Spa Stories
Read about places our team has been to.
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Hollywood Stars Invisible in Peninsula Spa – by Veronica Matheson
A thick cloud of head-clearing eucalypt perfume escapes as I open the door of the steam room in The Spa at the Peninsula Beverly Hills, in Los Angeles' most sought-after area.
It makes no difference if an Oscar winning star is inside – so many do stay in this exclusive hotel - as I cannot see a thing. The room is a haze of head-clearing steam.
True the long-haul flight from Australia to Los Angeles has made my eyes a tad blurry, so I use hands to navigate the steam room, find a marble bench around the walls, and express silent relief that I am steaming blissfully alone.
I cannot stay too long as I am booked at The Spa for a jetlag massage, but the steam is already rejuvenating.
Within an hour I feel even better as a savvy therapist works on every kink and hidden knot in my back, shoulders and neck - the areas that always feel the strain while seated on a long haul flight - in a treatment that is appropriately listed as “body melt back therapy.”
As my therapist Stephen says when my back gives a reasonably loud crack. “That’s just your spine talking, telling you everything is settling back into its rightful place.”
He must be doing all the right things as I leave walking on air after the cooling herb arnica is massaged into all the sore spots, including swollen ankles.
The Peninsula Spa has been named Los Angeles’ top spa, and regularly appears on “hot spa” lists as one of the Top 5 spas in North America.
Not surprisingly one of its busiest times is in the lead up to the Oscars when the hotel is booked out with celebrities and their entourages from make-up artists to stylists, dressers and the odd hanger-on.
The Peninsula is absolutely discreet about celebrity guests who stay in this elegant hotel that is modeled on an 18th century country estate, and set amid lush perfumed gardens.
However, it is generally known that the Oscar host is always a guest, and that included Australia’s Hugh Jackman who hosted the Oscars in 2009.
The Peninsula always keeps an emergency supply of bowties on hand for such big events as even celebrities can forget to pack the basics.
This year it rained on the Oscars’ red carpet at the Kodak Theatre so the most sought after accessory was a Peninsula Beverly Hills umbrella which is black with a subtle insignia that does not outshine a celebrity’s outfit.
Spa File
The Spa: It is conveniently located near the hotel’s rooftop pool that is circled by cabanas where Hollywood power lunches and business deals are often sealed.
More: www.peninsula.com/Beverly-Hills