Spa Riviera: P250 Body Massage Swedish-Shiatsu Combination

It was my last night at Iloilo and what a better way to complete a vacation is to have a massage. So together with Allen and his parents, we went to Spa Riviera located at Gen. Luna St., Iloilo City. They offer massage, foot or back scrub, and other traditional services such as hilot, ventosa, and hot stone.

I opted for a Body Massage Swedish-Shiatsu Combination at 250Php, while Allen had the Hilot Massage at 350Php.

The first thing I noticed upon entering is the steep stairs, makes me think it's the warm-up before the massage. They have a pleasant interior, well-designed for a spa. And as usual in spas, there's the flowing water sound and relaxing music. We went to the next floor for the massage. There were two rooms: Male and Female. There were no individual rooms nor dividers but you can opt for a Couples Room at 100Php each. The place had dim lights, maintaining the ambiance. You can take a shower first and they'll provide the towel. Else, they'll just hand you a robe and a pair of slippers, and will provide you a locker for your clothes and shoes.

*The Massage*

So far, this is the most "acrobatic" massage that I have tried. There were a lot of continuous pressing using the fingertips, and stretching which feels so good! More attention were given on the back and head massage. Not much on the legs and arms but I really love how they perform each stroke. I cannot really see what the therapist was doing but I can imagine that she was massaging not only with her hands, but also using her knees and socked feet with just the right pressure. For these kinds of technique, I believe the masseuse should really be trained, else it would cause injury to the customer. The head and scalp massage was really relaxing. This is the first time that I almost slept during a massage. It was also the first time that a stomach massage was offered, so I tried it. Finally, hot compress was applied on my back, and this is also a way to remove the oil (though it wasn't really sticky).

For an original price of 250Php, this was really a great massage experience. If it was an hour massage, it felt more than that as I enjoyed it a lot. Not bad to give Geraldine, the therapist, a tip!