Hello Nextinationers,

As you know if you follow me on Social Networks, this last couple of years has been a crazy of non-stop. In just two weeks I have been in Moscow, Madrid, Barcelona and in Tuscany, Italy. I will tell you more about these trips in my future posts.

So it is not surprising that when I arrived from Tuscany I felt that I needed to have some rest, even if it was only for a couple of days, and most importantly, I needed to disconnect completely.

Some of you may also know that besides being a full-time blogger, I am a full time mum of a 3-year-old girl , so in this case I needed it even more.

Thank God I found at the “Las Caldas Villatermal” Spa in Oviedo what I was looking for. I can´t believe that exactly two weeks ago I was enjoying the most relaxing days I remember in a long time.

As I was saying, without hesitation I took a trip to the North of Spain with my husband.

We stopped for a couple of hours at Oviedo to walk around and see a little bit the city: Uria Street, San Francisco Park, Campoamor Theater, Oviedo´s Cathedral and the sculpture of Woody Allen. Yes, you didn´t know? Oviedo has more than a hundred sculptures.

One of them is dedicated to Woody Allen, because the actor went to Oviedo in 2012 to receive the Prince of Asturias Award. So goes the story,  he fell in love with the city and said when he picked up the prize “Oviedo is a delicious, exotic, beautiful, clean, pleasant, quiet and pedestrianized city, as if it did not belong to this world, as if it did not exist … Oviedo is like a fairy tale ».

Maybe many of you haven´t been in Oviedo, but it is a beautiful city.  All Asturias is.

As we were arriving there, the landscape began to change and suddenly we were surrounded by green and mountains. When we arrived to the Spa, we realized that we were still surrounded by green and a beautiful little town.

The Spa is enclosed in nature. It has more than 8000 m2 of outdoor terraces and gardens. It also has its own garden where they grow their own vegetables and, if you walk around, you can hear the cowbells and the sheep roaming freely around. Desconection mode ON.

“The arrival of the railroad to Las Caldas at the beginning of the 20th century and the advance in medical-therapeutic systems brought with it numerous assistants of the bourgeois class accommodating more than 3000 users per year”.

 

“The social chronicles of the local newspapers echoed the illustrious visits to the Spa, highlighting the presence of Sagasta, president of the Government in 1892 among other personalities”

The Spa opened its doors for the first time in 1776 (the year the USA declared the independence from England). “Las Caldas Villatermal” complex has two hotels: “The Gran Hotel”, five stars and the “Enclave Hotel” , four stars.

We stayed in the “Grand Hotel”. Both hotels communicate between each other through the interior.

Our room was huge. It had a living room with some sofas and a low table as well as a desk, a mini bar and in another differentiated space was the bed and the television. The bathroom, also big,  had both a bath and a shower.

One of the things I liked most about the room, apart from how spacious it was, was the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the surrounding gardens. I wish I could wake up with those views every day !! A real delight that I am already missing.

 The Spa and Balneario Real and the Aquaxana Ecotermal Center

There are two “spas”, the Royal Spa and the Aquaxana.

In the Royal Spa is the located the “Spring“, which is the heart of the Thermal Village, located in the former “Casa de Baños” from 1776,   work of the Spanish architect, Ventura Rodriguez (the most important architect of Spain by that time).

Of course, something has changed since then, but here we can find several pools at different temperatures, saunas, steam baths and relaxation room.

But the most beautiful thing is the architecture of the place, all of stone imitating the classic baths / spas of Roman baths and with the glass ceiling. So the stone, the water and the light were the real protagonists here.

It was an incredible feeling when we were enjoying the hot pools and watching the rain falling thanks to the glazed roofs.

Some rooms, specifically one that had 3 continuous pools, one with cold water, another with warm water and the last one with hot water, was like teleporting yourself to Morocco because of  the Arab influence n the architecture.

Here,  the water and the golden tiles with a dim lighting that invited to relaxation, were the protagonists.

“The Gran Hotel had its own transport service from Oviedo through a horse carriage that took an hour to travel the 8 kiómetros that separated them”.

“The arrival of the railroad to Las Caldas at the beginning of the 20th century and the advance in medical and therapeutic systems brought with it numerous visitors of the well-to-do bourgeois class exceeding 3000 annual visitors”

However, the jewel of the Royal Spa and in general of the entire complex is the “Hall of Columns”. It is the most exclusive, luxurious and private Spa of the whole place.

Definitely, a thermal experience to try once in a lifetime. It has been the most exclusive and luxurious I’ve seen in Spa ever.

You enter first to a relaxation room that is better to leave it for the end -now I will tell you why-. The first is to go through the “pediluvio”, a corridor with pebbles, that are used to improve the circulation of the body, and from there, come several jets of cold water at the height of the waist and feet.

Once you past the pediluvio you reach the ROOM, yes, with capital letters, the “Hall of Columns” is a spectacular experience.

