FASHION Magazine

From the West Coast to the Atlantic Ocean, Beauty Director Adriana Ermter scours the nation for must-try rejuvenating, relaxing and beautifying spas.

Concepts Day Spa, Toronto

60 Bloor Street West in the Holt Renfrew Centre, 416-922-2823, conceptstoronto.com

I’ve been here 100 times before. It’s not fancy, the spa is underground, there’s nothing special about the décor and you have to pour your own complimentary herbal tea. Sometimes, you can even hear the rumble of the subway. But it’s my comfort zone. And my ritual goes like this:

I like my body massages simple. Don’t rub me down with hot rocks, wrap me in tinfoil or make some bird-boned 60lb person walk across my back. And I’m not keen on the soft touch and tickle approach either. Massages should be the tension relieving, sleep inducing deep-tissue treatments typically found at specialty clinics, not spas. Or at least that’s what I thought.