a spa that saves your required settings so that you do not have to adjust on your every visit.
  • Infrared heating: You should always prefer a spa that provides you far infrared heating. This far infrared treatment is highly advantageous for weight loss, removing the toxins from your body, pain relief, improved skin tone and many others. When combined with hot rock or steam heater, infrared heating would provide you the best ever sauna experience. You can also achieve therapeutic results from infrared saunas.

These infrared rays penetrate deeply inside the body, which leads to rise in the body temperature through a process known as inversion. 

  • Eco-friendly sauna spas: For those who are concerned about the environmental deterioration, a spa that is energy efficient and uses eco-friendly woods would be a good option. The woods used should be hemlock or red cedar because they are sustainable and have little effect on the environment. You should avoid infrared panels with low efficiency ratings as they result in wastage of energy required for heating.

woman relaxing in a spa

Day spa is the appropriate place where you can spend quite a relaxing time and set your body and mind free for a while. Before going to a spa, you must get sure about certain things, such as the kind of services a spa is offering, various packages ranging from high to low, location and many more. Here are some of the tips for choosing the right day spa that one should consider before planning a day spa.

Ask for recommendations

It is always better to ask for someone’s advice before visiting a spa. Take various references and recommendations from your friends and family, choose the best one and only then plan for a day spa. If you check online, there are possibilities of false information and the actual services may differ from the services mentioned in the website.

Therefore, it is better to take recommendations and go for the best one according to your needs and requirements.

Lookout for cleanliness

Cleaning of the workplace in the Spa

Many people do not pay attention to cleanliness. Proper sanitation is very important for a hygienic spa. After all, it is about your health. Make sure that the spa you are going to visit for your day spa is free of bacteria and any kind of fungal infection. In the current Covid environment, the spa that you select has to sanitize their premises and facilities meticulously. This is one of the tips for choosing the right day spa that is very important these days.

Do not hesitate to ask whether the products they are using for your spa treatment are safe and hygienic or not. Most important thing to keep in mind is to take a proper shower after your spa medication gets over.

Check your budget

Different spas offer a variety of spa packages and keep on changing them every now and then. Usually, many of them do not even advertise about their packages. In that case, you must be sure enough for choosing out the one within your budget. Many people may force you to go for an expensive package that may not fit in your budget.

You need not to follow every recommendation blindly, be wise and simply choose your spa package according to your budget. It should be neither expensive nor too cheap, as it may not provide you overall satisfaction.

Is it legit?

visiting a spa

Before visiting a spa, make sure that it is licensed. Your safety and security is your responsibility; therefore, in order to avoid any kind of trouble, confirm about the place you are going for your day spa.

Keep these important tips for choosing the right spa,  in your mind and make your spa visit the most relaxing visit ever. Take precautions and stay stress free.

Just as every place has its own rules, and dress code and so on, there is spa etiquette to follow too.

What is the correct spa etiquette to follow

Spas have their own etiquettes. If you do not wish to let embarrassment ruin your experience, you have to comply with the set of do’s and don’ts.  Is couple spa etiquette or men’s spa etiquette same or different? It is best to know about the spa etiquette to follow. Some of these find mention below.

Make sure you are on time

appointment at a spa

Ensure to confirm to the appointment time. Arriving late to your appointment can curtail your time and not many spas would oblige you by giving any extra time. Thus, be sure to factor in everything that comes between you and your ‘me time’.

It is advisable to reach your spa 20-30 minutes prior to the appointment, which is also the right spa etiquette to follow. Arriving early gives you enough time to time to complete all formalities like filling out your health questionnaire in addition to relaxing before your treatment commences.

Read the cancellation policy information through the website/s

Most spas have a cancelation policy in place, which you can access through their websites. Make sure you go through it. In case, you are not able to keep up your appointment with the spa, inform them well in time; failing which you may end up losing the entire amount or a substantial part of it. The cancellation policy varies from one spa to the other, but usually spas have at least 24-hour cancellation policy.

The proper dress etiquette

spa staff member in proper dress

You might be wondering how to dress at a spa. Of course, when you arrive you can wear anything, but of course nothing too dressy or formal. Try to call the spa and ask them about the couple spa etiquette they follow, and if it is a men’s spa, then too you could find out.

Anxiety may catch up with you, especially when you are supposed to strip; thus, relax your nerves. Keep one thing in mind, there is a first time for everything. The professionals at the helm of affairs in the spa can guide you with that, including the proper spa robe etiquette and the soothing ambience of the spa can calm down your nerves.

