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When a spa turns into an journey
Nordik Spa Nature – A Improbable Day Spa Close to Ottawa
Whether or not you’re looking for respite from the on a regular basis grind or an escape into nature, Nordik Spa-Nature presents an expertise in contrast to another – a day spa retreat that guarantees rest and plenty of spa-style enjoyable.
In case you’re close to Ottawa or Gatineau it’s a brief drive away. Like actually quick – about quarter-hour away by automobile.
Located in Chelsea, Quebec, Nordik Spa Nature might rub shoulders with city Ottawa, but it surely’s a world of its personal, combining a Quebecois flavour, Scandinavian bathing traditions and a breathe-deep setting of birch, maple and pine.
As a longtime spa reviewer who has written about wellness locations around the globe, I used to be trying ahead to revisiting Spa Nordik Nature as I hadn’t been for years.
As soon as my husband and I arrived, we discovered a lot new to discover.
What Is Nordik Spa-Nature? A Two Sentence Description
Spa Nordik is a woodsy wellness wonderland of out of doors baths, sauna cabins (together with one in a barrel), therapy rooms, therapeutic massage pavilions, eating places and lounge areas.
Consider it as a really tranquil theme park for wellness seekers.
Why Go to a Nordic Spa?
It’s hip, it’s wholesome, it’s stress-free and peaceable. What extra do you want from a spa day?
How Huge is Nordik Spa Nature?
It’s the most important spa in North America.
With 10 out of doors baths, 9 specialty saunas and 25 therapy rooms, Le Nordik has a whopping 41,500 sq. toes of inside area and 80,000 sq. toes of out of doors area.
That’s some severe sq. footage.
A Scandinavian-Type Spa With a Sociable Twist
As soon as we arrived, I instantly misplaced my husband to the saunas (as per regular).
Earlier than I settled in I wished to discover. I used to be torn between eager to race round and take a look at all the things, and understanding I wanted to decelerate and chill out.
It’s at all times a dilemma at a day spa with a lot of amenities like this.
As I padded previous lounge chairs, rocky waterfalls and steaming swimming pools in my flip flops and gown, I finished after I noticed a scattering of individuals holding cocktails within the infinity pool.
That’s fascinating, I believed.
In contrast to most Scandinavian-style spas I’ve been to, the place poolside drinks are unparalleled and silence is the phrase (or non phrase, as you’re not allowed to talk), at Le Nordik you have got choices.
Three Separate Sections to Go well with Your Spa Type
You possibly can sip a sangria within the pool together with your besties within the sociable Panorama Part, soak in silence within the Kaskad Part, or head to the Borea Part the place a little bit of whispery gossip (or candy nothings in your accomplice’s ear) is okay.
My level is, you’re more likely to discover one thing to fit your temper. Each my husband and I did.
So right here’s a information to visiting this spectacular nordic spa, what to do there and what to not miss.
How To Get the Most From the Nordic Spa Expertise
In case you’ve by no means been to a Scandinavian-style spa earlier than, know this:
Nordic spas aren’t as centered on pampering magnificence therapies as many different sorts of spas. Basically, they’re extra about an immersion into rest, detoxing and de-stressing.
Do you could do a spa therapy? No. A therapeutic massage is a good enhancement to a spa day, however many go for the swimming pools, saunas and rest advantages alone.
The Most Essential Factor to Do at Le Nordik: The Spa Circuit
There are completely different bathing swimming pools, saunas and relaxation areas everywhere in the property. The saunas and swimming pools are of various temperatures, and you’ll dip out and in at your leisure.
Whereas there is no such thing as a set routine, there’s a really useful sample to comply with.
The concept is to do a circuit of sizzling, chilly and rest, then repeat. Nordik Spa Nature refers to this circuit as Thermotherapy.
Methods to Comply with the Sizzling, Chilly and Leisure Circuit
You may begin with a sauna, rev up your circulation with a chilly splash below a waterfall, then decide a deck chair and shut your eyes or learn a guide.
Or, you may soak in one of many many out of doors heated swimming pools, then tip a bucket of chilly water in your head earlier than you make your option to the big yurt for a relaxation.
(The bucket is a little bit of a shock, but it surely’s assured to make your companions snicker.)
