Whether you’re staying at the Amari Watergate Bangkok for a flying visit or you’re in the area, chances are, you’re most probably shopping. Steeped in the heart of Ratchaprasong, the areas around the Amari Watergate Bangkok are renowned for shopping: Platinum mall for wholesale clothes and textiles and the luxuries found in Central World and Gaysorn are just down the street. But all that shopping and being on your feet undeniably will be a drain on your energy. Chances are you may need an energy boost! That’s why we insist: if you’re in the area, head to Amari Watergate Bangkok and straight up to the 8th floor, where you’ll find Breeze Spa.
The spa
Breeze Spa provides six treatment rooms where you can totally relax and regain your energy. Taken from the principle that happiness is a key foundation for wellness, Breeze spa aspires to put a bounce back in your step and a smile back on your face. If the spa’s fresh and fun design concept doesn’t immediately uplift you – think bright colours mixed with turquoise, mood lighting and blue herbal teas – then the spa’s signature treatments just might.
What we like about Breeze spa is that upon arrival, you have a brief consultation with a spa therapist who quickly does what they call a “mood analysis”. Sounds sinister but really, it’s to give you the best possible experience possible. If you haven’t opted for a specific treatment, chances are you’ll probably go with one of the Signature Mood massages.
Each of these Signature Mood massages is aligned with a carefully chosen body therapy or massage technique as its centrepiece. Enhanced by aromatherapy oils, herbal teas, musical selections, mood-setting colours as well as the mood analysis consultation on arrival, the spa therapist creates an experience that culminates in the exact feeling guests desire: dreamy, serene, rejuvenated, invigorated or energised. So, for instance, if you have had trouble sleeping and you want to feel “dreamy”, a combination of calming sounds, hypnotic aromas – lavender oil – and flowing massage strokes are used to send you into a state of complete and utter tranquillity. You’ll have a good night’s rest for sure.
The treatment
We have no trouble at all sleeping. No, the matter at hand was, after a long few hours window shopping, we were feeling drained. So we tried Breeze Spa’s new 150-minute Energy Boost Package (THB 4,200), which comes highly recommended as a perfect way to unwind after a day of shopping and sightseeing in bustling Bangkok.
The experience started with a 30-minute Turmeric and Lemongrass Scrub to remove dead skin cells and inactive proteins, which leave the skin soft, supple, nourished and rejuvenated. One of the reservations we had with this was not the scrub itself – although, if you don’t like being scrubbed too hard you may have to make that known more than once – but the getting rid of the scrub. When walking into the spa room, we were presented with a jazuzzi bath filled with water and rose petals and we assumed we would be get in at some point, the most obvious being post-scrub This would have in fact been so relaxing. But instead, we were ushered to use the room’s shower instead, which was a shame. After all, if you walk into a room and there’s a Jacuzzi bath filled with rose petals, chances are you’re going to feel a little let down when you’re told it’s just there for show.
On that note though, the shower did us a world of good. We eased into a 90-minute Thai oil massage which incorporated Ayurvedic techniques, providing release for our strained muscles. You can tell the therapist which areas to focus on if there are some more tense than others: for us, it’s always the shoulders!
Then came our favourite part, the facial! To round off the 150-minute Energy Boost package, we ended with a 30-minute uplifting Crystal Fresh Facial Treatment, combining the power of crystal therapy and Eastern massage techniques to counteract the drying effects of Bangkok’s tropical climate and supposedly promote skin cell recovery.
After cleansing our face, the therapist rolled a finely polished jade stone across our skin to increase circulation and blood flow. This ultimately is meant to improve skin tone, smoothen fine lines and reduce puffiness and inflammation as well as tighten the pores. Applying jade across the face is relaxing, cold in the first instance but also apparently aides the nervous system in the removal of toxins.
Then the therapist used rose quartz to massage the face which is meant to reduce signs of ageing and to rejuvenate the skin for an instant face-lift without the harmful side effects. We don’t know the real science behind this but it has to be said that our pores felt a little smaller and our skin a little tighter once the facial ended. This specific facial treatment is the spa’s newest signature facial treatment, harnessing the healing properties of ancient jade and rose quartz.
The verdict
The treatment ended with a little snack, a chocolate chip cookie to keep our hunger at a bay which we highly appreciated. We certainly felt revived, rejuvenated and walked out with more of a spring in our step. But, we must admit, the treatment would have been so much more elevated and ultra luxe if we had actually spent even a few minutes in that rose petal filled Jacuzzi bath. Ah well, maybe next time!
Opening hours: 10am-10pm. For more information or reservations contact Breeze Spa, Amari Watergate at +66 2653 9000 ext 394 or email watergate@breeze-spa.com or visit www.amari.com.
Catherine Napalai Faulder
Catherine is Bangkok born and bred and knows the angles of the city and its people very personally. You'll often catch her writing about the upsides of Thainess, the richness and diversity of Bangkok's third cultures and the true meaning of wellness.
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