The Lounge spa:
Aside from the occasional back massage, our previous exposure to any kind of spa treatment had been extremely limited. Lying inconspicuously on Khaleej Al Arabi Street is The Lounge. Inside this converted villa, with modest exterior signage, is an extensively equipped spa with a small group of dedicated professionals all absolutely determined to pamper you and polish your appearance to the very limits of human endurance.
The atmosphere here is extremely calm. It fact it’s almost zen-like. No one is in any kind of hurry. So, if you think you can squeeze in a session in your lunch break, think again. Some serious time has to be dedicated to enjoying the treatments on offer here.
The treatment
step by step:
There’s no strict order in which everything must be undertaken, however, a little common sense can be applied to make the most of the service and thus your skin will probably benefit more. So, to start we were ushered over to where Abdulla the barber has, to all intents and purposes, a complete barber shop set up on the ground floor. Our hair was washed, then trimmed, then washed again. Next, the chair was tilted gently backwards as Abdulla produced a cutthroat razor and a big tub of something marked ‘gel’.
We’ve never had a cut-throat shave before, and consequently we were quite looking forward to being lathered up with soap and a brush, closing our eyes and imagining we were in a barbershop in old London town. Not much lathering went on however, and the shaving gel really looked like that cheap red or blue hair stuff you bought in a big, plastic tub back in the ’80s. It even felt like it when it was applied. Happily, all our doubts vanished as the shave commenced and it was safe to conclude that we must simply be out of touch with such things.
Next came the manicure and pedicure. Now we have never even entertained the idea of this before. In fact, if anyone touches our feet we have an instinctive, involuntary reaction to kick. Furthermore, any individual who chooses to go anywhere near another man’s feet deserves a medal in our book, so we were determined to not accidentally inujure Ray, as was this gentleman’s name. Instead when that time rolled around we just dug our now neatly cut fingernails into the arms of the chair, clenched our teeth and took it like a man. In fact, Ray was exceptionally understanding and more importantly, infinitely patient.
There was more still more to come as we tentatively entered the Moroccan bath. Here, the extremely able Adil, spent over an hour soaping and scrubbing us from head to toe, over and over, with all manner of different substances, each with a different purpose, but all playing a part in the overall rejuvenation of our battered old body.
‘It’s not the years, it’s the mileage,’ weassured Adil as he vigorously rubbed our back with exfoliating gloves. Prior to this we’d been steamed, washed thoroughly with Moroccan soap, rinsed, washed again with shower gel, rinsed again, had a face mask of some description applied and removed, washed again with goat’s milk, rinsed and had a hair mask applied.
Lastly, after being just as thoroughly dried, we were ushered into another room where Vivgilio applied a final clay facemask, the purpose of which was to remove impurities from the skin by extensive exfoliation and cleansing.
Pros:
The treatments are thorough; there is no doubt about that and the staff are very helpful and friendly and good at their jobs. The Lounge has actually been around for six years, so it’s firmly established – which should be reassuring for any first timers.
Cons:
The full course of treatments we had took between five-and-a-half and six hours, so it does require setting some time aside. Of course you don’t have to do them all in one go, but it’s important to remember the purpose is to be relaxed at the end. On a different note, after six years, one or two of the rooms could do with a lick of paint.
The verdict:
The Lounge represents the perfect opportunity for anyone out there who has never indulged in such luxuries. It’s also a great place to develop regular custom with and a novel way to spend a whole day.
The Lounge is open Saturday-Thursday from 11am-10pm. Khaleej Al Arabi between 9th and 11th streets (02 667 7377).
