My colleague Camille and I are more than a little apprehensive as we prepare for our first wellness experience at Huma Spa. A small elevator and four floors later, we arrive at our destination, a modern and streamlined environment that invites escape and letting go. Our morning of rejuvenation begins under the spell of this place!

Huma Spa offers three thermotherapy journeys: Relaxation, Vitality and Therapeutic. Choose the Relaxation journey to relieve stress and restore calm. Choose Vitality to energize yourself physically and mentally and improve your mood. Finally, opt for the Therapeutic journey to recover physically and relieve certain ailments.  Each visit to Huma Spa can therefore be quite different, depending on which thermotherapy journey you choose. Each one has its own essential oils and signature fragrance. It’s a nice way to personalize your spa visit and guide your choice of experience.  Since it’s our first time, we decide to try as many experiences as possible without necessarily following one particular path, because, to recharge our batteries, it’s also important to follow our instincts!

As we take a quick tour of the spa to decide where to start, the first thing that catches our eye is the number of unique spaces for meditation and rest. Meditation cocoons, a relaxation area with suspended chairs, a cardiac coherence lounge, a rooftop outdoor fireplace—so many reinvented options for taking a break and making room for well-being.  With floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the interior with sunlight, green plants that bring life to the area and a soothing musical background, it’s all very inviting!  We’ll come back to this, because, like any good thermotherapy journey, we have to start out hot. Off we go to the dry sauna to kick off our morning.

After breathing in the warm air of the dry sauna, we make our way to the outdoor rooftop cold-water pool. We admire the spectacular view of the city and immerse ourselves in the cold water for a few seconds. An eternity (30 seconds ...) passes while my body is submerged in the icy water. I’m wide awake now! As we scramble out of the pool, we hear the call of the meditation cocoons for the “rest” part of the sequence.  Our cocoon is an oasis of total comfort. In the large cubic space, we’re surrounded by cushions and wrapped in a blanket of epic softness. Once you’re settled, you can put on the headphones provided and do a guided meditation. There are several choices of meditations, in English or French. I opt for L’éveil des sens (Awakening the Senses), which focuses on reconnecting with our five senses. An amazingly beneficial 15 minutes!  We even learn that the meditations were created by a woman from Gatineau—a nice touch. In fact, we notice this local touch a few times during the day. For example, several menu items from the Olivia bistro-boutique are available for purchase, such as excellent smoothies and energy balls to satisfy the munchies.

Once the meditation session is over, we decide to try the Epsom salt floating bath, an interesting addition to the thermotherapy experience. Located in a private space with a subdued atmosphere, this 30minute experience can accommodate only one person (or one couple) at a time.  Inside the room, the temperature is set to 37° C (body temperature)—not too hot, not too cold, just right. After a quick shower, I head to the bath, go down the stairs into the pool and let myself float. To the sound of gentle music, and breathing in the essential oils chosen beforehand, I let myself be gently rocked in the water. After this experience, an indescribable feeling of well-being comes over me.

After several cycles of thermotherapy, we round out our experience in style in two completely unique facilities: the NeuroSpa Lounge and the Pressotherapy Lounge.  In the NeuroSpa Lounge, we take a 15-minute nap in a zero-gravity chair. The combination of music and the vibrations of the chair harmonizes the nervous system and gives us a deep sense of well-being.  We end our spa day in the Pressotherapy Lounge. Once we’re comfortably stretched out on upholstered chairs, a spa attendant encases our legs in large stockings that inflate and deflate like a blood pressure cuff. This 20minute experience is simply sublime. I floated off to dreamland for a few minutes, and when I woke up I was simply in another world.

+ Now it’s your turn to experience Huma Spa and tailor your wellness outing to the benefits you seek! I can promise you one thing: you’ll come out feeling relaxed and refreshed.