Found! A Spa With Personal Space

While I love going to spas, one thing I don?t like about most of the places I?ve been are those communal bathroom and changing areas. Call me picky, but something about fighting for personal space around the lockers and waiting in line for the toilet feels like a flashback to high school gym class ? it?s always a bit of a letdown after a pricey treatment.

That?s why Spa Merge had me at hello: The new, science-based spa, located in midtown Manhattan, has sparkling clean, blissfully quiet, and impressively large private bathrooms (complete with a private shower!) in each treatment room. That?s right ? no waiting, no squeezing your purse into a tiny locker, and no waiting for someone else to move their clothes so you can sit down. It?s my idea of spa heaven.

But let?s back up a bit: The walk-by-too-fast-and-you?ll-miss-it discrete main entrance to the spa, located next to the Hilton Club on West 57th Street, hides a tranquil little oasis that seals off the street level hustle and bustle. Immaculate and pristine, serene and inviting, it?s everything a spa should be.

I decided to give the Mother-to-Be package a try. It features a Rose Hydrating Cocoon Body Treatment and a Pre/Post Natal Massage, which sounded ideal to me (note: you don?t have to be preggo ? the treatments are also ideal for new moms). I happily got naked for the body and skin treatment, which involved getting exfoliated from head to toe, rubbed with rose-scented oil, and wrapped up to let my body heat help the warm oil sink in. After a scalp massage, I was unwrapped and washed clean with a Vichy shower (for the uninitiated, Vichy showers swing over the table and rain on you from above).

The massage was next: My masseuse had me lie on my side with several pillows between my knees, which took the pressure off my legs and felt unbelievably comfortable. Really, I may start using that pillow technique at home! The masseuse paid extra attention to my aching back and shoulders ? two areas that haven?t been the same since I had my son in December ? I was so relaxed that I fell asleep and wondered, after being gently awakened, if I could move in.

Spa Merge offers a full menu of services, from facials and dermabrasion to detox wraps and eyelash extensions. The nail stations (pictured to the left) look so fabulous I?m planning to submit my fingers and toes to some TLC on a return visit.

Spa Merge
102-108 W. 57th St.
New York, NY
646-484-4104

Melissa Johnson, Everyday Health Senior Editor

Do you have a favorite spa? What's your spa pet peeve? Write a comment and tell us about it!

Source: http://www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/health-beauty-reviews/found-a-spa-with-personal-space

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