My favorite sizzling/chilly combo begins with a extremely popular sauna (I favored the Maa Earth Sauna), adopted by a heart-stopping dip into the Kylma chilly plunge pool.
The plunge pool is so frigid it took my breath away. Actually. Not for the faint of coronary heart. However what a refresh.
On my second or third circuit, I prefer to go for a sizzling out of doors pool the place I can take within the recent air and the beautiful pure environment.
🍃 Spa tip: Don’t skip the out of doors swimming pools, as a result of nature performs an enormous function within the expertise, and it’s straightforward to overlook it in case you’re extra centered on the saunas. (Husband, I’m speaking to you.)
Distinctive Experiences at Spa Nordik
You’re in for some spa thrills right here.
You will get your shoulders pummelled below a waterfall, have sizzling scented air slapped at you by a towel-wielding sauna maestro, float weightlessly in a salt pool, or possibly detox with a mud-based Vivifying Spa Remedy.
Listed here are some suggestions:
1) Don’t Miss the Aufguss – A Sauna Spectacle
It’s a bizarre and uncommon expertise to be transported into the previous. However when Mark and I did the aufguss, a multi-sensory sauna ritual led by a educated sauna grasp, I used to be shot again in time to our honeymoon once we spent every week on the alpine spa city of Leukerbad in Switzerland
(The one distinction was you needed to be bare on the sauna in Leukerbad. That wouldn’t go over effectively at Spa Nordik.)
🍃 Spa tip: The aufguss, which refers back to the phrase infusion, is a German sauna ritual that has develop into fashionable in European spas and is catching on large in North America.
What Is an Aufguss Ritual?
An aufguss is a guided sauna expertise the place a educated ‘Rituals Artisan’ places snow, ice or water on the heated stones together with important oils, after which whips a towel round so you’re blasted with sizzling scented air.
It’s as a lot leisure as transformative. Spellbinding, actually.
We began with the Aufguss Discovery, an 8-minute expertise.
Within the darkened sauna, our towel-clad ritual chief swirled his towel round in a choreographed type of dance as Coldplay performed within the background.
(I appreciated the musical irony, as a result of the expertise is something however chilly.)
That is all accompanied by numerous scents, which come at you in waves as the new air is whipped in direction of you.
First I caught the perfume of lemon, then I believed I might need smelled orange. Possibly pine? I couldn’t sustain.
Total, it’s as gripping as a sauna expertise can get, and you’ve got multiple option to strive it.
🍃 Spa tip: If the Aufguss ritual is just too sizzling for you, don’t be afraid to go away. Sauna security is vital.
3 Forms of Aufguss Sauna Rituals at Nordik Spa Nature
You are able to do the 8-minute Discovery Aufguss, or the longer Traditional Aufguss within the Finlandia Sauna.
An alternative choice takes place on the Banya Sauna. Right here you may go on a Canadian Forest journey with the Arboreal Aufguss.
In this kind of sauna ritual, the warmth is damaged up by whisks of chilly water sprinkled from branches.
It’s based mostly on the Russian banya expertise, the place you’re gently whipped with birch branches by your pals. (I’m not kidding. It’s hilarious.)
The primary time I went to an genuine banya was in St. Petersburg, Russia, a metropolis that likes its saunas sizzling. It was so sizzling, I ended up mendacity on the ground with my nostril by the door!
2) Attempt a Weightless Bathing Expertise at Spa Nordik – Floating on the KÄLLA
One other particular characteristic at Nordik Spa Nature is the KÄLLA Floating Tub.
A 1,200-square-foot pool hewn into the rock, the KÄLLA Floating Tub has a capability to carry 20 folks – although there have been solely a few others once we had been there.
The water accommodates a excessive focus of Epsom salts. It’s created to mimic the expertise of floating within the Lifeless Sea.
On this darkened indoor pool you may let go of your stress as you float round like a lazy jellyfish.
FYI: As I simply spent every week spa-ing on the Lifeless Sea in Israel, it was an fascinating comparability.
Floating within the Lifeless Sea is extra social, whereas the KÄLLA pool is extra meditative. One factor for certain is that you simply gained’t sink in both!
🍃 Spa tip: There may be an additional price for the KÄLLA Floating Tub.
Spa Therapies at Spa Nordik
The spa presents massages, physique therapies and facials.
