Holtz:A capital day spa in the heart of Ottawa

Wishing you could begin the New Year refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated? Join the club. if you're thinking quick fix, a spa - a day, gosh, even a couple of hours - can be the perfect belated gift for any body exhausted from the hectic holiday season. We're not necessarily talking destination spa complete with all the trimmings - treatments, accommodations and meals. Sometimes, all you need to perk the spirits is a good day spa. Combine it with a nearby hotel, if you like, and create your own spa package. I recently visited the Holtz Spa in downtown Ottawa, packaged it with two nights at the nearby Westin Ottawa and discovered that a professionally operated day spa can be just as rewarding as a spa at a resort or country inn.
Located steps from the parliament buildings and across the street from the Rideau Centre, the Holtz Spa was completely renovated a couple of years ago. "We're going after the Thailand Zen look," says owner Donna Holtom. The theme has been carried though beautifully with natural colours and materials - leathers, bamboo, warm woods - and right through to the services.
"Healing touch and wellness has always been the basis for the spa," says Holtom who has owned the establishment since it opened as Holtz Health & Beauty in 1985. One thing I found particularly impressive is the maturity, education and knowledge of the staff. "It's a point of distinction for us," explains Holtom proudly.
I'm booked for a Shiatsu massage. Christine O'Grady, a Shiatsu therapist administers this Zen massage while I'm lying on a futon. Packets of warmed Oriental herbs are applied to acu-pressure points to sooth and reenergize tired muscles. Christine tells me that the slight headache I feel following the massage is common.
"It's the release of toxins," she explains. An antidote for that is hooking up to the spa's oxygen bar set up in a softly lit lounge area decorated like a Turkish Hammam.
With 15 treatment rooms and a staff of 40, Holtz is the largest spa in Ottawa but surprisingly it feels pleasantly intimate. The main reason is that there are several rooms where clients wait between treatments. Besides the Turkish Hammam, there's the Bamboo Lounge and the very sophysticated Orchid Room. With its cream leather sofas, marble tiles and tables, rugs and fireplace, it looks more like a model suite of an upscale condo then the waiting room of a day spa.
With a full buffet of spa services, Holtz is also one of the very few spas in Canada to offer the Soft Pack System. One of several treatments to be administered on this specially designed table is the Cleopatra Milk Wrap. The therapist mixes goat's butter, goat's milk and essential oils into the consistency of whipped cream cheese and spreads it all over the body. I'm then swathed in gauze mummy style and wrapped in a heavy rubber sheet. The thermal effect helps the skin soaks up the moisture. The centre of the table drops, warm water rushes in and soon you're feeling totally weightless with the sense of floating on air. It's increadibly relaxing.
When your spa day wraps up, the pampering extends into the evening as you sink your freshly massaged and silky soft body into one of the Westin's Heavenly Beds. Decked in all-white cotton linens topped by a soft puff of white duvet, it anchors the room like a king-size cloud. Between a day at the spa and this ultra comfortable bed, your holiday harried self will sleep like a baby... I can assure you.