Xiao Nan Guo Spa Review

You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on a tailor-made treatment program at any of Shanghai's five-star international hotels where the on-site spas are beautifully decorated in Asian themes spanning from Bali to Thailand. This might leave your body in heaven but your wallet feeling very lonely. A two-hour treatment in a five-star property will average you at least $100 if not more.

On the other hand, you can go to Xiao Nan Guo Spa and try to spend $100. It would take you all day. After fours hours of bliss, including lunch, my body felt sublime and my wallet felt happy.

I hate to admit it, but it has taken me five years to discover Xiao Nan Guo Spa. It's a pretty well-kept secret and I may even regret sharing it with you. But I'm in a beneficent mood.

Xiao Nan Guo is a restaurant chain that also has a spa associated with one of its outlets in Shanghai. The restaurant is fine, but step inside the cavernous Spa facility and you might never leave. Too bad they close for two hours a day. It doesn't stop at spa and dining facilities, it is a full-service entertainment plaza with billiard rooms, mah jong rooms, a kids play area, arcade, massage lounge, beauty parlor, barber, VIP private rooms and much more. It is the perfect place for a group of gals, a family outing, a company party or a tired couple just in from a long flight. I sampled the spa and restaurant fare and am completely won over.

Walk in and you check your shoes at the door. Don your rubber sandals and head to the spa. Remove every stitch of clothing (no room for shyness here) and head into the shower/spa area. Have a bath first and then soak in one of the many baths: rose water, milk or head outside to the Japanese style rotenburo hot spring. There's also a steam room and sauna to enjoy before you book into a scrub. Get prepared to lose an inch of flesh here, as the ladies use plastic scrubbing mits to exfoliate every inch of your body. Ask for a cucumber mask and finish off with a milk and honey rub. Shower off and head back into the change room.

After putting on the requisite muumuu, head up to the 2nd floor lounge and plunk yourself down in a recliner. Order up any of the multiple massages (but might I suggest an hour foot massage accompanied by a hot ginger wrap) and a load of dim sum and sit back and relax. There's no time limit - have a nap, stay till dinner.

All this pampering came to a grand total of about US$60. I'll be going back tomorrow.