The Sea Spa at Santa Monica’s Casa Del Mar encourages a regimen of wellness for the everyday traveler.
These hoteliers have given it some considerable thought and arrived at their modern philosophy that, even though you’re a traveler, even though you’re away from home, you needn’t sacrifice your sense of well being nor suffer a disruption in your wellness regime.
“The owners of the hotel have me here as a liaison to help people remember how to take care of themselves,” Amber McMahon, Casa Del Mar’s Wellness Director, informs me. She adds that the Sea Spa fully integrates the mind, body, spirit approach to wellness and services catering to all of these wellness needs are offered in their spa menu. McMahon explains that although they are not a Medi-spa, the treatments are individualized and the therapists just “get what the client needs.”
Take, for instance, the “Traditional Chinese Medicine Evaluation and Counseling.” Trained Chinese medicine expert Andre Zitcer of Malibu intuitively navigated along, in and around my current state of well being during his half-hour consultation. He honed in on several raw emotional spots whose nicks had begun to lodge physically in my body. But, rather than walk me through a re-living of events, he adeptly touched on (verbally) pressure points and then lifted back into the present, bringing my focus onto what in the room I found pleasing — perhaps the gently murmuring fountain, perhaps the softly lit candles, the warm shade of the room, the gentle aromatic scent.
He explained that the technique was rooted in the belief that re-creating, thus re-living, hurts doesn’t heal — but acknowledging the source of the hurt and then energetically lifting it up and away from the physical body is what accelerates the manifestation of wellness. Whatever he did and did not do, worked. I felt lighter and freer afterward.
The Sea Spa’s steam/shower room is luxuriously appointed down to its leather embossed locker room keys. Voya is the Irish line of natural beauty and skincare products made from seaweed harvested by hand from the North Atlantic waters off the west coast of Ireland. Soon the Sea Spa will offer their signature Voya Seaweed Wrap and Bath.
Voya claims that, “Seaweeds have the unique ability to mop up the complete range of elements from the seawater surrounding them. Accordingly, they have a complete supply of minerals and trace elements concentrated thousands of times in their fronds.” There is also a Voya Tea line that is served at the spa. The Sea Spa’s shower room and massage rooms are stocked with the nourishing, natural and restorative balms and cleansers for hair and skin.
The couple’s treatment room is supremely popular and there are also four additional treatment rooms in the cozy spa for massages and facials. The eco-furnished Quiet Room is available for use by spa guests and also hotel guests. Some of the spa services offered are “Fountain of Youth,” “Ah, Radiance” and “Gentleman’s Prerogative” for facials. Massage services include “Feel The Ocean Breeze,” which is doled out above the ocean in one of the hotel’s poolside cabanas and also “Cut To The Chaise,” exclusive to Casa Del Mar guests, which features an in-room visit by a massage therapist who works on your shoulders, neck, head and feet and then draws you a warm bath to relax in as they leave you to private indulgence.
Complimentary fitness offerings by the spa are their “Travel Unravel” restoration class. This takes place every morning poolside at 8am M-F and consists of tension-releasing stretches and yoga postures. Their “10,000 Steps” is a walking guide created to lead you on a walk to the Santa Monica Canyon and back again. They also off