Spas open their doors to men for a soft couch

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It was a mere four years ago that spas to pamper us into the never-never land of complete relaxation received the lofty stamp of approval as the latest "trend" from leading women's magazine Femina.

Today, spas, whether you see them as nearing the ultimate in self-gratification or merely as part of the holistic approach to putting both mind and body on an even keel, are here to stay.

For soothing frazzled nerves or rejuvenating tired muscles, there seems to be a spa on every street corner, from plush five- star hotels to almost holes-in-the-wall in small neighborhoods.

And in these gentler times, when it's perfectly OK for our male sporting heroes to get an attack of the waterworks after a stupendous win, or for us manly men to go in search of our damaged inner child, the local edition of Men's Health would be just as likely to have a breathy feature on head-to-toe spa care as its sister publications.

Wherever they are, spas are welcoming male guests with open arms. No, we are not talking about the joints where a perfunctory rubdown was merely a prelude to a kiss, or other such activities, which have long been a fixture of certain more colorful areas of the city.

Today, there are beauty palaces great and small where the newly crowned metrosexual man of modern Jakarta can get buffed, polished and smoothed over to put his best face forward.

At a small day spa in Mampang, South Jakarta, squeezed among residences, a towering pizza parlor and office buildings, male customers make up a sizable portion of the clientele, whether it's for a simple massage with aromatic oil, a facial or a massage plus scrub and immersion in a roomy bathtub in one of the curtain-fronted cubicles.

"We get all types of people coming in, including many men," confirmed "Andri", one of the therapists. "Sometimes they come together with their wives, sometimes alone, but I think it's OK now for everybody to want to relax and take care of themselves."

Every luxury hotel worth its dollar-pegged price tag now has a spa on its premises, and The Spa at the Four Seasons Jakarta is the latest addition. It, too, is offering that tender touch for image-conscious males who don't want to be seen as rough around the edges.

It is only to be expected of a hotel -- never as garish, precious or studiously highfalutin as some of its peers -- that always breathed understated class.

This was even the case when the terrible flood of February 2002 happened, and the Menteng sluice gates were opened, swamping the hotel's basement with all manner of flotsam and jetsam.

Although the hotel was barely able to hold its head above water during the calamity -- there was the infamous image on the front page of the country's leading daily of an expatriate family being ferried from the hotel in a laundry cart -- it did not fire any of its employees during the clean-up job (many were assigned to Four Seasons properties around the world).

Dried out and repaired, the hotel reopened in August 2003, dropped the Regent from its name a couple of months ago and now has its beautiful new spa to replace its equally beautiful (but in a different way) health center.

It has been refurbished into a sedate, contemporary and very Zen-like space, a rarefied refuge from the city's noise-polluted environs where you really can hear a pin drop (the separate, ultramodern The Gym provides exercise facilities 24/7).

At The Spa, the corner alcove of the consultation room leads to a refreshment bar (including spa cuisine), yoga room and a salon; six treatment rooms and the spa facilities, with a roomy black-tiled hot Jacuzzi, await downstairs.

Treatments include massage (Javanese, aroma, reflex, herbal oil), body treatments and facials, the latter including one especially for men.

"Times are changing," acknowledged Sherryn Bates, the hotel's director of marketing. "Men weren't interested in spending a lot on pampering themselves, but they are more open to it today."

She added that the spa's prices -- ranging from Rp 90,000 ++ for a reflex massage, Rp 160,000 ++ for a Javanese 60-minute massage and Rp 490,000 ++ for a body contouring treatment -- were "added value" prices for the city (The Spa is open to the public).

I tried out the facial for men, which consisted of cleansing, followed by an exfoliating mask, the application of macadamia nut oil to nourish and moisturize, with a serum containing shea butter applied as the finishing touch to aid repair and increase elasticity. In the meantime, there was massage for the face, neck, shoulders and hands.

"So, how was it?" a friend asked of my experience, immediately providing his own answer by saying, "Well, it is the spa at the Four Seasons."

Exactly. While not all freebies are created equal, The Spa experience was everything one would expect, from its thoroughly modern but nonetheless welcoming decor, the spotless environs, to the massage therapist who did her job without having to share her innermost trials and tribulations with me.

And probably its biggest recommendation is that while I got to try this treatment for free, I would gladly go back for more of the same -- and pay for it -- even, or especially, with that cloud of fear hanging over us at this time.

The Spa Four Seasons Hotel Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said Tel. 21-252-3456 (appointment recommended)