Much-needed wrap & knead

These days, ‘detox’ is a word that is bandied about freely. A bit too freely. So you have detox diets, detox vacations/retreats, detox therapies/treatments (and by that I don’t mean just spas) — all leading up to a detox lifestyle, one unencumbered by pollution, caffeine, nicotine and what not. So what if it’s time-bound, and you are back in the lap of environmental hazards (to your mind, body, soul) once it’s over? Everyone agrees that while it lasts, detox is eminently desirable.

The very natty and relatively new The Address Marina’s The Spa is offering not just a detox, but a Super Detox Wrap. The even better news 
is that there is a special promotion ongoing, valid until March 31, whereby the original price of Dh1,200 has been whittled down to Dh599 (with full-day access to the hotel’s infinity pool).

The Spa is an ambient space with well-trained, gracious, smiling therapists (who say the right things, using the right tone, at the right time), relaxation-inducing interiors, and an excellent after-room where you can chill with your fave magazine, sip jasmine tea and tuck into quality-controlled dry fruits and nuts.

The treatment lasts a little over a couple of hours — as Thomson and Thompson would have said, 125 minutes to be precise. I am told all signs of tiredness will be a thing of the past at the end of it. And that my energy levels would definitely go up a few notches. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

It all starts with a 25-minute body scrub (infused with green tea, that contains anti-oxidants), which is wonderfully therapeutic and invigorating (even though getting wrapped in sheets for the anti-oxidants to really do their stuff is faintly icky). While I am all wrapped up after the scrub, there is a 25-minute booster facial (packed with spirulina algae, yet another anti-oxidant-containing source) conducted on my visage so it emerges radiant and flush with good health (I kid you not).

After a warm shower that rids the body of all traces of the scrub, there is, finally, a 50-minute de-stressing massage with lemon grass oil (that claims to boost your lymphatic system). It turns out to be sublime, and I send off a silent prayer — while trying not to succumb to blissful slumber — that the kneading goes on forever 
and a day.

Obviously, the gods are in no mood to accommodate my needs. Quite the contrary in fact — so 50 minutes seem like five.

I have no empirical evidence I had been detoxified of evil ingredients in my body, mind, soul — and surroundings — but there is a spring in my step as I sweep through the lobby, on my way out of The Address Marina.

And instead of gravitating towards where super helpful doormen are ushering just-pampered ladies (like me) into the cloistered comfort of taxis, I walk briskly — more than half a kilometre, come to think of it — and catch the Metro back home.

I’d probably been detoxified alright.

sushmita@khaleejtimes.com