Relax in the spa

Sanitas per aqua (spa), the Romans already knew: health through water. To recharge your batteries or simply to relax, visit a spa. Three spas and their special treatments.

Wandering through many worlds in Elysium, Bleiswijk

One time to Elysium in Bleiswijk (South Holland) is really not enough. This ‘centre for well-being’ is so extensive that you can easily visit it several times and still experience something different every time. Just take the fact that there are twelve different saunas!

New is the Russian banja, with a high Doctor Zhivago content (after a grueling journey over the snowy taiga you end up warm and cozy in the banja). Craftsmen came from Russia to build this authentic, spacious sauna – which is even made of Russian woods. In a banja, the humidity is high (20 to 25 percent) and the temperature is relatively low (70 to 80 degrees); wonderful if you quickly get stuffy in a Swedish sauna.

Also new is the Duinsauna, which is built in the dunes, which gives a very special atmosphere. This spacious sauna has a large fireplace.

Elysium is also an experience through De Werelden: a series of treatments with names such as Byzantine, Tropical, Zen, One Thousand and One Nights and Scandinavian. In the Byzantine world, for example, you can opt for treatments with rich oils and aromatic herbs. The world of One Thousand and One Nights is spectacular. Here you will get a bag of black mud from the Dead Sea, which is rich in minerals. You sit on one of the heated stone benches and rub yourself with the mud from head to toe. Dirt and dead skin cells are removed, the active substances from the mud are absorbed by the skin. After ten minutes it starts to ‘rain’ by itself, washing away the mud. In the meantime, enjoy the night-blue domed roof, which is dotted with stars. Then make your way to the indoor pool, lit by hundreds of twinkling lights, and to the oxygen sauna with its gold-leaf ceiling.

In addition to all those original treatments, Elysium also offers a variety of ‘normal’ treatments that you can undergo between the sauna and the swimming pool, such as massages, facials, foot and nail treatments, make-up and much more. Many packages have also been put together and there is always one that exactly meets your wishes.

If you consider that Elysium has three restaurants and a ‘Bedouin tent’ to rest, then you understand that a day here has far too few hours.

Elysium, Kooilaan 1, 2665 KR Bleiswijk, 010-524 11 66, www.elysium.nl

Water and tranquility in dayspa, Amsterdam

Dayspa is not an extensive spa with gardens and restaurants, but it is a wonderfully quiet place to withdraw from a busy life for a whole day. And that in Amsterdam, close to a tram stop to go into the city after being pampered.

Because water does a lot of good for the skin and it can relax the mind, Dayspa does a lot with water. A series of treatments have been developed around a bubble bath that can be used to relax as well as to stimulate.

First you get a complete body scrub that polishes the skin smooth. Then comes the bath: Hydro Spa (invigorating), Milk & Honey (soothing) or Wine Therapy (regenerating), after which your whole body is massaged with oil. All this is concluded with a foot massage and an Indian Head Massage, an old massage technique in which pressure is exerted on the back, neck, shoulders, arms, head and face. The treatment would prevent stress, headaches and tension in the neck, head and shoulders. If you would then like a body massage, we will discuss with the therapist which one is most suitable for you. There is a very extensive body massage (of no less than two and a half hours), a connective tissue massage (against cellulite) and a fusion stone massage (in which warm stones glide smoothly over your skin thanks to a warm oil). Very beneficial.

For the facial treatments, Aveda products are used. Here too, we look at what the skin needs. The serums and essential oils are adjusted accordingly. The eyebrows are also plucked and the upper lip waxed. Each treatment includes a deep cleansing and a cleansing mask. A new treatment from Aveda is -Botanical Skin Resurfacing.

It wants to compete with the currently popular micro-dermabrasion, a treatment where dead cells are ‘sanded’ off the skin with a device, making the skin spectacularly smooth and soft. With Botanical Skin Resurfacing, the same effect is achieved with vegetable substances and tourmaline (certain minerals). The core of the treatment is a purifying mask, which hardens on the skin and is carefully erased, taking away dead skin cells and deep-seated dirt. Within an hour the skin is clean, beautifully smooth and fresh.

It is recommended to undergo this treatment three to four times with intervals of three weeks, in order to benefit from it optimally.

Dayspa, Laan der Hesperiden 90, 1076 DX Amsterdam, 020-794 93 66, www.dayspa-amsterdam.nl

Cures with the sea in De Druppel, Wemeldinge

A day in the spa, thalasso and beauty center ‘De Druppel’ in Zeeland is all about the sea and lasts a long time, from 9.15 am to about 3.30 pm. You will also receive coffee, lunch and a farewell drink. The whole body is treated with the many delicious treatments that such a ‘day at sea’ counts.
Take the Coral day package, for example. In addition to free bathing and sauna, you can expect a facial treatment with Algotherm (a brand that uses a lot of sea algae and sea minerals in its products), a body wrap, an anti-stress back, shoulder and neck massage, a foot massage and make-up. You choose the pack according to its effect, such as remineralising, relaxing, figure correcting or anti-cellulite. Other day packages are Topaz (including attention to the hands) and Onyx (including hydromassage bath and hot stone massage).

But of course the spa also offers treatments that can be booked separately. For example, a face wrap with cocoa, an intensive eye treatment, a hand scrub and mask, karwendel wrap (good for muscle pain) or a soothing lavender honey wrap. So you can also put together your own day package.

It is very nice to go here with friends, for example to one of the workshops for groups. For example, you can all get a makeup lesson or a color analysis to discover which colors pick up your complexion. It is not a bad idea at all to attach an overnight stay to such a day of cures. De Druppel is located in a picturesque village, which originated in the 11th century around three Vliedbergen. Here you can cycle or walk along dikes covered with pollard willows and along the Oosterschelde.

Nearby are riding stables, golf courses and the famous mussels of Yerseke. De Druppel therefore offers a package with an overnight stay in the Sequoiahof in Vlake.

The Drop, Princess Irenestraat 14, 4424 AL Wemeldinge, 0113-62 14 45, www.dedrop.nl