A Spa Experience at La Perla, San Sebastian

On the first morning of our San Sebastian mini moon, Chris surprised me with the revelation that we were booked in to spend our afternoon at the city's 100 year old, La Perla, sea front spa  - a couple of hours of relaxing in the various pools and steam rooms, followed by an hour long full body massage. On a grey and rainy day, and with the stresses and strains from the wedding still taking their toll on my aching muscles, it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Our couple of hours of spa time were strictly regimented. Unlike the spas I'm used to where you laze around on loungers reading magazines, occasionally hopping into a jacuzzi pool, heating up in the sauna or braving the plunge pool, there was a 15 stage circuit to stick to, each with suggested time frames and instructions. To start with there were a series of warm salt water pools with massage jets designed to stimulate circulation in different parts of your body. Then there was an exercise pool with weight machines and bikes submerged in the water. Then water beds (mmm....bliss), hot and cold jets, saunas, steam rooms, ice rooms and finally, a freezing cold plunge pool to take your breath away. Once you had completed the circuit you were whisked off to your massage with barely a minute to spare to take in the beautiful views of the beach from the 100 year old spa glass frontage. 

It may have been my state of mind, my exhausted muscles after weeks of wedding stress, but this was quite simply the best massage I think i've ever had. I love painful, deep tissue massages and usually find relaxation massages to be a bit namby pamby...give me a sports or physio masseuse any day of the week. This one was perfect though. Unlike many full body massages, the masseuse didn't skim over the problem areas following a full body routine, but worked on them all, teasing out the knots all over my body and melting away all of the tension. It was bliss.

We emerged from our spa break feeling rejuvenated and sprightly and ready for a late lunch on the sea front.

The La Perla spa offers a range of packages depending on whether you want to use the spa only, or combine it with treatments. See their website for more details.