Spending a day at the spa

Source: Spa Balnea

What’s better than spending a day relaxing? That would be spending your day relaxing at the spa. Although I’m not a huge spa fan (my average is once every two years), I do enjoy the experience when I’m there. This year, I decided to try out a spa everyone seems to be talking about in Montreal: Spa Balnea.

Spa Balnea is located in Bromont, a town about an hour away from Montreal. I normally drive to Bromont in winter for skiing, but this time I decided to enjoy its summer activities. The drive to the spa once we exited the highway was quite an adventure in itself because we were driving deeper and deeper to the middle of nowhere. But we were happy to finally see the signs of the spa, and even happier when we made it to the counter because the place was absolutely gorgeous. The entrance fee to access the baths is 60$. + TX . It’s a little pricier than most places in the region but with reason.

The entrance fee includes your own locker, bath robe, towel and aluminum reusable water bottle. The facilities are new and modern. The women’s changing room also offers hair dryers and hair straighteners in addition to showers. Once you’re ready, an employee will give you a tour of the spa. Some of the facilities include a waterfall, saunas, whirlpools, turkish bath, natural springs, sweat lodge, beach club and a resto-lounge.

What I enjoyed the most of this spa is the magnificent view of the lake from the chalet. Unlike most places, you have the luxury to access a lake, a real one! The main area of the spa is at the top of a hill so when you go outside from the patio or when you’re eating at the restaurant, you get a nice view of the lake as well as the surrounding jacuzzi and floating mattresses. By the water, you’ll see a main deck, floating mattresses and multiple smaller decks a few meters away. You can swim and enjoy being in the water as much as you can sit by it. You can go for a swim or simply lay down and enjoy the sun. It’s really up to you!

One really cool part of the spa I haven’t seen anywhere else is the movie room. It’s basically a mini movie theatre where they were playing Planet Earth documentary. Every seat has earphones and you can sit there for as long as you want. I’m a sucker for documentaries so I probably stayed there for almost an hour. It’s a great option for when the sun goes down.

Although I didn’t get to experience any of the services (massages, pedi/mani) I must say that I had a fantastic spa experience at Balnea. We stayed there for 5 hrs and it was well worth the entrance fee. I rarely felt that relaxed when walking out of a spa.