The Pavillon de la Reine is one of the Paris’s most luxurious and famous boutique hotels, found nestled away in the city’s beautiful and historical Place des Vosges. And hidden away downstairs in the hotel is Spa de la Reine by Carita, the hotel’s soothing and serene spa. Personally recommended to us for its indulgent treatments and wonderful range of Carita products, StyleNest couldn’t resist heading over to spend a relaxing afternoon in one of Paris’s most fashionable locations.
Quiet and peaceful as we entered, the only sound in Spa de la Reine was the relaxing babble of water from the feature in reception, and we couldn’t believe we had left hoards of tourists outside in the square. Offering facial and body treatments, epilation, manicures and pedicures, and even hair appointments, we had booked for the spa’s speciality Soin signature du Pavillon de la Reine massage, created especially for the hotel with a combination of verbena and citrus fruit precious oils for vitality and wellbeing. It sounded like just what we needed.
We were greeted by a very warm and smiley Alice who was to be our therapist for the afternoon. After confirming our treatment Alice guided us to the changing rooms, explaining more about the spa on the way, and stopping to show us the hidden jacuzzi room that lay behind a mirrored door, and the rather large hamman, which was conveniently located from the changing rooms. Deciding to skip the gym, never our favourite part of a spa treatment, we of course couldn’t resist relaxing in the warm of steamy hamman, or a dip in the large, private jacuzzi before our treatment. When ready we headed to our treatment room wrapped in a very large, fluffy dressing gown, feeling relaxed already!
Alice asked us before starting how we would like our massage, and needing something intense after a busy few weeks, we chose a deep rather than soft intensity. Firmer than we were expecting, and stronger than she looks, Alice pummelled, pinched, rubbed, and massaged, even used her elbows where necessary, to invigorate our entire body with her unique, quick, energising style. Hands and feet, stomach and chest were all included, and Alice even gave us a short face massage to finish, which felt so good we wished we’d booked in for an additional facial! The citrus scented oil added to the energising experience, and whilst the unusual oil that Alice applied to our back definitely woke us up with its surprisingly cool sensation, it was also refreshingly pleasant, and we were soon warm and soothed again as Alice worked it into our skin with her quick, healing hands.
Once finished we wrapped up again in that fluffy white dressing gown, and met Alice outside, who kindly took the time to explain to us the methods and products she had used during the treatment. A Carita Dry Oil was to thank for that wonderfully lemony citrus scent, and that surprisingly cool oil, paired so well with Alice’s invigorating style, was designed to energise and wake up the senses, which had definitely worked on us. We commented that not only was it one of the best massages we had ever had, it was also one of the most unusual, and Alice revealed to us she had used a Chinese method of massage to energise rather than relax, although we felt both. Focusing pressure on specific points of the body and using a variety of quick, rapid movements to energise, the style explained not only the different techniques she had used, but also explained how Alice managed to be so thorough in just a 60 minute massage, with every part of our body feeling the benefit. Feeling throughly warmed up and invigorated by Alice’s method, and grateful for our word of mouth recommendation, we felt ready to hit Paris again!
Pavillon de la Reine, 28 Place des Vosges, 75003 Paris