Turn off your mind, relax, and float away with our soothing pick of spas, massages and organic treatments. Go on, you know you deserve it. By Kawai Wong. Photography by Calvin Sit

Quicky Retreats
With Christmas just around the corner, and a million things still left to do, we seek out the best quick-fix sanctuaries to unwind

Spa L’Occitane
A stone’s throw away from Pacific Place Phase Three, Spa L’Occitane is a city day spa that offers a comforting experience. Step inside the establishment and you are transported to a welcoming universe akin to the comfort of a home in one of the Southern European states. If time is your prime constraint, try these two treatments – Immortelle Youthful Eyes is a 25-minute treatment where you can rest your peepers while the therapist smoothes and refreshes your eye contour area. The Relaxing Aromachologie Back uses a blend of lavender, tea tree, geranium and Balinese essential oils to massage tense muscles Swedish-style and release stress by pressing acupressure points.

If you’re willing to skip lunch, the 45-minute Detoxifying Warming Body Wrap uses L’Occitane products exclusively designed for the spa, in which creams with red vine extracts are lavishly smothered on lymph nodes for detoxification. The therapist then uses moist muslin to cocoon your body on a heated treatment bed for maximum results. Snooze to the masseuse’s heavenly head and foot massage until you hear the ‘ding ding’ sounds of the bell – it’s time to wake to the lavender tea and ginger biscuit.

The treatment room is complete with a shower cubicle and the make-up room holds a small amount of cosmetics such as face powders and perfumes, which allow you to return to the office without smelling of fragrant spa products. Shop 3, Tower 2, Star Crest, 9 Star St, Wan Chai, 2143 6288; www.loccitane.com.hk.

Dragonfly @ Wyndham
Take a pit stop at this small day spa above the bar strip on Wyndham. This Shanghai joint offers expert foot massages in a candle-lit communal room. On arrival, choose the kind of pillow you want (eiderdown soft, fragrant and acupressure) to rest your body on their velvety single-seaters, and then pick the jelly soak foot bath for maximum comfort. Go for the 50-minute foot massage ($280) and, if you have 25 minutes to spare, their head, neck and shoulder massage ($140) will rid you of any back stress. 52 Wyndham St, Central, 2869 9238; www.dragonfly-spa.hk.

Slim Beauty
Dreading a long night at the office in Cyberport? Slim Beauty may be most well-known for its body slimming treatments but its Cyberport location is the best option for some serious pampering in the southern side of Pok Fu Lam (given you’re just too tired to drag your pummelled body to Aberdeen). Try their energising foot massage (trial price of $198/50mins) and their head, neck and shoulder massage ($188/30mins). Packages available. Shop 413-414, The Arcade,
100 Cyberport Rd, Cyberport,
3606 3006.

Chiba House
This joint, which opens until 2am, has a luxuriously decorated communal room featuring leather panelling on the wall and rustic flooring that can accommodate 10 people for simutaneous massages. A 25-minute neck and shoulder massage is just $150 whereas a 50-minute foot reflexology is $198. Other services include ear candling and tai chi massages. Shop 1A, G-1/F, 79-81 Kimberley Rd, 3529 2229; www.chibahouse.com.hk.

Let’Spa
An oasis in a district where bars, offices and apartment blocks scramble for space, Let’Spa is a 4,200sq ft underworld (quite rightly, as it exists in the basement in The Broadway) with a full spa menu brimming with facials, body scrub and wrap plus slimming regimes. If you’re burning the midnight oil nearby, you’ll be glad to know the joint offers a 30-minute Totally Chill-AX Body Massage ($300) until half past midnight. A thorough and efficient rub of your scalp, neck, shoulders, back and legs can quickly erode all your stockpile stress. Take this treatment in either one of their seven treatment rooms or in the foot reflexology area. Let’Spa offers some of the largest single sofa seats available in Hong Kong, at 36 inches each. The entertainment area features sofas fitted with LCD TVs. They also provide nail services here. B/F,The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Rd, 2866 9221; www.letspa.hk.

Fast Beauty
With this new concept day spa on Hollywood Road, busy women with no nanoseconds to spare who also want an immaculate look can now have their cake and eat it.

Under Sense of Touch management, Fast Beauty targets women on the go, who can have their face threaded, pits (and bits) waxed, muscle tensions released and nails done all at the same time and in under 45 minutes. We love their Beauty Fast combo ($350) – your brows, nails and toenails are reshaped and painted in just 15 minutes. Their 45-minute Beauty Essentials ($950) package is all of the above plus a mini-facial.

Bikini and legs waxing as well as massages can also all be done in 30 minutes. Not that you will have time to appreciate the surrounds as you’ll be in and out like a breeze, but you’ll be glad to know the place is tasteful and is decked out with custom OSIM massage chairs. G/F, 83 Hollywood Rd, Central, 2517 0939; www.fastbeautyspa.com.

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