The Times, Villa Butterfly - 18 November 2006
18 November 2006
Old school opulence at Czech spa
A solo visit to the medical therapists in Marienbad turned out to be a real bargain for Serena Mackesy
If you were to build a town out of royal icing, it would probably look a lot like Marienbad in the Czech Republic. Architecturally, Marianske Lazne, as it is properly known, is an extraordinary town, constructed in a fashion-led rush between 1820 and 1908 to cater to royalty and its hangers-on. Spared the worst of the destruction of the two wars, it remains preserved as a living history lesson in the opulence that accompanied the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
But the special thing about Marienbad is that it is part of the great European tradition of medical spas. It is, in fact, a centre where medical spa therapists come to train. If you come for the full health treatment, it will be done under the supervision of a medical team. You can get everything from cryotherapy via electrotherapy to peat tampons.
It’s a restful place for the solo traveller and you can, if you’re feeling lazy, get most treatments without having to leave your hotel, but Marienbad is such a nice, green, fountain-filled sort of place that it almost drags you on to its streets. The age range of the clientele tends to be towards the older end, and there are plenty of contented widows dotted about the restaurants, so the staff are used to serving the solo visitor. I stayed in the Hotel Villa Butterfly — modern Art Deco, huge well-appointed rooms, a lovely view over a park, a top-floor spa and a memorable pool with the briskest, most effective waterfall massager I’ve ever been under — and took treatments around town. I drank deep draughts of water from ornate drinking fountains. Some were like licking an iron bar and some smelt of rotten eggs — I could just tell that they were doing me good.
I started my treatments with a hot-towel massage: hot towels dabbed slowly over my body followed by an oily rub-down. It was done with a clinical gentleness that belied a profound effect. A facial (over an hour long; eyebrow shaping and dyeing thrown in, for a third of the price of a British one) left me shiny-clean, doe-eyed and slightly light-headed.
Treatments here are professional, courteous and generally administered by people whose first language is Czech and whose second language is German. Which is both good — no annoying sales pitch for cleansers you don’t want — and slightly nerve-racking. I had a moment’s panic when my therapist bore down on me with a pair of tweezers and the only words I could find were “nicht so schnell!” But my eyebrows will probably never look so good again.
In brief
AMBIENCE Faded imperial grandeur. Clinical medicinal standards in settings redolent of a Merchant-Ivory film.
EXPERIENCE Excellent therapists, though the language barrier can be a bit nerve-racking.
FOOD If you find the delicious local cuisine dumpling-heavy, there is plenty of pan-European options.
IN CROWD Mostly golden oldies.
WALLET WATCH Mini-spa programme for three-night break at the Villa Butterfly Hotel, half-board basis, all treatments (including doctor’s consultation and two daily treatments prescribed by the doctor), flights and transfers, from £399. Contact Wellbeing Escapes (0845 6026202; www.wellbeingescapes.co.uk)
