This is zen garden of Mandarin Oriental Spa
There are a million reasons why you should stay in the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Hotel. Last time we reviewed our amazing lunch at Le Normandie and drinks after in outstanding The Bamboo Bar. This time we are writing about their luxury wellness. The shift in my mind appeared even before we crossed the Chao Phraya River to reach the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa, which is frequently voted among the best spas in the world. Just looking at the water movement set me straight into an excited state.
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We’ve seen quite a fair deal of it and frankly, we were tired. Walking in the heat all day with backpacks on had taken a toll on us, so we were very excited about our upcoming massage therapy. Here is our review of the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa based on our experience there.
After a smooth landing by the Rim Naam terrace, we walked past the talking bird. This Myna bird greeted me and she scored the Thai greeting “Sawadee kha” (“kha” is for ladies, while “krub” is for men) so impressive! Worth stopping for was also the restored century-old teakwood house. In it, the privacy is guaranteed with more than a dozen private suites, all part of the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa.
The first thing we did after stepping into the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa was exchanging our shoes for comfortable slippers. After that, we were seated for a quick refreshment. First, we chilled down with iced eucalyptus-scented towels. From there, we went through their questionnaire while sipping on to roselle tea.
On this form, we wrote down our wishes including a few health-related issues and marked the desired pressure intensity. On top of Ian’s wish list was the painful shoulder which intensified recently. The backpack is most definitely not helping, I tell you that.
The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa is situated inside the restored teak wood house which is furnished in a modest Thai style. As an illustration, everything there is in dominance by a warm honey brown color and simplicity. The meaningful decor is silently encouraging visitors to focus on themselves. In the spirit of being efficient with our time, we were guided to the massage room soon after the consultation.
There we had enough time to get ready for our couple’s therapy at the best luxury spa in Bangkok. That is a hard-earned title that does justice to the kind and professional staff.
The practice of the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa is based on traditional Thai medicine for gaining and maintaining good health. Its indigenous practice is centuries old and consists of knowledge based on herbs, massage and meditation. To put it another way, the health benefits of the old school wisdom helped numerous people and, in my opinion, those are very pleasant practices.
Here at Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa, they think of everything that visitors might need and they are up to date with the time ritual for stressed individuals. The offer of therapies is diverse, from a detoxifying journey and body treatments to body wraps, massages, Ayurvedic practices, and water-based procedures. To reach perfect harmony, one can also add extras to the already chosen treatment.
For less time-consuming treatments, facials using QMS Mediocosmetics, mani-pedis by Bastien Gonzales and waxing are available at the spa studio in the Garden Wing of the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok hotel.
If you’re on a romantic getaway, like us, then the offer of massages for couples at the Mandarin Oriental will amaze you. The fact that our individual needs were met by different treatments made our experience even more enjoyable. Ian got a bit more of a sporty massage – the Muay Thai Massage, whereas I tried their signature Oriental Massage.
Both massages were performed on a traditional floor mattress with the use of essential oils. Before we started, we quickly used the spacious shower in the room, which is also a steam room big enough for both of us. The massage room is intimate with a laid-back atmosphere and a warm wooden interior.
Ian went for the Muay Thai massage which is a strong and intense massage. It includes the use of elbows and knees, even some punching, to provide deep muscle stimulation. Ian’s ticklish nature made this type of massage an excellent choice for him. The massage therapist was highly skilled and once he started focusing on Ian’s shoulder, something magical happened.
Surprisingly, something changed in the shoulder joint and his tension was immediately relieved. Before finishing, the therapist showed Ian a few stretches to practice a few times a day, especially in the following week. He also explained to Ian why the pain would grow stronger in the next few days, but after a week it should go away.
I’m writing this spa review after three months and still no sign of any pain. That, my dear friends, is the difference between a passionate professional who knows what he is doing and the people who offer massages just for the sake of income.
I went for the Oriental Signature Treatment as a part of our Mandarin Oriental Spa package. The signature massage is a combination of Thai massage and European sliding strokes. I must say that the acupressure movements and stretches were very soothing. My dry skin was also happy that the therapist dosed the concentrated blend of essential oils just right.
The way she controlled each move and sensed which areas needed really made me trust her. That is important, especially with Thai stretches. My blissful experience ended with in house made herbal compress full of fresh Thai herbs. After our 90-minute couple’s massage, we were ready to go to sleep – good thing they have a nice relaxation room, where you can prolong your zen moment for a little while longer.
The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa has a relaxation lounge, which is a special place where guests can rest after their treatment. A relaxation lounge is a quiet place, where we quenched our thirst with roselle, ginger and lemongrass tea. Besides tea and water, there were also healthy snacks – yogurt with fresh fruit. All that healthy treats energized us quickly but we were still very well relaxed.
The treatment we had was certainly more than just an ordinary massage. It was more like therapy for our sore muscles that desperately needed some attention. I loved how my massage therapist occasionally lifted a muscle tissue and gave it extra attention. There was definitely no sign of a tired practitioner with the steady pressure she applied all the way to the end of the massage.
Before we left, we got a list of exercises and roselle tea as a goodbye gift – that I think is a nice way to encourage someone to take better care of themselves.
A massage paradise-like Bangkok has numerous spa options within a vast price range. Yes, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Spa is in the luxury class, however, with their amazing professional service, the price is justified, and righteously so! The massage therapist has a deep knowledge and through practice, he gave Ian the greatest gift that he will appreciate forever. You can’t put a price on that! Or can you? 🙂
Our massages here at Oriental wellness were 360 USD. 120 USD for 90 minutes Muay Thai massage and 140 USD for 90 minutes of the Oriental Signature Treatment. Here is a link to a location in case you don’t know where to find Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok.
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