Ady & Meg.
This is Europe's biggest spa and was certainly the most impressive spa that Meg had ever been to (this was Ady's first experience of a spa!).
Information on the website is not the easiest to navigate, but basically tickets vary by the duration of your visit (3 hours, 4.5 hours, or all day) and the specific areas that you wish to visit;
- Galaxy Zone: includes a wave machine and slides (we did not visit this bit, assuming it was aimed at children and families).
- Palm Zone: Tropical gardens and pools - the majority of our photos below.
- Elysium Zone: An adults-only area with saunas and treatments.
We opted for a 4.5 hour ticket which included all areas, but you can easily buy a ticket for one area and pay to access other areas on the day. We found that this was plenty of time for us, but admittedly we aren't the types to sit still for long! We were pleasantly surprised by how cheap our tickets were (in comparison to UK prices), at under £30 per person.
Upon arrival you are each given a wrist band which is used to access your locker and make any purchases. We rented robes and towels (you must have a towel with you to access the saunas) and purchased flip flops (which were incredibly uncomfortable!) but you can take your own if you prefer. We also purchased several drinks from the bar during our visit (unfortunately unlike spas in the UK, there was no free water).
We arrived prior to the spa opening, and were one of the first to access the pool areas. For the first hour of our visit it was fairly quiet, and easy to get a sunlounger. It did however fill up quickly, and by the time we left at lunchtime it was very busy - far from the relaxing experience at UK spas. We attended on a Friday, and expect that weekends and later in the day would be even busier.
From around 11am onwards the spa runs short experiences in the saunas and steam rooms. The sauna ones are included in the Elysium Zone ticket, but fill up quickly so we would recommend arriving at your chosen sauna at least 10-15 minutes before it's due to start. We did a salt scrub experience and a Eucalyptus experience, and they definitely enhanced our use of the facilities.
There is also the option to pay extra to receive treatments (The queue to book these was huge even early on, so expect these to be sold out if you arrive later) and use water massage beds etc.
The main reason we did not stay for the full day was unfortunately food. The website was clear that no food or drink could be taken into the premises (although our bags were not checked...) and restaurants said they were unable to guarantee avoidance of cross contamination - we instead opted to make our way into Bucharest itself for an early dinner!
Overall this spa is a must-do if you are visiting Bucharest, based on cost and aesthetics. However, do prepare yourself for it to be busy or consider attending early in the morning on a Monday-Thursday in the hope of a slightly more relaxing experience.
Flossie.
I was not invited on this adventure ☹
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