“Spas are not things you book last minute when you want a massage, especially during the pandemic…” – Josie
On a Saturday night around midnight, I was browsing the web for a Montreal spa with a relaxation massage for the next day. That’s when I stumbled upon the Scandinave Spa in the Montreal Old Port.
Their website might leave you thinking:” A Charming Spa, at the Old Port of Montreal. Seems cozy and peaceful, let’s go!” and you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that. After my afternoon experience, I had to give the Spa an overall score of 3.45/5 as a review! Keep reading if you want to find out why.
- Booking experience.
The booking experience is fairly straightforward on their website. I wanted a massage so I headed to that section. Each type of massage ae described and you can choose to book. Then once you want to book, you are redirected to a page where each massage brings you to a new page where you finally see the real prices for 60 min vs 120 min for that particular massage type you chose. Having a drop-down menu with all the massages and that can populate the final cost could have greatly improved my experience as I had to go back and forth 3 times to compare the various types and make a choice. Overall, since it wasn’t all bad but could use some improvements, I give the boking experience 0.3/0.5
2. Accessibility.
If you take public transport, the way there would differ and your walk there from the bus stop may vary from 16 min to 2 min. It was getting cold so I decided to drive, my appointment was on a Sunday and on their website, it was noted that parking on the Notre Dame street (where it Is located) was free on Sundays. I found parking across the street in front and got in. Upon entrance, the environment is appeasing – think hotel lobby, spa lobby. I enjoyed how accessible and easy it was to get there but what I did not like was the $79.00 parking ticket that was waiting for me at the end of my experience so for that, I would have to give accessibility a 0.2/0.5.
Side note: They seem to had valet parking prior to the pandemic, maybe that would have helped the rating?
3. Check-in experience.
The check-in experience is smooth, there was a heartwarming welcome by the employees, I arrived very quite short to my massage time, all my interactions were peacefully welcoming and I did not feel rushed! so for that 0.5/05!
4. Locker room (Women).
The locker room layout is functional and the sweet thing is all you bring is yourself and our bathing suit, they offer towels, sandals, soap, shampoo. I would have loved for it to have more hydrating lotion available. Also, in the first shower I used, the drain was a bit clogged and the water kept overflowing which my feet didn’t like much and resulting in them losing a few points there and leaving us with a 0.3/0.5 for the locker room experiment.
5. Massages.
I can’t rate all the massage because I only took one. I had signed up for the 120 min Swedish massage, all I remember is how I fell asleep during the massage – so that is a good thing! I recall thinking to myself: “why is there no aromatherapy in this room”, it felt like it was missing something! The massage itself was okay, it’s not the best I have ever had but also not the worst. So, for being on the average side for a massage, I’ll give it a 0.3/0.5.
6. Variety of experiences offered.
Whenever there aren’t Quebec Covid wide government shutdowns on certain activities, this spa offers hydrotherapy with hot/cold and rest installations where the process is fairly straightforward and well explained. They offer massages and also share on their website that they have a bath feature. It’s a great variety for a spa, although compared to other spas the size of the amenities and the absence of an exterior experience make it lose a few points. As I went there during the time where their bath experience was closed – I would have loved to try these – we’ll be more lenient by into account that it is a downtown spa and space is limited and give it a 0.3/0.5.
7. Food and beverages.
With covid, businesses seem more reticent about eating food out. Services that initially aren’t restaurants have mostly closed out their food section. During my visit, there was no food on the premises (if there was, it wasn’t evidently displayed) but they did offer on-site water which was quite refreshing. No points loss for this, this water deserves a 0.5/0.5!
8. The Zen-effect.
I was able to relax but not fully. The lack of some sort of a timer left me preoccupied with making sure I didn’t overstay in the sauna/eucalyptus steam room; on another hand, I was also stressing about under staying and not getting the full benefits of the hydrotherapy experience. There wasn’t much noise as there weren’t a lot of people so I have no complaints on that side. But if you are claustrophobic, you may feel a bit trapped (maybe I had this perception because the bath section was closed when I visited?). 0.35/0.5.
9. Sanitary.
The areas were cleaned and with covid, sanitary measures are well displayed and well followed at this facility. They go the extra mile by providing you sandals when you get in so it is a sign that they take the limitation of bacterial transfer very seriously! 0.5/0.5 great job, I felt safe in the space and was even provided with an extra mask when I wetted mine accidentally.
10. Special and Overall experience.
I still can’t get over the fact that they also provided sandals! Overall, my experience was good but when I got out and found myself with a parking ticket, I was baffled and would have appreciated a better clear parking option !!! As a result, for this section, I’m allocating a score of 0.2/0.5 no additional comment is needed.
If we cumulate all the points above, I can say that I fairly justify why my experience was a 3.45/5 at the Scandinave spa-Vieux Montreal. I would like to go back when the baths are open again, try a different masseuse and figure out how I will time my hot therapy section time. Hopefully, we get to a better score then!
PS: The rating system used is the one I explained in the How to rate a spa article – check it out if you are interested!
(the featured image is not a picture of the actual spa, they don’t accept phones inside and I forgot to snap a picture when I started)
Josie Escapes…
