Royal Thai massage & Spa by Night dinner @ Heavenly Spa Westin Langkawi

I glanced at the many framed accolades of The Heavenly Spa at Westin Langkawi; “Best Luxury Resort Spa” in the 2014 World Luxury Spa Awards, “2011: Best 10 in Asia – Platinum Winner for HAPA Spa of the Year and HAPA Signature Spa Experience” and a few more as I sipped my warm tea and had my face sprayed with a pleasant rose scented mist as part of the welcome ritual.

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I am one consumer who is never taken in by awards, but would prefer the actual experience to convince me of its merits.

And in any service industry, it is the people that truly makes the difference.
In my case, it was Maria; a sweet, hardworking Spa Associate that managed to leave a lasting impression of The Heavenly Spa of Westin Langkawi in my mind.

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It was a day before I was due to leave Langkawi; just 24 hours before I was to head back to the hectic city life. A massage couldn’t have been more timely.

I poured over the menu, weighting my options.
The Heavenly Massage is highly recommended, as it is thus named after the spa itself. It promises to leave guests “feeling physically rested and mentally uplifted” with a Swedish massage and warm compress.

I however, loved a good, deep tissue massage, for having aches and stiff muscles is a norm for me; the result of all the physical activities that I do.
So I opted for the The Royal Thai Massage instead, for it caught my eye with words like “stretching“, “acupressure” and “elbows pressing“.

As I wait for my treatment space to be prepared, I pursued the menu a little more.

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The Heavenly Spa offers 10 massages and there is one specially for expecting mums. I thought that was a considerate move for that pregnant ladies certainly deserve some loving care too.
Massages for expecting mums must be done with sufficient know-how as it is a sensitive condition so I’m impressive that the Heavenly Spa has spa associates who specializes in working with pregnant women.

The rest of the massages are based on different techniques and school of thoughts such as Reflexology, Thai, traditional Malay while make use warm compress and natural aromatherapy oils.
Basically these treatments were derived from Malay, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Turkish, Swedish and Indonesian modalities.

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The Heavenly Spa By Westin™ in Langkawi is the only Heavenly Spa in Malaysia.
Taking advantage of the property’s seafront grounds, the Spa is housed in a separate building from the hotel.

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That makes it somewhat secluded, evoking a sense of solitude the moment one steps in.
Guests are encouraged to arrive 30–60 minutes earlier and enjoy the spa pool, pavilion or a warm shower. It’s a great way to relax and warm your muscles, aiding the therapeutic benefits of your treatment.

Some treatments are carried out in individual/couple air-conditioned rooms while some allow you the freedom of the sea breeze and sunshine, done outdoors near the pool or the beach.

Mine was luckily outdoors since I hate the cold.

Clad in loose, comfy linen I was told to lie down and relax.
Oh, lie down? Relax? Yes, that I can do. 🙂

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This form of massage emphasises acupressure, elbows pressing and feet upon the body and it begins with the pressure applied on the legs and thighs. Maria then bends the leg and uses her thumb to apply firm, specific pressure along the meridian lines of the body.

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Meridian lines are energy tracks of the body and it is believed that to be healthy, energy must be allowed to flow unobstructed, in symmetry and balance.
That is probably the reason Maria knew that I was consuming insufficient amounts of water and didn’t have enough sleep from the grimace I made as she went through the lines on my calf.
Honestly if you’re trying to get someone dear to you to take better care of themselves but they lack the motivation to do so, bring them here.
The pain was excruciating!

A testimony of my oversight in this area of health.

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Maria then used her elbows to administer great pressure on the thighs so that the deeper muscle groups gets worked on before the knees are bent to stretch those muscles that are now more malleable.

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Next up were the arms.

Here, the meridian lines are easier to reach hence eliciting a more immediate pleasure if attended to by an experienced therapist – one that Maria fortunately is.
It’s strange that most of the time we don’t give much thought to something we use all the time but when your pair of arms gets a short break and force is applied on its reflexology points, you’ll feel another part of the stress in your body leave you.

Aside from that, I find that my wrist and finger articulation is improved.

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The lower back and spin gets a bit of a work on as Maria holds my upper body down while masterfully using her knees to turn my leg sideways. I think I heard some bones pop at this point.

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From here on, the blouse I was wearing is removed so that massage oil is lavishly slathered on my back.

Then firm, deep pressure traces the outline of my spine, moving upwards towards the base of the neck before spreading to the shoulder muscles at the side. This process repeats itself a few times, all the while maintaining symmetry in form and in strength.

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I told Maria that I’ve got a lower back muscle pull and she adroitly spend a little more effort and time on it until it was completely gone!
This is the mark of a truly professional spa where unlike other centres that focuses on completing the massage routine within a stipulated time frame, the therapists at the Heavenly Spa listens to its clients’ ailments and adapt their treatment accordingly.
It was also an indication of how knowledgable their therapists are, for she knew immediately what I meant and knew exactly what it entails to fix the discomfort.

