Away

Life can get pretty hectic for everyone and while it is customary to start yearning for days off or even a proper holiday when it starts to tip over on the ‘it just gets too much’ scale I have found in recent years an evening or a day at a spa can do wonders. For mind, body and for friendships even.

The compelling combination of warmth, water and a sense of ‘nothing to do but sit, lie down and talk…or be silent’ alway leaves me rejuvenated and more often than not filled with different perspectives on matters of the head and of the heart.

My place of choice to get to that point in the vicinity of my own home is Spa Sereen. Set in a lovely quiet area just outside of Utrecht this is a true oasis of calm. In the years I have been going there I have never found the spa to be too crowded but this may be due to the fact I usually go on weekdays. The location on the waterfront makes me feel I am really away from the city and its beautiful interior manages to be both unobtrusive but still eye-catching.

Spa Sereen has all the amenities you’d normally find at a spa including massages, a hammam ritual and plenty of beauty treatments I have yet to try. I am usually quite content with just the sauna rounds. My favourite place to sit for hours has to be the outdoor whirlpool which at night lets you enjoy the beautifully lit minimalist garden.
Testament to the fact Spa Sereen really has a calming effect on me has to be the time when I fell comfortably asleep in one of the resting areas not to wake up until hours later and way after dark.

The restaurant is very spacious, with plenty of marvelous lounging areas with both sofas and lounge chairs, something you are not always likely to find at other spas where you end up sitting at tables while all you really want is to snuggle up in a soft corner with a book or a good conversation.

If I were forced to name one tiny downside it might be the absence of hotel rooms. Not for me obviously, it being so close to my home, but for people from further away having the luxury of moving from spa to hotel room while still in a robe always gives one the feeling of really being away from home.

That said, a visit to Spa Sereen always takes me away from the practicalities of life without the hassle of having to plan too much. And who doesn’t want that on a regular basis?

Sevi