Absolute indulgence at the One&Only Spa

In this busy business of life, I feel it is essential to take some time out and just spoil yourself every now and then. I had just finished with my one job and had a week off before throwing myself into a new job. With this one week of unemployment I thought it would be a great idea to go spend some money (completely logical right?). I roped my mom and sister into it and they came along (un-protestingly).

On my cousin’s recommendation (she has good taste), I opted for the One&Only spa’s winter spa special.

They had a few treatments to choose from but the stand out one’s were definitely the facial and back massage and all of us opted for that. I phoned on a Sunday morning and made the appointment for late Wednesday afternoon. They are open until 8pm so you could go after work if you really wanted to which I think is quite cool.

To confirm the booking I had to give my bank card details over the phone which I was quite freaked out about doing. Every month I check my bank statements to make sure there hasn’t been any unauthorised activity – but so far so good.

The receptionist recommended that we come about 45 minutes before the session to relax in the vitality pool (a small heated pool) to make sure our muscles are nice and warm. I imagine it is also so they don’t have to work on stinky people!

The day had arrived and in true Murphy style, there was a major accident on the highway that delayed us quite substantially. I was starting to stress but we still got there ahead of time.

We parked in the basement of the One&Only hotel and took the lift up to the floor. We had to ask a few times how to get to the spa as it is outside of the actual hotel. What a lovely setting! It felt like we were not five minutes away from the Waterfront but rather in some tranquil location.

The staff were very friendly and let us fill out the mandatory forms. We waited in the lounge and helped ourselves to a couple of drinks whilst doing so.

The changing rooms were lovely – perfect for selfies. Although only having one hairdryer did cause problems later on.

We didn’t have loads of time beforehand so I quickly took a dip in the heated pool in the changing room and sat in the sauna for a bit. They have a nifty contraption to throw your clothes in to dry it so that you are nice and comfy for your session.

Okay, finally to the good stuff! We were all lead off into our own private rooms with high wooden ceilings beautifully decorated. My massage chair had the heat turned on which made me relax instantly. The ambiance was great, the light coming into the room was perfect and the music was really relaxing. The massage was fantastic! The only thing in my mind was that I wished that it could go on forever. The therapist then started my facial by removing my make up which felt like a massage in itself! I never knew that a facial could feel so great – basically a massage for the face. The therapist noticed that my shoulder muscles were starting to swell a little after the massage (it always happens to me) so she put some hot stones on my back which really helped to stop the swelling.

I emerged from the massage and facial feeling beautiful, pampered and relaxed. I was directed to the ‘relaxation room’ where they served me some tea and snacks.

I was surprisingly very peckish at this point so I kept going back for re-fills. I found my sister and mom almost comatose from relaxation. There were beds from which you could sip your tea. We tried to take a few pics but because it was dark and we were all in our near-comatose states, the pics came out looking rather scary. Here is one from their website –

After we could eat no more we decided to go back to the change rooms and try out the facilities. I loved the pool!

You could press some buttons to get this bubbly effect –

There was also a sauna, steam room and ice bucket thing (did not make much use of that one!). We probably ended up staying for an extra hour or more just running between the pool, sauna and steam room. We ended the day with a shower using their awesome products and a fight for the one & only hairdryer.

I really enjoyed my day at the One&Only spa. Writing about it makes me want to plan my next trip there!

– Rif

One&Only Spa

Dock Road, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

Cape Town 8001, South Africa

021 431 5800

http://capetown.oneandonlyresorts.com/spa.aspx