I’ve never been a hugely “girly” girl and even now in my adult life my beauty routine consists of a bar of soap and a face wipe. You’re 100 times more likely to find me running around outside than you are on a massage table.
So when a friend invited me to an afternoon at the Spa with the girls I found myself in alien territory. The only beauty treatment I indulge in on a fairly regular basis is pedicures to sooth and repair my runners feet, but I certainly can’t remember the last time I set aside more than an hour in one day to pampering. I’ve never really understood why you would.
Until now.
A gaggle of non-girlie girls, we pitched up at the Hibiscus Spa ready to be preened and polished. But first - refreshments. Cookies and bubbles in a soft fluffy robe. I was relaxed already.
We took a quick dip in the hot tub (which lives up to it’s name) on the way to our treatment room (there’s also a sauna and steam room if you really want to melt your muscles) ready for our manicures and pedicures.
We had the room to ourselves which was perfect as we were in a particularly giggly mood – spurred on by more bubbles which you can order from the bar in the hotel to be delivered to the spa.
Our therapists were absolutely fabulous – patient and meticulous they joined in with our chats and spoiled us with lotions and potions which left us feeling soft and smelling devine. FYI on the spa website it says that they don’t offer gel or shellac which they actually do for a ridiculous extra fee, so if you’re coming here for a mani / pedi you need to happy with regular polish which is all OPI.
We ended our treatments smiling and buzzing, ready to face the outside world and enjoy a cocktail as renewed women. It was a shame then that the staff at the spa made every effort to ruin our afternoon. To cut a long story short, we cancelled 1 of 6 treatments we had that afternoon as one of our friends had to care for a very sick 4 month old…and we were still charged for it. The staff were sticking to their cancellation policy and weren’t willing to listen or understand the situation at all. Disappointing and short sighted if you ask me.
We were determined not to let them spoil our good mood and headed out to the beach for a sunset cocktail, lining up for a photo to capture the moment…
Until we were thrown off the platform we were on by, you guessed, more accommodating Westin staff. For a top end resort in the heart of Seven Mile Beach, the hotel's customer service leaves something to be desired.
Needless to say as soon as we’d waved goodbye to the sun, we also bid farewell to the miserable staff in search of a kinder crowd - which we found at Hemmingways at the old Beach Suites just in time for dinner! :)
