Why the Modern Day Spa Is Having a Moment
The spa has moved from occasion to routine, and the best ones lean architectural.
A spa used to be a birthday treat. Increasingly it is a regular hour in the week, booked the way a training session is booked.
A spa used to be an occasion: a birthday, an anniversary, a hotel stay. Increasingly it is an ordinary hour in the week, booked the way a training session is booked.
From treat to rhythm
Bathhouses and day spas are becoming part of everyday life. Part of the appeal is the ritual of heat, water, cold and rest. Part of it is privacy: a place where nobody can reach you.
The best new spaces lean architectural rather than ornate. Stone, timber, warm light, silence. Treatment menus have shortened, and the sauna and the plunge have become the main event rather than the overture.
What to look for
Clean water and honest ventilation matter more than marble. Ask how often the pools are cycled, whether the sauna is properly maintained, and what the quiet policy is. A spa that treats silence as part of the service usually treats everything else well too.
A spa that treats silence as part of the service usually treats everything else well too.
The Good State Editors
The Good State is written and edited by a small team in Australia.
From the directory
Peninsula Hot Springs
Thermal mineral pools and bathing terraces on the Mornington Peninsula, an hour and a half from Melbourne.
Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa
A heritage mineral bathhouse in the Daylesford and Hepburn region, drawing on springs that have been used for more than a century.