If heaven is a place on earth, then the Miraj Hammam Spa at the Shangri-la Toronto must be it! Imagine a beautiful oasis in the heart of downtown Toronto. We’re talking lovely, Moroccan-inspired décor and service that is nothing short of exceptional. This is the place you go, if you really want to be pampered!
The Hotel
I’m a huge fan of the Shangri-la Toronto. The hotel is gorgeous, Momofuku is one of my favourite places for brunch in the city, and Bosk is also outstanding. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen that I was treated to a lunch prepared by a Le Cordon Bleu Chef at Bosk a little while ago, which was one of the best meals I’ve had all year! But one part of the hotel that I hadn’t previously experienced was the spa.
So, lucky for me, I was given the opportunity to go into the Miraj Hammam Spa a few weeks ago to review one of their treatments. I had the divine body treatment, and it was …well, divine! To be completely honest, I was initially apprehensive about getting a scrub. I’ve had bad experiences in the past with massages and scrubs, including the time I was actually in Morocco and was traumatized after a visit to a public hammam (it still gives me the shivers this day to think about it)! But my time at the Miraj Hammam Spa was actually the complete opposite.
The Spa
The Miraj Hammam Spa is a Caudalie signature spa located on the 5th floor of the Shangri-la Toronto. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s one of several boutique Caudalie spas, which can be found in places like Bordeaux, New York, Los Angeles, London, and Hong Kong. Caudalie is the leader in vinotherapy, where ingredients from wine-making are used on the skin for exfoliation and anti-aging.
The spa offers a variety of scrubs, wraps, facials, manis and pedis, massages, and aesthetician services. It’s important to mention that the divine body treatment and other scrubs are not actually massages, so the people performing them are not registered massage therapists (RMTs). However, all massages offered at the Miraj Hammam Spa are performed by RMTs.
The Treatment
The divine body treatment lasts for 60 minutes and is a scrub meant to nourish the skin. It’s especially helpful in the winter, when our skin needs all the moisture it can get! The price for the treatment is $175 Monday to Friday and $185 on weekends and holidays. Here’s a quick run-down from start to finish:
- While lying down, a mixture of raw brown sugar and “divine oil” (hibiscus oil, sesame seed oil, argan oil, and grape seed oil scented with rose, vanilla and pink peppercorn) is scrubbed into the skin using pressure. This part of the treatment lasts for about 30 minutes.
- You then rinse off in the shower, which has been pre-heated with hot water and steam. The BEST part about this is there is actually a tile bench in the shower and the shower head is adjusted to the perfect height! So you can sit and relax, while a stream of hot water flows directly at you. It was absolutely heavenly, and I wish I could have stayed in there for another hour!
- When you’re done rinsing, you lie down again for a massage with the divine oil. This lasts for about 10-15 minutes.
- At the end of the massage, the Caudalie Beauty Elixir is misted onto your face. (Side-note: You’re going to need this in your life, if you’ve never heard of it before! It’s one of Caudalie’s best-selling products, and is used to set your make-up, give your skin radiance and minimize the pores. It also smells AMAZING! It’s now on my Christmas wish-list!)
- At the end of the treatment, you’re escorted into the Moroccan-esque lounge, decked out with wooden pillars, a fountain, and lots of cushions. You can relax here for as long as you want, while sipping on tea and eating baklava and grapes.
I loved the entire treatment, and left the spa feeling completely relaxed and de-stressed. So much so that I decided to just wander slowly and aimlessly around downtown for a while afterwards, which was such a nice change of pace. My skin also smelled so good and felt like butter for the rest of the day and the day after! With work being so busy lately, this spa treatment couldn’t have come at a better time!
If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for that special someone for Christmas this year, I highly recommend a treatment at the Miraj Hammam Spa!
