A visit to the newly renovated Miraj Hammam Spa

Usually when I go to the spa I feel almost obligated to book a major body treatment – to get more bang for my buck I suppose – but when 2015/2016 Top 25 Spa winner Miraj Hammam Spa by Caudalie invited my editor and I to visit their newly renovated space and book a spa service, I went with a simple mani-pedi.

I say simple, but the Vinotherapie Spa Manicure/Pedicure isn’t your regular salon buff and polish. A salt and rose bath bomb was added to the water my feet were soaking in and fresh cut grapes were rubbed all over my hands, arms, feet and legs, before my esthetician Yujin applied the Crushed Cabernet Scrub, part of a line of Caudalie products that contain local ingredients straight from Bordeaux, France. After the scrub my hands and feet were covered with a masque, left for five minutes and sprayed with the lovely peppermint scented Caudalie Eau de Beaute toner. The whole process smelled and felt delicious. “It’s like a facial for your feet [and hands],” Yujin said.

I chose two different SpaRitual shades for my hands and feet, the first time I’ve ever tried the vegan nail polish brand, and I relished in the absence of the strong chemical odors you usually get bombarded with at a nail salon. The whole treatment was tranquil and unhurried, just as SpaRitual’s “Slow beauty” tagline would suggest.

Of course, the spa experience is always more than just the spa treatment itself; it is a thousand little details – the decor, the music, the smells – that add up to form the experience as a whole, and on that count Miraj Hammam Spa did not disappoint. The decor is a modern riff on Middle Eastern motifs, the music is distinctly eastern in influence and unobtrusive enough that it fades into the background, and the smell of the spa is a lovely suggestion of something sweet and a refreshing hint of peppermint.

But the detail that really got me in the mood was the gold platter they brought me just before Yujin started on my feet: baklava and grapes on a little ornate plate and a glass of the spa’s special blend of black tea, mint and chai spice (I left the spa with my own tin it was so delicious) and sweetened with organic sugar. When I confessed to Yujin that I hadn’t eaten lunch, she quickly brought me more tea and baklava, along with some banana chips and craisins. God, I love spa food!

All in all my visit to Miraj Hammam Spa by Caudalie convinced me that sometimes it’s nice to book a “simple” treatment and enjoy the way the spa transforms an ordinary beauty ritual into a luxurious indulgence.

Read more about Miraj Hammam Spa by Caudalie in our Summer 2018 issue!