First of all, it’s so beautiful. with yellow walls and surrounded by semicircular arches and columns, this room has a flotation pool where the concentration of salt is high and make you float as you were at the Dead Sea.

The purpose of this is to have a sensory isolation and fully relax your self here.

There is also a jacuzzi where you can continue enjoying the relaxation process.

There are also a Turkish bath and showers of contrasts with cold and hot water. Here, you can choose the order, but the best thing is to finish in the Relaxation Room (the same as we saw at the entrance) where several sofas in front of a fireplace that  they make the most for helping you to be in another dimension.

Here, we had some hot tea and  fruits with  chocolates while sitting in the armchairs enjoying the moment and the fireplace.

It was so cozy. I did not want that moment to end (note: an oxygen machine is available to breath in and increase the joy and the experience, if possible!)

And, as if that were not enough, the whole room has loudspeakers where chill out music is playing to help you in the whole relaxation process.

This experience can not be explained in words. You have to try it. It will change your life and the way you see spas. It was incredible.

“The waters of “Las Caldas” are appreciated for their beneficial effects against respiratory diseases and rheumatism but, throughout its history, its waters were recommended to prevent gout, epilepsy, hypertension and even vision problems”

The Aquaxana Thermal Center, on the other hand, is more oriented towards Leisure and the Family, but it has the Dome Room, which is spectacular.

I have never seen such a place. It was like moving to the time of the Roman Baths with that spectacular dome and all those columns.

In this pool there is also 3 times a day a light, sound and water show quite nice. I recommend you to see it. This pool of the dome extends to an open area where you can continue enjoying the outdoor hot water pool, so you can feel the temperature contrast.

All this without having to go outside the pool and with stunning views of the green fields surrounding the Spa.

By the way, add as a note here that the Spa has an outdoor pool with sun loungers that opens in summer season and cold water.

The complex also has a Sports Center and a Clinic where they take care of food, physical activity and carry out a series of therapies such as “Detox” therapies with slimming, anti-stress or anti-smoking programs.

They also have a Chinese Medicine service: acupuncture, use of medicinal plants, massage, tai chi, ets and it is one of the most important Sport centers in Oviedo having a Sports Medicine consultation, different stress tests.

Wellness

As it could not be otherwise, in this Spa they take maximum care of the subject of Food trying to create healthy lifestyle habits. It offers organic and organic homegrown products since they themselves have a vegetable garden.

In the Lounge Bar you can taste the detox cocktails prepared with seasonal fruits and vegetables. One of the days we were there we ate at the Hotel Restaurant and how could it be otherwise, we ordered Asturian food which is one of my favorites: Fabada and second cannelloni with duck and truffle. Great It can not be all “detox” right? 😉 Especially for us who only have the possibility of tasting Spanish food a couple of times a year when living in Moscow.

One of my favorite rooms in the Spa was the Hall of Mirrors where breakfast was taken. It is an old ballroom of the Spa dating from the late nineteenth century. Simply spectacular. It was like moving to the time of Marie Antoinette, Paris of the eighteenth century. Fernando, the director of the hotel told us that in this Hall he had filmed some of Luis Buñuel’s films and some scenes from the La Regenta movie.

Another thing you can do in Las Caldas is sport because after all, what is a Spa? The main concept is to be a place to take care of your body inside and out. Whether you are athletes at a professional level or if you are not, you will find here another way of disconnection besides the thermal baths or treatments.

You can enjoy bike rides and customised routes around  the wonderful Asturian landscape. You can also practice golf at the Las Caldas Golf Course, Running or Triathlon.

The Complex also has as it could not be otherwise, a center of massages and treatments in which they use the thermal water of the own Spa. Among the treatments they have are from facials, facial and body scrubs, waxing, and thousands of different massages.

I really wanted a massage but I also wanted to try something new. It was difficult for me to choose between all the offerings, from massages-:

-Relaxing massages
-Decontracting massage
-Reducing massage
-Shiatsu
-Aromatherapy massage
Couples special

And many more. At the end from the center they recommended me the so-called Cocoa Lagoon. A marvel! The treatment was two hours of delight! two hours of disconnection and total relaxation. It consisted of a facial and body peel. Then they made an envelope with real cocoa for real. After several minutes of letting it act and a shower followed by an hour of massage relax.

I can assure you that I returned to Madrid more relaxed than ever and with the batteries on top in the return to work. I recommend it totally. It has been one of the best plans I have made in a long time and also totally necessary.

We do not take care of the body or ourselves many times as we deserve. We are loaded with stress, psychological and physical burdens, we take care of others if we have family, couple, friends but rarely take care of ourselves and take care of ourselves. Our body is the most important thing we have and we rarely give it the attention it needs.

From now on I’m going to dedicate myself a weekend like this just for me.