The courteous professionals will guide you regarding how far you need to strip off and they offer complete privacy to get under the sheet or towel to cover your modesty before initiating the treatment. If you still have apprehensions regarding being naked, opt for treatments that does not involve much stripping such as Thai massages, pedicures, reflexology and facials. Do follow the couple spa etiquette if you’re going as a couple, and best to carry your own robe, if you do not want to use the robes given out at the spa.

No matter how relaxed you may be feeling, do not walk around the spa naked, even men’s spa etiquette says that you should cover up with a robe or towel. You have to cover your modesty, primarily for your own sake. Indulging in blatant skin revealing may land you in trouble.

Keep the phone switched off

Do keep your cell phone switched off. Though an essential communication tool, phone can often be a major source of disturbance and distraction for you and for others. You would surely like to enjoy your spa experience unhindered and a phone call may not be desirable. Set a message on your phone that you would take calls only after a certain time, and enjoy your me-time, or our-time, without any rude disturbances from phone calls.

In fact, keep all your devices switched off, and this is a very important couple spa etiquette, as well as men’s spa etiquette. Your spa experience should be kind of a ‘device detox’ too, and you would truly feel more relaxed if there are no beeps or notification sounds etc.

If you’re part of a larger group, for example you’re making it a girl’s day out, then do keep as quiet as possible. It’s tough to do, especially if it’s part of a wedding or some other celebration. The other guests really want their peace and quiet and do not need to know the details of your bachelor party – being silent is part of men’s spa etiquette as well.

Voice your preference

man talking to therapist

Do let the spa people know your preferences, and how comfortable or uncomfortable you are with their spa robe etiquette. You have to be vocal whether you feel comfortable with a male or female therapist and most spas are likely to oblige you.

Acquaint the therapists about any pain you may be suffering and your pregnancy conditions, if any. This is vital, as they can maintain some precaution to avoid serious implications. Some scents might be too overpowering for you, or you may be too sensitive to some products – do let the therapists know beforehand, so that you aren’t in any pain or discomfort later.

Maintain good hygiene

Before you enter the sauna or any other spas, it is the men’s spa etiquette as well as women’s, you should take a bath and dry yourself. Avoid letting your feet, back and other parts of the body come in contact with the wooden walls and benches. This is one of the spa etiquettes to follow, when you use any shared water experience with others, such as hydro pools, plunge pools and more.

How to dress for a day at the spa

 gym clothes

You would be going for a rejuvenating experience and all you need are comfortable clothes. There are no rules specifically to tell you how to dress for a day at the spa. However, if you plan to go out for a formal dinner or event after your spa treatment is over, you should carry an appropriate change of clothes for later. If you plan to use the spa’s amenities, pack some gym clothes, swimsuit or toiletries such as deodorant etc.

Place used robes back

One of the spa etiquettes to follow is to replace the used towels, robes and flip-flops in the assigned containers. This rule does not apply if you bring your own robe and towel. Check the shower drain and do not leave any hair clumps in the shower, throw make-up removing pads in trash bin and so on.

Leave children at home

grandfather telling granddaughter about gardening

The spa is not a place for children, so leave them at home with a babysitter, friend or family member, or at a daycare or creche. You as well as other adults come there to relax, and spas usually do not have child friendly spaces or facilities. In fact, bringing a child or children might result in complaints from other members and the staff.

Find out the local spa etiquette

Spa etiquette varies from place to place and country to country, including spa robe etiquette. While you may not be tipping the therapist or masseuse in your country, in other countries, tipping is the norm. Tipping in cash is preferable, and before visiting find out what percentage of your bill/charge is the tip, though mostly it is between 10 to 20%. The polite way to tip is to put the cash in an envelope and write the name of the masseuse or therapist and you can give directly or leave it at the counter.

Also find out the men’s spa etiquette and couple spa etiquette norms, including the degree of nudity acceptable in that country. In some places, the masseuse cannot touch certain body parts.

Enjoy your spa experience, indulge your senses, and treasure every minute

woman Enjoying spa experience

Contrary to the general perception, where people associate spas with simple manicures and mud wraps, spas offer holistic wellness to the individual. Spas are places where one can relax and invigorate his/her dipping energy levels to meet the challenges that life has to offer head-on. This pamper time is vital considering our sedentary lifestyle and stressful schedules.

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