I
normally get a massage on the month of my birthday as a birthday treat for
myself, and for my 22nd birthday treat I brought boyfie along with me as he's
never had a professional massage yet before. Since its his first time and its
one of our itineraries on my birthday date, I checked all the best massage
place out there that have couple rooms yet at the same time will fit our
budget. Since I prefer that rather than being in two separate rooms.
Based
on my research online, M-Bay Health Spa caught my attention the most. They have
a lot of room types and massages offered, but I'm going to go directly to my
personal experience as I didn't really remember much about the other info because I didn't
try them. I reserved their best couple room 3weeks prior to the date we're
heading there. It was a Royal Couple Room that has its own steam bath inside
the room itself and you can have the room up to a maximum of 3hours whatever
your service will be for a price of P1,500.00. There are a lot of other
facilities they have such as Jacuzzi, steam, and sauna but it's in a separate
common room area. One for boys and one for girls. Though we didn't try it out
as my boyfriend's not comfortable to be in those places alone with other men.
So on
the day and time of our appointment we arrived 10mins late as we got a bit lost,
but it wasn't a problem at all. The front desk lady was nice and accommodating.
I told her we had a reservation and she asked us what service we want to get.
Here's the price list of their other rooms and services...
We were
supposed to get the 120mins Authentic Shiatsu Massage with Foot Massage Spa
Package. It consists of 1hour body massage and another hour of foot massage to
be done in the foot massage area so the masseuse could totally massage your
feet. Though both boyfie and I doesn't want to transfer rooms to rooms anymore to lessen the hassle, we just got the 90mins
one which only have 30mins of foot massage and it'll be done in our room
already without having to stand up and walk to a different room anymore. But
the thing is, I want to enjoy the steam bath first and rest for a bit after the
massage before leaving, and if we'll only get the 90mins service we have to
leave the room in 2hours. Meaning we only have 30mins spare to do those things.
I told the front desk lady about my concern and she told me not to worry about
it as we could stay in the room for a maximum of 3hours even if we'll only get
the 90mins service which made me really happy.
Once we
finalized the service and settled the payment which is a total of P3,400.00,
she gave us a pair of slippers to change on and got our shoes. On the second
floor where we are asked to wait for a bit while our room was getting prepared,
there's a bar that offers complimentary drinks. Choices are coffee, green tea,
iced tea and water. In the middle of our drinks we were told that our room are
ready and they allowed us to take our drinks to our room. One lady there even
carried the drinks for us. Talk about royal treatment!
The
room is really nice. Two massage beds, LCD television, a steam bath with a
separate toilet area, and a counter with sink and where we can place our
clothes on. The toiletries were even complete from towels, shampoo, bath gel,
toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.
A piece
of advice about the room though. Don't get this room if you and your special
someone isn't in a very intimate stage yet in the relationship, as the steam
bath and toilet area are both covered by a transparent glass. Hahah I'm not
even sure if I can use the word covered because it's not even a bit tinted.
Pure transparent. You won't have any privacy in the entire room to even undress
or dress up. Me and my boyfriend didn't had a problem with that but we can't
pee if the steam is off as we're not comfortable peeing within the sight of
each other, and the steam of the steam bath is the only thing that's making the
toilet area a bit hidden from each other's sight.
But
going back to my experience, once we were already in the room, the people
assisting us just told us to dial a number in the phone if we want the service
to be done already and left us there. Room's ours for 3hours, only 1 and a half
hour service. Private room. Glass toilet and bath. The spa place obviously won't
give a damn if you do something frisky in there. Haha!
Anyway,
we got ourselves comfortable in the room first, finished our drinks and prepared
for the steam bath. We hanged at the steam bath area before taking a full warm
bath. Massage wasn't served yet but I'm already relaxed. It took us an hour in
the steam bath before we prepare for the massage. After drying up we put on a
clean complimentary shorts and robe. No undies at all so it felt a bit uncomfy
at first with the shorts but I got used to it in a matter of minutes. Once
we're ready we called for the masseuses and the massage started.
I
observed a lot of things during the massage. Boyfie was asked if it was okay
that the masseuse step on his back. Gaining as much new experience as he could
in his first massage, he said yes. I wasn't offered that though but I didn't
mind. I just thought that it might not be applicable as they might break the
back of a girl with a petite body frame. Entire body massage was done for 45mins.
Damn I was paralyzed by relaxation. 30mins foot massage was done after that. I
thought it was over already and in my mind I' was like "Wait, this is
supposedly a 90mins massage. Where did the 15mins go?" But then after the
foot massage they went back to the body but it wasn't massage anymore, more of
stretching which will actually make you feel rejuvenated after the entire
service is finished. Oh and by the way, the reason why I know the time
specifically because there's a bigger-than-usual digital clock in the room so
you can really time your stay and service.
Once
the massage was over, they offered us a piece of paper to sign as a proof that
the service was already rendered and how much the tip will be. Its uncommon for
me from all the other smaller massage establishments I've been to but I wasn't
surprised anymore as I read about it already when I was doing my research. It
was a very pleasant first time experience for me in their spa so we tipped a
hundred for each of the masseuses. Once they left we just relaxed first and we
asked for the TV to be opened again. Boyfie finished The Avengers movie in HBO
first before we left. Thankfully it was done 10mins before we have to leave so
we had time to dress up.
The
massage was average yet relaxing enough for me. The stretching was impressive
as I've never been stretched that much in a massage before even if I get the
same service type. But the service, the room, and the experience, was really
good for me that I'm even open about going back there on December for my
Christmas treat massage. My boyfriend's comment about his first massage
experience? He felt healthier and he was saying something like it feels like
his triceps balanced out or something, haha! I'd rate our entire experience in
the spa 4 out of 5.
(Photos © M-Bay Health Spa Facebook Page)