Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello Spa

No visit to a resort and spa is complete without a massage. So on our girls trip to the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello I scheduled an hour massage.

The spa is located inside the indoor pool. A little hard to find based on the signs but eventually I found my way, and I was even still early for my appointment!

The entrance to the spa is up those stairs.

I checked in at the front desk and was sent to the locker room to change.

The spa reception desk.

I entered the spa locker room and almost immediately started sweating. It shares the area with the indoor pool and it super hot and humid. Very uncomfortable and my the time I changed in to my robe and slippers I practically needed a shower.

The locker was still very beautiful and kept the log cabin theme.

In the hopes of cooling down I headed out to the waiting area. It was a coed waiting area and I was a little uncomfortable, being in a robe and all sweaty. Luckily, it was only 5 minutes until my appointment so I wasn’t too concerned.

Spa waiting area.

But those five minutes passed, then five minutes more, then five minutes more. I decided to check out the balcony, hoping to cool down a bit.

The view from the spa balcony.

I came back inside, expecting to be called soon. And I wasn’t. I was starting to actually get nervous, since I knew I had to check out by noon and would need to change after and make sure grandma and mother were ready.

When they finally called my name I followed the massage therapist back to the treatment room.

Massage room.

The massage therapist seemed pretty annoyed that I didn’t speak French. She just shook her head and sighed when I said I didn’t understand what she was saying. She folded down the blanket, told me to get in, and said she would be right back. Well, ten minutes later she returned, and apologized, saying something came up. So now I am way late starting my massage, afraid I’m going to miss check out time and grandma and mother are going to freak out, and a little irritated that the massage therapist was annoyed that I don’t speak English and that she found something better to do than tend to her already late client.

She proceeded to tell me that I didn’t get under the blanket right because I wasn’t under the sheet that was tucked in to the bed. She pulled down the sheets, how was I supposed to know? Then she asked me if it was my first massage and that was when I knew there was no chance of relaxing.

I spent the next 60 minutes wanting the massage to be over. I was not relaxed and I did not enjoy it. Her technique was ok, until she starting karate chopping my back. I didn’t realize that was still a practiced technique.

When my hour was up I returned to the sticky locker room, changed, and headed to the reception desk to pay. The receptionist tried to charge me full price, even though I was standing in front of the sign saying it was the special of the month!

I was so impressed by everything at the Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, until my spa appointment. I felt like I was a bother to the massage therapist and there was no chance of relaxing, especially knowing I was barely going to make the checkout time. I hate writing about bad experiences and I’m usually really good at finding the positives in most situations.

This was not one of them. I left very disappointed, less relaxed than when I got there, and running late, which I hate.