Tai Tai Delights at Damai

Just had a pampering session at Damai Spa on the 5th floor of the Grand Hyatt last week. Very nice, I must say.

First thing you see when you get there: the pretty surroundings and a spacious verandah outside the spa proper, where you can relax in wide armchairs, soak in the greenery, listen to the swishing sounds of the little waterfall downstairs, and feel completely tai tai-like.

Inside Damai itself, all is cool, quiet and stylish. I felt positively underdressed for the occasion, but if the spa staff thought I looked a slob, they gave no indication as they led me to the lounge where ginger tea was served in my very own teapot, and gave me a general introduction.

I was there for the signature Damai Orchid Massage (S$185 for 90 mins), a bestseller I’m told, which makes use of the spa’s signature essence blended by June Jacobs using Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim. (Patriotic National Day Sparty, anyone?)

The treatment rooms are set along a dreamlike, wavy blue-lit passage that feels like you’re in some sci-fi movie. This is supposed to have a calming effect but I got a bit giddy walking down the corridor. The treatment area is tropical and minimalist in décor with lots of wood, natural light and a large en suite bathroom where my bathrobe and black, slinky, loin-cloth-like disposable underwear awaits. Thank goodness for the oversized robe!

First up is a foot soak with salts. I’m offered a choice of essences: healing, energizing, calming or balancing. Then a choice of music – Indian, Chinese, Indonesian or Japanese – to be played during the massage. It’s nice that the therapist took pains to ask from the start what areas I wanted to focus on and what to avoid, even before I beached myself on the spa bed. And what a massage that was: long, firm strokes and attention to pressure points from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. Definitely relaxing, and I fell asleep….and awoke to silky smooth skin, thoroughly oiled face and hair, feeling languid from all that kneading. I had to shampoo my hair twice to wash the oil out, an enjoyable process undertaken in the luxurious, full-sized bathroom.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the ‘couple’ suite is massive, with its own water-wall, skylight, reflecting pool stretching from one wall to another and a stone tub for two. Absolutely decadent!
The spa also has a water-treatment room with a Chinese aji stone bed for water therapies, as well as a wheelchair-accessible treatment room with spa bed set a little lower for easier access. How very thoughtful.

The Damai Experience (S$280) is good value for money, throwing in a 60-minute body scrub, 75-minute body massage, use of facilities including a gorgeous pool, and lunch at the Oasis. For serial spa goers, the spa is offering membership at S$500 for a year, which includes 20% off the price of treatments, 15% off retail items and three complimentary, 75-minute body massages plus use of facilities on the day of your treatment.

Damai Spa
10 Scotts Road
Tel: (65) 6416 7156
E-mail: damai.sg@hyatt.com