Talk of the town
Floating in the soothing, bubbling, warm saltwater pool at the women-only Body Blitz water spa, it's hard to imagine the place was born out of another kind of steam.
The Toronto spa scene was stressing out sisters Laura and Rena Polley so much that they decided to create their own spot, combining all of the best and none of the worst they had sampled from Baden-Baden to Los Angeles.
So in the large enclosed pool area, there is a circuit of three different pools- a big salt pool, a small cold plunge pool and a small, detoxifying hot tea pool- and, just outside it, a sauna and a steam room.
You'll find the attendants don't say much, and there's no tipping allowed, no week-long wait to get in, not much regard for your modesty and little cushiness when it comes to the treatments.
For this in particular, Rena Polley is gleefully unapologetic. "If you're coming here to be fussed over pampered, this is not that kind of place," Ms. Polley says.
"I tell people, 'You'll get slapped on a table and scrubbed until you're clean head to toe."
And inside the Asian-bathhouse-style treaetment rooms, the vibe is certainly more Nurse Rathed than earth mother, starting with the serious-looking orange plastic aprons the scrubbers and buffers wear.
Treatments are simply scrubs, mud or massages- don't expect an eyebrow shaping or bikini wax, thank you very much.
The Works ($195) is the ultimate tune-up: It starts with a hose-sown, followed by a body wash with a scratchy mitt, a serious full-body scrub (a disposable thong is your only cover), a scalp treatment, face mask, hair shampoo and conditioning. (And it ends, thankfully, with access to a primping room with products and hair dryers.)
For $35 (Tuesdays) or $45 (Wednesdays to Mondays), you can test the waters, steam room and sauna at your own pace. A year-long memebership in $1,400. Use of the waters is included before any treaetment, so this is one appointment you'll want to hit early.
sources: Tralee Pearce, The Globe And Mail, Globe Toronto Section ~ November 26, 2005
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