A Day At A Spa In Thailand: Wyndham Grand Phuket Zana Spa Review

So I wasn’t originally going to write a post about this experience, but I found the small differences of how spas work in the US compared to Thailand interesting and wanted to give people a heads up in case they were interested in going to one. I also enjoyed this experience so much that wanted to share it with y’all and even semi-jokingly told my Mom that we should come to Thailand whenever we want to go to the spa since we can travel hack biz class flights for $20 to get here in style.

So let’s jump into this experience! I’m writing this right after getting back from the spa to make sure my memories are fresh 🙂 . We booked the Revitalizing Package at Zana Spa, which is located within the Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay Resort. A heads up in case you go there in the future: to enter the property you go through a gate with a guard, he checks your temperature and then directly to the left, there is a building…that building is not the hotel nor the spa 🙂 .

It’s some kind of no longer used hotel space, so avoid making the same mistake we did and continue up the hill, in the vehicle you arrive in, until you start seeing hotel-like buildings. Or better yet, ask the guard at the gate where the spa is and continue until you see it. It’s almost on the other side of the resort and up several big hills and climbing them in flip flops wasn’t the start to the spa day I’d dreamed of 😉 .

Luckily, after our driver dropped us off and it was clear that we were in the wrong place, the Wyndham staff already started impressing me. We asked the guard how to get to the spa and he called a Wyndham car for us. It arrived in minutes with a very friendly driver that took us up the hill to the correct spa location. At the end of our spa experience, the same man kindly took us back down the hill to where we were meeting our driver. Already they were going above and beyond 🙂 .

When we arrived at Zana Spa, we were greeted by the manager who asked us to sit in a beautiful waiting area overlooking the pool and ocean. I didn’t know this at the time, but the resort gym is located right below the spa, but you’d never know it given how tranquil it felt the moment we stepped inside.

We then had our temperature checked by the manager, handed over standard signed waivers for spas, and were presented with a cold towel (OMFG that felt good!) and butterfly pea tea, which was delicious.

The manager then reviewed our 210 minute Revitalizing Package that includes a Foot Bath, Body Scrub, Body Wrap, Bubble Bath, Massage and Facial. In our typical un-spontaneous fashion, we booked this a while ago and pre-paid half of the $285 cost. However, the price of this package is currently listed on their website for $245 (deal alert!).

We then were asked to sample and choose what kind of oil we would like used during our massage – they all smelled amazing so it was a hard decision 🙂 . We were then asked about any problem areas for the masseuse to focus on or to avoid. After they had all our info, we were asked to take off our shoes and directed to our Foot Bath.

Various items were rubbed onto our feet while our masseuse cleaned them, we were put into branded spa slippers and directed to our room. The rooms used for these treatments are huge. They have a massage bed (or two in our case for a joint treatment), a sink area, lounge and a large tub for the bubble bath along with a shower area, changing room and a bathroom. And all of this overlooked the ocean and trees. Basically I could have lived in there no problem 🙂 .

Next up was the Body Scrub! They put me facedown on a massage table and there were floating flowers below me. They scrubbed me down with something that smelled lovely. I was then flipped over and massaged all over (which I’ll get into below 🙂 ). After about an hour of massaging this scrub into my body, I was asked to take a quick shower to get the scrub off.

Then came the body wrap. They massaged some type of mud-like substance on my skin and then wrapped me up in what felt like plastic wrap, until I felt like a Christmas present – or a strange see-through burrito 🙂 . I rested there for a bit until I was asked to take another shower so I could hop in the bath.

I hopped into the bath and was impressed with the bubbles – they were strangely soft and never went away. Some kind of magic 🙂 . During the bath, I was brought some ginger tea and looked out at the ocean out the window. Lovely 🙂 .

After a while soaking there, it was time for the massage! I hopped out of the bath, took a quick shower to get the suds off of me, (I’m telling you they don’t go away!) and then went back to the massage table where they massaged me with the oil I had chosen when entering the spa. It was so relaxing 🙂 .

After an hour of that, it was time for the facial. My skin has never felt better and the facial massage throughout it all put me to sleep twice 🙂 . I had to keep waking myself up because it was so relaxing, but I didn’t want to sleep through it! After the last item was applied to my face, it was time to return to reality. I was shocked to see on my phone that 4 hours had passed.

I was then escorted back to the check in area where there was more yummy ginger tea and a small cake awaiting me along with a survey about my visit (I love surveys). I filled it out, sipped my tea, ate my cake (I don’t know what it was, but it was delicious) and looked out at the pool and ocean.

Once we were all checked out, as we were leaving the spa, the manager rushed over to us to give us water bottles for the journey since it was hot outside. Above and beyond!

The Differences

The Pandemic

One difference compared to my previous spa experiences is obviously the pandemic 🙂 . So I thought it might be useful to go over what precautions this spa took. As I mentioned previously, our temperature was checked before entering the resort by the guard and then again by the manager before entering the spa.

I also wore a mask the whole time except when the masseuse wasn’t present, such as for the bubble bath or a shower. However, they did take my mask off for my facial, understandably. All the staff wore masks at all times and seemed very aware of trying to keep everyone safe.

(Prudish) American Sensibilities

I expected there to be a few differences in my Thai spa experience and there indeed were some. When we first changed into our robe, there were these small underwear in a plastic case in the room. I assumed the staff preferred us to not be completely naked and provided those for us.

Well, when I put them on, I was surprised to find that they were see through 🙂 and didn’t really understand the point, but went with it. Well, during the Body Scrub the masseuse casually took them down while scrubbing me. This caught me off guard since I had assumed the underwear was for them, but that wasn’t the case. So the next time I showered before my next treatment, I didn’t put on the underwear and went in as I usually do in the US – in my birthday suit 🙂 .

The other interesting thing was the general treatment of nudity. In my experiences in the US, the masseuse never sees any naked bits of you. They leave the room for you to change and when moving around your body, always covering your butt and boobs before working around those areas, but not actually touching them.

Well I guess I should have inferred from my (naked) times in Korean bath houses and my fun experience getting my butt massaged during a standard massage in Vietnam, that this would be a little different. Basically, if you have boobs, prepare to have them massaged along with your butt 🙂 . This former was a completely new experience for me, but I enjoyed it.

In general, prepare to be naked in front of your masseuse – there isn’t the same expectation that I was used to. Anyway, this was just a heads up so you’re not surprised like we were. In hindsight, I should have looked up these differences before going to the spa, but I didn’t and now I can instead tell all of you so you know what you’re getting into 🙂 .

The other differences I noticed were very minor – when massaging your stomach, my masseuse dug in like she was massaging my intestines – it was a weird, but fun sensation. The other difference was that during the facial, there was no pain – just calming lotions, balm and blotters. I was not complaining about that at all 🙂 .

The Review

This was a lovely experience. Definitely the best I’ve had in Asia (I had a few spa treatments in Vietnam a few years ago) and top tier against my US experiences as well. The spa was in a great location with beautiful views and wonderful ambiance.

In addition, the staff was absolutely amazing. They were so present and always making sure I was comfortable and ok with what was happening. This was definitely money well spent in my book, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stomach US prices for high end spas after this. Oh well, I guess we’re coming back soon!

Conclusion

I had an absolutely amazing time at this spa and can’t wait to return. I’m also so thrilled that my experiment trying luxury experiences in other countries went well (though I should have done a little more research to avoid any surprises). I’m excited about what I should try next 🙂 !

What’s your favorite massage experience?