Treatments We Love: Six-handed Massage at Dubai's Heart & Soul Spa
Dubai has some of the best spas we've ever visited. (That and infallible sunshine are two of the key reasons to go. Oh, and did we mention the food...???) Jo's going to stick her (de-stressed) neck out here, though, and say that without question the Six-Handed Massage at the Heart & Soul Spa is the best she's had. Ever, ever, ever. (And she's had a LOT of massages.)
The spa itself is an oasis, almost in the desert on the way out of Dubai - but worth the Uber ride. Segregated into men's and women's sections (as are all the spas in this Middle Eastern destination), it's accessed via a quiet, calming, bamboo-screened garden with an outdoor relaxation area. This isn't just an urban oasis: it's an actual oasis, with a wonderful adjacent natural foods café called The Farm.
The spa itself is all Bamford-esque bleached wood and natural finishes, and the treatment rooms (with shower rooms attached) are generously proportioned. Which - considering this treatment's carried out by three therapists! - is probably just as well.
First off, you're invited to smell three different oils, below, to see which one your body's craving. (In Jo's case, a super-relaxing blend.) The treatment begins with hot poultices - really quite hot, so speak up if it's just too uncomfortable. But these are pressed into skin to de-kink muscles, and do the job very well, 'preparing' for the massage itself.
The three therapists get to work in perfect, choreographed harmony, using long, slow, soothing strokes. Imagine the Royal Ballet or Dancing on Ice - but it's happening all over your body. Expertly. Brilliantly. You can barely make out where one therapist's strokes start, and another's end.
It finishes with a (two-handed) coconut oil head massage. (Happily, Jo'd booked in to the Harvey Nichols Profile salon at The Mall of the Emirates next day, so didn't mind getting her hair mussed, for once.)
Jo never wanted it to end - and will be booking in again, on her next visit. Absolutely totally worth saving up for...
Six Hands Heart & Soul Signature Massage/1,050 AED at Heart & Soul Spa, Al Barari, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai/+971 4320 7350
