Spa Gazing
Groom For Men, in Cardiff and Penarth, are taking their one-stop, head to toe, man maintenance experience to a new level with the opening of a Metro Spa at their Cardiff salon this December.
They already boast a cracking range of grooming services to keep you looking and feeling your best, including everything from traditional barbering and contemporary styling, hot towel shaving, spray tanning, male waxing, hand/feet maintenance, hair replacement therapy and loads more. But now you can add an ultra-relaxing sauna and out-door hot tub session to the mix in their brand new Metro Spa.
The atmosphere is a relaxed, no-rush one with clients able to dip in and out of the Metro Spa before, between and after treatments.
Or perhaps relax in the spa with friends, sipping a complementary beer after a massage or other treatment to let the stresses and strains of day-to-day life ebb away.
The sauna itself is based on a traditional Nordic design with an intoxicating aroma of pine, and can accommodate six people. Heat comes from hot rocks that heat the room to between 70 and 100 °C. Water can be splashed on the rocks to create steam, heat the room further and increase humidity with a host of health benefits, including pain relief, easing of breathing for asthmatics and detoxification. It can also help the health and appearance of your skin and hair. The hot-tub is out-doors, can seat six and gives that exhilarating combination of cold, fresh air and steaming, hot bath.
But of course, there’s so much more. The new Spa and Hot Tub can be packaged with all the other services on offer to create the ultimate in wedding and groom packages. What could be better than a chilled out, ultra-relaxing, bonding session with your mates or family to set you up for the big day?
Or make it part of a Christmas gift for a loved one. A bespoke package, capped off with a relaxing sauna and hot tub experience will go down a treat.
Even without the sauna and hot tub, thanks to the range of services on offer and a genuine desire to deliver the best customer care for clients, Groom For Men have an established reputation as the go-to for male grooming in the capital.
Now it’s raised the bar again and you really don’t need to go anywhere else.
The Spa at Holm House, Penarth
Signature treatment: The Captain’s Black Soap Scrub (30mins, £37) is a deeply cleansing and intensely invigorating treatment that leaves you
raring to go.
Prices: For such a high-end operation, it’s actually surprisingly
competitive. Best value is a 60-minute sports massage that comes in at a cool 45 quid.
Service: Slick as oil. Not shoulder-clenchingly attentive or starchily stiff, but just relaxed and endlessly accommodating.
The X Factor: The stunning seaside setting. The fine-tuned attention to detail. The top-notch restaurant. The unforced charm. The high-spec design. Take your pick because this place is an all-round class act.
Score: A knockout 9 out of 10.
holmhousehotel.com
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St Brides Spa Hotel, Saundersfoot
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Signature treatment: Not strictly a treatment, but the use of the hydro pool, herbally-infused sauna and aromatherapy steam room when you book a treatment certainly feels like a treat.
Prices: Remarkably reasonable for such a ritzy joint. The day packages, for example, start from a very competitive 95 quid. Also, they have plenty of promotions so keep your peepers peeled.
Service: Staff are the best blend of attentive when you need them and invisible when you don’t.
The X Factor: It’s got to be that blow-your-mind location. Taking advantage of its 007-style clifftop site, the spa’s relaxation lounge’s floor-to-ceiling windows give good views of Carmarthen Bay creating the illusion of being suspended amid the stunning outstretched scenery.
Score: With its easy mix of the high-end and the laidback, this impressive all-rounder – subtly-luxe rooms, top-notch restaurant, spectacular setting – is a very strong 9 out of 10.
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stbridesspahotel.com