Due to time constraints I didn’t do one, although an City Detox Face Care therapy wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Leisure Areas at Spa Nordik
There are a number of locations to recline and relaxation across the property. The structure may be very calming with a lot of pure components like cedar, hearth, water and stone.
My go-to spot was a deck chair on the far fringes of the property, the place I may benefit from the woodsy silence.
One other prime spot for me was the deck above the Banya Sauna. Right here you may sip lavender-and-lemon infused water and look out over the fantastically landscaped world Spa Nordik has created.
Eating places at Spa Nordik Nature
Spa Nordik is a spot to linger, so that you’ll finally wish to eat. For eating, there are 4 eating places that vary from informal to fastidiously curated.
The Shack
Straightforward and Fast: You possibly can chow down on a taco or a hand-pulled pizza on the Shack within the sociable Panorama Part.
The Biërgarden
Sociable: Additionally within the Panorama Part is the Biërgarden. This massive terrace is right for looking over the Gatineau Hills, hanging with your pals and sipping an area craft beer.
Restö
Elevated: If wonderful eating is a crucial a part of your keep, you may go extra upscale with one thing like a Miso Glazed Canadian Atlantic Salmon on the elegant Restö.
Panorama Lounge
Pleasant: It is a good place for a lunch or snack break. (If, in fact, you want a break from all that arduous stress-free.) Sip a sangria, share a charcuterie board or dive into an influence bowl on the patio or indoors.
Mëzz | Café
On Your Means in or Out: Positioned close to the doorway of the spa, the Mëzz is a lightweight cease for a smoothie or a pastry. Possibly a cappuccino for the street?
Who Goes?
Age-wise, Nordik Spa attracts a variety of spa seekers, although you could be over 16.
There are a good variety of folks of their 20s and 30s, at the least on Sunday afternoons, which was when my husband and I had been final there.
Happily for us, there have been adults of all ages so we didn’t really feel misplaced.
As for who goes, you’re as more likely to see teams of associates as {couples} or solos.
What in case you’ve by no means been to a nordic spa?
It might take a couple of minutes to get the lay of the land, however you’ll quickly soften comfortably into the laidback environment and overlook you had been ever a beginner.
Suggestions For Visiting Nordik Spa-Nature
In case you’re new to the spa world, you may examine spa etiquette at tips on how to spa.
What Do You Must Carry?
- Flip flops or sandals and a showering swimsuit.
- I’m misplaced with out one thing to learn so I at all times deliver a guide. Le Nordik gives towels, robes and lockers.
- Most individuals deliver water bottles, that are straightforward to refill there. In case you don’t have a bottle you will get a paper cup there.
Do You Must Carry Cash?
No. The spa gives you an digital wristband. You should use this to lock your locker and in addition to pay for food and drinks throughout your keep. Once you go away you may settle up the invoice.
Hours
You possibly can spa effectively into the night at Spa Nordik Nature. From Monday to Thursday it’s open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. On Friday and Saturday it’s open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Is It Open 12 months Spherical?
Sure, it’s open even in winter when steam is rising from the new swimming pools, and snow is making a frosty fairyland.
Spa Nordik is especially an out of doors expertise, however with loads of heat dry indoor locations to chill out and unwind.
Is Nordik Spa Nature Value It?
Sure.
Spa Nordik has an inviting environment that mixes trendy therapies and age-old spa traditions with structure that matches seamlessly into the panorama. The forest setting seeps into each a part of the expertise, and nature performs an element in serving to you chill out.
Even my nephew mentioned Le Nordik was improbable (Hello, Charlie!) and he’s not a daily spa goer. He notably favored the KÄLLA Floating Tub.
With so many sections and spa facilities to discover, Spa Nordik presents a deep dive into all issues wellness. The laborious half is to make your self cease exploring and begin zoning out into bliss.
Journey info:
Nordik Spa-Nature is positioned at 16 Chemin Nordik, Outdated Chelsea, Quebec. Name toll-free: 1 866 575-3700. Go to their web site for extra info.
Learn extra:
There are numerous nordic spas in Quebec like Spa La Supply in Rawdon close to Montreal. In Ontario Scandinave Blue Mountain is a favorite and British Columbia has Scandinave Whistler.
In case you’re staying in Ottawa you may at all times try Tree remedy at Holtz Spa in Ottawa.
Need extra spa? Learn my The Spa and Spa Journey article.
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