Scandinave Spa. Don’t Go?
Forget what you heard—Whistler’s Scandinave Spa is probably not for you.
Especially for all you tough guys/gals out there who just spent four days camping (partying?) in the bush, hiking with a sixty-pound pack, or tumbling around the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. I mean, really, who needs a time-tested system of hot and cold plunge pools set amongst three acres of tranquil forested mountainside? Do you honestly need to turn off your cell phone to relax in a Finnish sauna or steam room? And what can a sixty-minute “Rejuvenation Massage” possibly do for your litany of aches, pains, and generally poor posture? Isn’t that just part of getting old? #walkitoff
For purely journalistic purposes however, I hit up the Scandinave, Whistler’s most popular spa, after a particularly gruelling week of outdoor adventure, to see if some hydrotherapy, peace and quiet, and massage could actually help my spine/body/soul recalibrate any better than a hot shower and a couple of tequilas would. Turns out the hype is real. Sixty minutes on the massage table and my hips were back in alignment, my legs felt ten years younger, and those ridiculously tight desk-jockey shoulder and neck muscles were suddenly as limber as the day before I got my first real job. And massage is only half the story. Scandinavian baths have been around for thousands of years, and the benefits of their hot-cold-relax cycle include improved circulation, body cleansing, increased relaxation and an all-around feeling of “heck yeah!” After ten minutes in the tub/sauna/steam room you hit the cold plunge for a dozen seconds then chill out in perfect silence. (Tip: find the Hammock Haven for the best views of Scandinave’s more than two thousand-square-metre compound and the mountains/setting sun.) So yeah, if you’re not into relaxing, unplugging, feeling better, and fixing muscle problems you maybe didn’t know you had, I’d recommend skipping the Scandinave Spa. But if you’re not sure, they have a summer savings gift card thing going where you get a $100 gift card for $80 when you buy online from July 23–Aug-31. Free money is relaxing, right?