Finally, Shine Spa!

My hubby and I love getting body massages. We used to frequent a famous spa in Timog, QC but quit going there when their service started to go bad. Aside from that, our favorite therapists left already. We tried giving it another shot but after a few failed attempts and therapists falling asleep during the session, we knew we had to end our relationship with that place.

So after maybe 3 months of no massage, oh poor aching body. With the work that we do, sometimes the stress can be really something. I started to check out spa vouchers from MetroDeal and see what’s out there. Since my hubby can be meticulous and I wanted to find a worth it spa experience, I checked out reviews of each spa from the MetroDeal offers. It took some time to review a lot of spas, but then I read Shine Spa’s review. They have positive reviews and saw even a blog post about them. The review said that they have professional therapists, good and cozy area setup, and the location is within Makati which is quite near our place. I bought 4 vouchers from them with the thought that we would get our massage 2x for almost 2 months. That was the idea, but due to busy schedules we kept postponing until the voucher expiry was only a week away. Since we couldn’t really use all four in just 1 week, I decided to give the other 2 to 2 of my friends from work. I told them it’s my Christmas gift already for them. Nyahaa! I bought another one for our Indian friend since he has been sick for more than a week already and I thought the massage would help make him feel better.

Sessions need to be reserved in advance. I saw in 1 post that you have to call in for reservation 3 days before your desired schedule, but I called in to reserve a day before the session we wanted. I had trouble calling their landline number on Friday night from 9pm to 11pm. They only had 1 contact number which I kept trying several times. I quit it for a couple of hours, and called them again at around 1am. Finally it rang and I was able to connect with their receptionist. I made my reservations for 9pm Saturday (for me and hubby) and 4pm for our foreigner friend.

We used Waze since we weren’t familiar with the location. I called them 15 minutes before our schedule to let them know that we are already on our way. Their spa is located at the ground floor of Alpha Salcedo building in Salcedo Village, Makati. We missed the last turn in the street and went around again. On the 2nd try, we finally took the right turn. A parking space wasn’t too hard to find, we parked right behind Alpha Salcedo building. I asked the building guard where the Shine Spa is, and we were told to go inside the building, go straight and out the front door and turn right.

We got there around 915pm. Soon as we entered I could already smell the nice calming smell of the aroma oils. I handed our vouchers to the receptionist and was told we’re late (Sorry!). I thought we wouldn’t get our massage because we were late, but we were still accepted and were ushered inside to where the comfortable sofa seats where. We then got our feet soaked in a wooden tub filled with hot but tolerable water with soap. I like getting hot foot soaks before a massage. It warms up the body even if the place is cold with the AC. The therapists then dried our feet and gave us a pair of slippers each. They took our shoes and asked us to enter the couple’s room. The private room had seperate elevated beds, had a small storage table on each side where we can put our stuff and clothes, and had metal bars on the ceiling on top of each bed. I am familiar with the metal bars since I used to see those in the spas I used to frequent in Shanghai. They are used by therapists for handle support when they step on the backs of the guests during a massage. We call that type of massage in Filipino “marcha”. I know how to do it too since I used to do it for my dad when I was young. We then took off our clothes and wore the boxer shorts offered and lied down on the bed. The therapists entered and started their massage. Oohh it was very good! I fell asleep right around before my session ended. Rich also enjoyed his massage. Whew, finally! After the massage, they offered us hot tea and also wiped our arms, feet and back with hot wet towels. I liked that they do that too. They left tip envelopes with their names, and I made sure to save both their names in my phonebook. After fixing ourselves and when we were back in the reception area, the receptionist asked us if we enjoyed our session. Oh yes, we did! 🙂

I asked what kind of massage did they give us and checked the regular price for 60 minutes. It was P480 for a swedish massage, not too bad. Even if we can’t get another voucher, I’m sure we will back to have another session. Thank you, Shine Spa!