It is a misty day in Gordons’ Bay. Strange weather for a South-African summer’s day in April, but the promise of a sunny day is visible from the mountain slopes as we descend down the road to book in at the Boutique Hotel and Spa for our 2nd wedding anniversary celebrations.
The choice to book this specific Boutique Hotel was the promising invitation on their website of a private hot tub booking option for their Bed-and-Breakfast guests. They treated us with their honeymoon sweat, as there were only one other couple staying over for the weekend.
No surprise that as soon as our weekend suitcases were unpacked, we requested to book our first 45-minute session in the ‘hot tub’ with some of the best aged red wine they had waiting for us. We actually did not really know what to expect, as there were not images on their website – only a teaser to ‘test it for yourself to always return’.
With mixed feelings of high expectations and hesitant to be disappointed, we entered into the foyer of the private hot tub. The theme of the room was Moroccan with typical music, colourful drapes all over the ceiling and walls and heated weaved carpets – similar to the one I’ve bought 16 years ago at a small local factory shop in the souk markets of Casablanca. We already relaxed and knew this will be a great experience.
At that stage we were too curious about the hot tub itself, that we did not even see the welcome note congratulating us on our anniversary balanced between the 2 extra-large crystal wine glasses. In front of us and behind MORE draping we could hear water running as if we were in a forest and closing down on a stream spilling over rocks.
But never did we expect it to be the most tranquil place we’ve been to before – okay, indoors place… Inside the next room were a couple of steps that leads into a hot tub capable of seating at least 12 to 16 people easily. The entire room’s walls were decorated in blue and white and green and red and purple and orange and any colour you could imagine 5cm by 5cm mosaic tiles. It almost seemed hand-picked at the market place in Rabat where I bought a bathroom mirror. Each tile unique and handmade. The walls extended into the crystal clear water, and if it was not for the hot steamy water, I am sure we could have seen every detail of the bottom of the hot tub right down to the patterns of the grout.
The scent of Kamasutra incense contributed to the out-of-country experience which lead to out-of-body relaxation!
We wasted no time and got into the hot tub, felt the water burn the stress almost immediately away from not only our skin, but right through into our souls – almost as clear a feeling as the clearness of the water that surrounded us!
The water was so almost soft against our skin and the bubbles from the turbines and water-feature in the centre of the tub added to a tranquillity atmosphere that you could almost not put to words. Minutes went by that we did not even say a word. No conversation could in any case fit into the space that we found ourselves in during those moments.
Strange how water can have so many purposes. The human body consisting of more water than anything else is still a mystery to me till today; the overwhelming relief of a glass of water when thirsty; the cleaning effect of water to wash off dirt; the effect of the temperature of water to either take out a stain or not; the relaxing sound of tipping water on a tin roof when it rains… But there is something else to say for your entire body to be enclosed in extra hot water, rushing the blood in your veins almost instantly to your head, making you gasp for air and the surprising decision to stay rather than to get out.
I think we lost sense of time. Only when we wanted to pour more wine and realised we finished the bottle we tried to calculate the time it normally takes us to get to the bottom of a bottle. We very soon decided not to try and figure it out, as the staff ensured us the hot tub was ours for the entire evening.
But curiosity got the best of us and we explored the unit further, just to discover a hot air dry sauna. As we entered the sauna, we realised that the dripping of the water off our wet bodies from the hot tub is barely noticeable on the wooden floor and seats. Too hot to handle for too long, we decided our private ‘swimming pool hot tub’ wins the popularity price of the weekend! This became our preferred spot for breakfast, tea-time, lunchtime, midday snacks and late evening night-cap!
After who-knows-how-long we decided to return to our room filled with the aroma of freshly ground coffee awaiting us. The hot coffee almost got lost in our over-heated bodies, but the nourishing effect of the entire experience was so overwhelming, we fell asleep almost instantly!
Every possible opportunity during the weekend, we spend multiple 45 minute sessions in our little ‘world apart from the world’. Drinking wine, listening to the music, taking in the quality incense, dancing to Arabic tunes, testing the dry air sauna at times – just to be convinced that it is not as great as the alternative, lying on the cold tile steps just to ‘cool off’, relaxing in the hot, bubbly water. At times it almost felt as if we become part of the water…
Without a doubt, if they allowed us to move our beds into that room for the weekend, we would have carried it ourselves!
