Spa review: Espa, Ritz-Carlton Macau - two hours of bliss
Espa offers 10 treatment rooms, three couples' suites and a relaxation room. The 120-minute Macau Body Smoother Ritual combines a body wrap and massage.
Espa has just opened at The Ritz-Carlton, Macau. It has 10 pristine treatment rooms and three couples' suites, as well as a very interesting relaxation room, kitted out with birdcage-like dividers between beautiful wingback brown leather chairs.
My Thai therapist Anita has fingers of steel and stamina to match and makes short work of the 120-minute Macau Body Smoother Ritual. It combines a body wrap and massage, which it claims restores balance to body and mind.
The treatment starts with a rubdown with a fairly stiff brush to remove dead skin. This is on the cusp of being painful.
The decor throughout is dark wood with fabric on the walls and wooden floors. There are elements of Chinese and Portuguese architecture, too, which reflects Macau's cultural heritage, albeit subtly.
My back and front were scrubbed, first with the brush, then with Espa's exfoliating body polish made with apricot seed kernels and spearmint. After this I'm covered in some mineral-rich marine mud.