I felt so much gratitude at Maria for solving an ache I thought I had to live with for weeks to come.
She also saved me the time & cost to see a Chinese sinseh.

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The finale saw me being arched backwards as Maria pulls my arm and while sitting in a lotus position, elbows pressing on the shoulders.
One thing worth noting is that unlike traditional massages where more twists are done on the client’s body, the Heavenly Spa does not offer that after taking in opinions of guests who’s uncomfortable by such a manoeuvre.

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It’s important to learn to trust a therapist so that one can relax more thoroughly and making the body more susceptible to their ministrations.

For me, it was a wonderful experience and if you ever find yourself feeling tired after a long journey to or running around Langkawi, I’d tick a visit to the Heavenly Spa a must-do! 🙂

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You will delighted to know too that all concoction of aromatic oils using herbs, flowers, plant life and spices used are all natural with no added additives.

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Also available are an extensive choice of therapeutic anti-aging facials, body exfoliations, foot, bathing rituals, hair treatments and mani/pedi.
Westin Langkawi is a kid-friendly resort (as you would have realized from my posts before this) so even the littles one has a spa menu.
The Kids Spa package are for 4-10 years old and options include a 45 mins massage, Cinderella Facial/Prince Charming Facial, Chocolate Body Mask and mani/pedi. Prices are from RM100 onwards.

There are a couple of Couple Packages too, ideal for couple bonding and indulgence.

What I chose:
ROYAL THAI MASSAGE: 
Uses time-honored techniques such as acupressure, elbows pressing and feet upon the body. Vigorous stretching and pulling, release tension, encourage blood flow and flexibility.
(80 minutes – RM 380 or SPG points 10125)

2 other recommended massages are:

HEAVENLY SPA SIGNATURE MASSAGE:
A warm heated compress relaxes back muscles before a Swedish massage leaves you feeling physically rested and mentally uplifted.
(80 minutes – RM 380 or SPG points 10125)

MALAYSIAN TRADITIONAL MASSAGE:
Experience deeper healing through traditional techniques passed down over generations.
Designed to help alleviate tired and tense muscles.
(60 minutes – RM 310 or SPG points 8250)

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Spa By Night.

An ideal follow up indulgence after the pampering session of a facial/massage/scrub would be a meal to further rejuvenate the body.
Enjoy the tranquillity and enchantment of romantic moonlight within the Spa grounds as you treat yourself with a three course dinner.

Heavenly Spa Westin Langkawi - Spa by Night Menu

We were fortunate that Chef Hans personally prepared our meal that evening.
The result was a most scrumptious meal which was satisfying in both taste and portion. A plus was the attentive service.

* Spa by Night Menu *
Starter: Lemon dill cured seabass with curry vinaigrette, harissa marinated calamari and cucumber onion salad.

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Being on an island translates to seafood abundance.
Chef Hans worked magic on the fresh produce available and the trio of starters gave a fitting prelude to the meal that followed that evening. Each of the appetizers exhibited different textures and flavours which is ideal for someone like me who loves variety.

The Spa by Night menu typically feature only one main. We requested for different mains so we could sample more of Chef’s cooking.

Main 1: Combination of grilled garlic prawns, sea bass and curried scallops, served with baked potato, charbroiled root vegetables and finished with a ginger beurre blanc.
Main 2: Australian beef tenderloin, red wine jus, coconut flavour vegetables, potato mash.

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There were little reason for complains for the mains. Both seafood and meat were perfectly executed with such enough sauce on the side to boost the flavours but it would have worked just fine without it.

We went on to request a sampling of the Andaman Lobster, which is basically a big prawn that grows and caught in the Andaman Sea.
BELOW: Broiled Andaman Lobster on Wasabi Mash (RM47/100g). It’s doneness was spot-on.
Again the flavours of the lobster was at the forefront; while the supporting cast was the light gravy and a buttery mash with hint of horseradish.

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Dessert : Langkawi fried banana, bourbon vanilla sauce, vanilla ice cream, bread butter.

“Pisang goreng” with ice cream; the perfect duo of hot and cold to end the meal on a high note.
Thanks Chef! 🙂

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What can I say?
The Heavenly Spa by Westin™ in The Westin Langkawi is worth a visit even if you are not a guest. Step in and be prepared to relax, revive and experience renewal in sheer indulgence.

The spa operates daily from 9:00 am to 12:00 am.
http://www.westinlangkawi.com/heavenlyspa

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For reservations, please contact The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa at (60)(4) 9608888 or email [email protected].

The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa
Jalan Pantai Dato Syed Omar, 07000 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
+60 4-960 8888
www.westinlangkawi.com/

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Sean EDKL

    Yay for Maria! the treatment sounds excellent … i have various aches and strains too sometimes, though nothing that seems serious for now 🙂

    1. Rebecca Saw

      Thank god for your stable state of health Sean! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of you having aches or falling sick! 🙂

Leave a Reply to Rebecca Saw Cancel reply

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