Bring the spa home: Amenities for a relaxing wellness sanctuary

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The sauna that calms us; the massage that hits just the spot: who doesn’t love luxuriating at a hotel spa?

It’s often an overarching reason why we check in — along with a thread count that’s higher than our usual linen — either as an overnight or local guest to spaces such as the revamped Fairmont Pacific Rim’s spa in downtown Vancouver. However, while we might not have its 8,500 square feet and North Shore vistas to play with, there’s an increasing demand to translate those reset moments into our own homes.

“Post-COVID we have seen a real change,” Vancouver designer Kelly Deck says. “Clients are putting exceptional spas into their homes and investing in these resources for themselves in a way they simply were not before. They are only getting more elaborate and essential.”

Creating wellness spaces in any setting is about working out the perfect flow. At the hotel, spa director Kim Carmichael explains “the journey has to be as seamless as possible” — whether you’re enjoying its newest arrivals such as a sauna with Himalayan salt bricks and treatment tables with heated water or sand that mimics lying on a beach along with its detoxing lounges inside or outside on the spacious terrace.

That means at home, the ideal is to bring all the spa elements together in a dedicated spot to ensure, as Deck puts it, “a more restful and holistic experience.” Ideally that would see, say, a sauna — infrared are must-haves today — and a steam shower, the next most popular request, off the primary suite, she continues. “Although in practice, most of our homes locate it beside the gym because the floorplans don’t allow for the 500-plus square feet clients are wanting for their spas.”

A type of polar immersion is third on the list when it comes to her client’s key spa ingredients. “The room has to work for how that person actually behaves, though,” she adds. “We consider the sequence carefully; we never force it. Not everyone likes to cold plunge.” (If the designer needs to sacrifice any option, it’s often the massage table. “It consumes an enormous amount of room for what it gives back.”)

Both experts stress the importance of being as close to nature in every possible way: think limestone, plaster, marble, wood and natural stone for your chosen material, and add in plants if you have natural light. Of course being next to an inner courtyard or garden is a significant bonus. “Bring as much of the outside in,” Carmichael opines. “That’s where you have physiological benefits: calming the nervous system, reducing anxiety, clearing negative energy.”

Deck agrees, “The atmosphere comes from a collection of sensuous materials.” Where steam is involved, porosity governs and usually she turns to ceramic tiles but “always in a very soft glaze so it feels gentle to look at.” The new Moen hydrotherapy shower is a hit at the Pac Rim, but Carmichael suggests even potentially swapping out a shower head in your own bathroom might work wonders. “You can change the pressure of your shower and enjoy the contrast of hot and cold,” she adds.

Atmospheric lighting should also help set the right mood, as well as Selenite or Himalayan salt lamps. Never use pot lights, however. “It puts pressure on the nervous system, absolutely and immediately,” Deck opines. “Hidden details that wash the walls in soft light will do more for a room than any decorative fixture, which mostly distracts.” (Think of a similar clever trick with LED therapy panels — which aren’t always attractive, she concedes: conceal them behind a door or in cabinetry, then bring them out when needed.)

They highlight the need for soft paint hues. For example, choose warm over a fluorescent white, Carmichael suggests, while Deck adds light parchment and linen colours into the mix or a swathe of dark, moody emerald green. “Both can be deeply restful,” she comments. “I feel there are many directions here. The layering of the finishes is what decides it. A restrained palette and excellent lighting are what produce serenity.”

Beyond the big-ticket items, beautiful linens, candles, scent, scrubs and even an elevated tea station will transform a room and reinforce the essence of an attractive spa. When a relaxing treatment, such as the hotel’s new ‘sculpting tide of renewal flow’ on its heated water mattress, isn’t available to you, pick up some gua sha stones to help move the fascia as well as simply setting a room into vignettes.

“A curated basket, an open shelf, a small bench …” Deck concludes. “When the elements of self-care are thoughtfully placed and within reach, the ritual becomes part of the everyday.”

So no matter the size of the space, it seems that every little helps to quieten our minds with a spot of daily wellness.

Cold plunges: Canadian-made cedar Forest Cooperage or for stainless steel options, check out Polar Monkeys

Red light therapy panels:Sunlighten

Shower specialists:Moen, Mr. Steam or Thermasol

Specialist massage treatment tables: Italian manufacturers Lemi Spa

Stone walls: Burnaby-based supplier: Adera Natural Stone Supply