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What is a good spa?
In order to rate every spa in the country in a consistent way, the Good Spa Guide has devised guidelines based on the spa's promises and your expectations. Does the spa live up to them, and if not, why not? This means that you can be confident that a "good" spa is not necessarily a very expensive spa, and an affordable spa is not necessarily a bad one.
The following guidelines are intended to be a kind of checklist of what you should expect from a spa, and what you should not.
Ambience
A spa should have a relaxed and positive atmosphere. Staff should be polite, friendly and attentive. They should be professional at all times, and focused on you and your spa experience.
Efficiency
You should expect booking to be efficient and confirmed prior to your arrival; when you arrive at the spa you should get what you ordered without last minute changes on their part, and you should be informed about any difficulties before you find them out yourself.
Cleanliness
Whichever and wherever your spa, and however much your visit costs, you should expect a very high standard of cleanliness at a spa - from the reception to the pools to the toilets. If this means you see the odd mop and bucket whilst you're gliding from pool to treatment, so be it.
Friendliness and courtesy
You should never experience any snottiness or snobbery from people working at the spa, nor should you ever feel intimidated. It is the job of a spa to make you feel relaxed - friendliness and courtesy is where this starts.
Sensitivity
Of course you don't want overfriendliness either. You're (probably!) not going a spa to make friends and influence people. Staff at a spa should be sensitive to your mood and pick up on whether and how much you want to talk. This includes asking you if you're happy and comfortable during your treatment.
Information
As far as we're concerned good information is a really important part of your spa experience. You should be able to start enjoying it before you even get there, to really get value for money. But standards vary enormously. We think you should expect information about the spa and the treatments available to be forthcoming, meaningful and accurate -- on the phone, in the post, on the Internet and in person.
Once you have booked, you should have your booking confirmed in writing, which should also include information on terms and conditions, any cancellation fees, timings, details of how to get there, how long to get there ahead of your treatment and other facilities available or included in your treatment or package.
Some good spas also include "All you need to know"-style information at this point, telling you what you do and don't need to bring and what to expect. You can tell a good spa by how easy they make your trip when you're there. Are there good signs guiding you around?
If they have a suite of hydrotherapy pools, is there information about what is what and what order you might go into them? Is that information on the wall, rather than handed to you on a piece of paper that you can't tuck into your swimming costume?
A good spa should keep you informed of anything that is going on while you're there. This includes, for example, telling you when the pool might be closed for cleaning, what time you can use the steam room until and whether the sauna is broken. They should let you know these things before you find them out yourself.
Communication
It's amazing the difference good communication makes at a spa, in terms of treatments, facilities and your whole visit. Does the therapist actually tell you about what's going to happen during your treatment and why? Does s/he check whether or not you are allergic to anything? Do they tell you what oils they're going to use, and is there any choice? Do they ask you if you're okay, and what you're happy with during the treatment?
Standard of treatment
Charging less for a treatment is not an excuse to give you a bad one. You should expect your therapist to know what s/he is doing and to do it well and professionally. They should be sensitive to your feelings and check that you are okay during the treatment. And they should tell you when it has finished, you shouldn't have to gather it's finished because they're leaving the room!
Standard of facilities
This doesn't mean you should expect full tennis courts, a croquet lawn and a rooftop pool. It means: How good is what they actually have? Are the pools clean? Are they too small or too few for the number of people using them? Are there enough toilets/changing rooms/towels? Did you have to queue for the aroma room? Are there tiles missing or paint peeling off walls?
When you're at a spa, you should expect the standard of facility to live up to what the spa tells you, and what you have therefore been led to expect. Is the hydrotherapy pool that looked so huge on the website actually more like a small garden water feature? Does the Turkish hammam feel more like a public toilet? You should expect the spa facilities to be finished, working, clean and appropriate for what they are used for.
WATER!
This is an essential as it is actually important to your health. If you've been in a sauna for half an hour and don't have enough fluid, you could pass out. Water should be available throughout a spa, and you should be offered it throughout your visit, as well as actively advised to drink plenty of it.
Almost every body or heat treatment you have in a spa will get your lymphatic system going in some way and this will accelerate how quickly your body loses fluid. You are likely to find yourself needing to go to toilet a lot more than usual; toxins come out in water, so you'll need to replace that water. And we're not talking about fancying something to drink; a good massage, or any time in a sauna, steam room or gym and you will need to glug down water.
Availability of water and advice to drink plenty of it are really good indicators of a good spa. Remember, if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated.
Attention to detail
In some expensive spas, you can expect single orchids on your towels or perhaps a welcome basket of fruit in your room. And these things are really lovely but this is about expense and freebies and that's not what we mean! It's really about what whether the spa has thought about the little things that make the difference to your visit: Do you know where you're going? Do you have enough towels? Are there magazines to read, are they intact, and were they published after, say, 1994? Do the locker keys come with a wrist strap?
Value for money
Whether you paid a lot or a little, do you feel you're getting your money's worth? You should. If you don't, tell them.
Products
A good spa should let you know what products they use, and why, but you should not expect any kind of "sell". You're not at a convention, you're not going to a spa as a buyer. Your therapist should tell you what products they have used during your treatment. And if you really loved that cream they used, you'll probably be happy to buy it -- a good spa will have plenty of free samples for you to try, in full view. But they shouldn't ask you to attend a presentation on them.
Tipping
It is normal to tip at a spa if you felt your therapist did a good job. Most people tip between 10 and 15 per cent. But you should not be expected or pressured to tip; your therapist shouldn't linger around you as you're coming round from your Indian head massage. Why should you be pestered for money while seated in a pair of paper knickers?
We haven't found one yet that does it but we suggest that spas are upfront about tipping. Why not have a sign on your front desk saying: "If you would like to tip any of our therapists, please feel free to do so when you pay your bill"? Wherever you go, enjoy your spa, and let us know what was good and bad!
See also:
* Our bubble ratings explained
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