One&Only Cape Town
By the time you read this, it’ll be monday morning. I’m going to get the week off to a good start by taking us on a trip back in time to Saturday, a day that stood out for being particularly awesome. It began with a 10am appointment for the Unwind Signature Treatment, at the One&Only Hotel. I pulled into the hotel’s drive, handed my car to a smiling, charming valet. As soon as I set eyes upon his dapper leopard-print waistcoat, I knew this was going to be good.
One&Only Cape Town - view from the Spa Island
I was shown to a dimly lit dressing room, where I disrobed into a luxurious O&O gown, made of a soft suede-like fabric which was lined with thick towelling. I eased into the fragrant waters of the vitality pool, where I let my muscles soak for a while so they’d be more receptive to massage.
My therapist, the lovely T, took me through the Unwind Signature Treatment, which included a full body scrub, a hot stone treatment, a full-body massage and a scalp massage. She rubbed two different kinds of oils on my hands and asked me to smell them. She said my body would tell me which one it needs. The first smelt good – patchouli and sandalwood. The second one opened up my lungs and filled my body with white light. “I’ll go with that one,” I said. T informed me that this oil contained frankincense and myrrh (how lovely!), “known to put you to sleep”. That sounded fantastic!
The Vitality Pool. You float on those beds while bubbles massage you from underneath.
Things got off to a good start with the scrub, which was rubbed on with warm oil and rubbed off with warm mitts - that feels as good as it sounds. T then alternated between a deep tissue massage and the hot stone massage. A bowl filled with warm water and fragrant essences was placed beneath the massage table so i could inhale it, and T worked warm, smooth volcanic basalt rocks into my muscles, all stiff from running the day before, stiffness dissolving into little sprinkly stars of happiness.
View from the mainland.
Then came the scalp massage, which was a soothing mud masque that cooled the scalp. My neck was stretched out and ‘reconfigured’ if you like – while T’s fingers worked magic on my temples, and all over my head. I was then turned onto my back, and all of the above was repeated on my top half. By the end of it, I was in a relaxation-induced coma, so I sipped on Pomegranate juice while I relaxed on one of the loungers in the relaxing room and eased myself back into the real world. I then spent a further hour in and out of the steam room, the vitality pool and the sauna. Because why on earth would I not?
Post treatment glow!
I am exaggerating only slightly when I say that I felt like a had been ‘born anew’ after this treatment. I have tried to describe it very richly so you too can feel ‘born anew’ too. So you can feel like we did this together. Sincerely hope this has helped you ease into Monday. If not, book yourself an Unwind Signature Treatment at One&Only Cape Town here. You can also be all old school with a telephone and call + 27 21 431 5888.