There is something to say for the famous words: “When the well is dry, we will know the worth of water”.
The choice to book this specific Boutique Hotel was the promising invitation on their website of a private hot tub booking option for their Bed-and-Breakfast guests. They treated us with their honeymoon sweat, as there were only one other couple staying over for the weekend.
No surprise that as soon as our weekend suitcases were unpacked, we requested to book our first 45-minute session in the ‘hot tub’ with some of the best aged red wine they had waiting for us. We actually did not really know what to expect, as there were not images on their website – only a teaser to ‘test it for yourself to always return’.
With mixed feelings of high expectations and hesitant to be disappointed, we entered into the foyer of the private hot tub. The theme of the room was Moroccan with typical music, colourful drapes all over the ceiling and walls and heated weaved carpets – similar to the one I’ve bought 16 years ago at a small local factory shop in the souk markets of Casablanca. We already relaxed and knew this will be a great experience.
At that stage we were too curious about the hot tub itself, that we did not even see the welcome note congratulating us on our anniversary balanced between the 2 extra-large crystal wine glasses. In front of us and behind MORE draping we could hear water running as if we were in a forest and closing down on a stream spilling over rocks.
But never did we expect it to be the most tranquil place we’ve been to before – okay, indoors place… Inside the next room were a couple of steps that leads into a hot tub capable of seating at least 12 to 16 people easily. The entire room’s walls were decorated in blue and white and green and red and purple and orange and any colour you could imagine 5cm by 5cm mosaic tiles. It almost seemed hand-picked at the market place in Rabat where I bought a bathroom mirror. Each tile unique and handmade. The walls extended into the crystal clear water, and if it was not for the hot steamy water, I am sure we could have seen every detail of the bottom of the hot tub right down to the patterns of the grout.
The scent of Kamasutra incense contributed to the out-of-country experience which lead to out-of-body relaxation!
We wasted no time and got into the hot tub, felt the water burn the stress almost immediately away from not only our skin, but right through into our souls – almost as clear a feeling as the clearness of the water that surrounded us!
The water was so almost soft against our skin and the bubbles from the turbines and water-feature in the centre of the tub added to a tranquillity atmosphere that you could almost not put to words. Minutes went by that we did not even say a word. No conversation could in any case fit into the space that we found ourselves in during those moments.
Strange how water can have so many purposes. The human body consisting of more water than anything else is still a mystery to me till today; the overwhelming relief of a glass of water when thirsty; the cleaning effect of water to wash off dirt; the effect of the temperature of water to either take out a stain or not; the relaxing sound of tipping water on a tin roof when it rains… But there is something else to say for your entire body to be enclosed in extra hot water, rushing the blood in your veins almost instantly to your head, making you gasp for air and the surprising decision to stay rather than to get out.
I think we lost sense of time. Only when we wanted to pour more wine and realised we finished the bottle we tried to calculate the time it normally takes us to get to the bottom of a bottle. We very soon decided not to try and figure it out, as the staff ensured us the hot tub was ours for the entire evening.
But curiosity got the best of us and we explored the unit further, just to discover a hot air dry sauna. As we entered the sauna, we realised that the dripping of the water off our wet bodies from the hot tub is barely noticeable on the wooden floor and seats. Too hot to handle for too long, we decided our private ‘swimming pool hot tub’ wins the popularity price of the weekend! This became our preferred spot for breakfast, tea-time, lunchtime, midday snacks and late evening night-cap!
After who-knows-how-long we decided to return to our room filled with the aroma of freshly ground coffee awaiting us. The hot coffee almost got lost in our over-heated bodies, but the nourishing effect of the entire experience was so overwhelming, we fell asleep almost instantly!
Every possible opportunity during the weekend, we spend multiple 45 minute sessions in our little ‘world apart from the world’. Drinking wine, listening to the music, taking in the quality incense, dancing to Arabic tunes, testing the dry air sauna at times – just to be convinced that it is not as great as the alternative, lying on the cold tile steps just to ‘cool off’, relaxing in the hot, bubbly water. At times it almost felt as if we become part of the water…
Without a doubt, if they allowed us to move our beds into that room for the weekend, we would have carried it ourselves!
There is something to say for the famous words: “When the well is dry, we will know the worth of water”.