Get Pampered with Your Partner

You eat, drink, laugh and cry with your partner, so why not get a relaxing massage with them, too?

Basically, a couples massage is exactly the same as a regular massage. The techniques are the same; but instead of being the only one in the room getting a massage, your partner is also in that room getting a massage with another therapist.

Some spas, such as Mi Salon and Spa in Florence, offer additional amenities such as a foot soak prior to the couples massage. The West Chester-based Ambience Salon and Spa offers a complimentary steam room before the massage-for-two service. Woodhouse Day Spa in Montgomery uses all natural products and incorporates a signature foot cleansing ritual. If your honey is a chocolate lover, go to Spa Chocolat in Deerfield Township for a couples massage that includes chocolate-covered strawberries. Rosina Luca, stylist and marketing manager at Avalon Salon and Aesthetic Day Spa in Hyde Park, says a hot stone couples massage is especially nice during the winter months.

 "[A couples massage] is a great way to do something wonderful for yourself and your mate, take a break from the cold winter and to strengthen your relationship through a shared experience while promoting and enhancing your health and well being," says Marianne Hardesty, managing director of massage therapy at Mitchell's Salon and Day Spa.

Hardesty says Mitchell's offers couples massages year-round, but she does see an increase around Valentine's Day. "Sometimes the massage is given as a gift and the experience is better shared," she says. "And, if one person has had a massage and the other person has not, a couples massage is the best way to introduce someone to the benefits of Massage."

Making it even easier to give a couples massage as a gift, many salons have the ability for you to purchase gift certificates online. For example, click here to purchase a gift card at Avalon, click here for Woodhouse Day Spa, here for Ambiance and click here for Mitchell's.

There are many other reasons why more people are opting for the couples massage. "If it is the first time they are receiving a massage, they are sometimes more comfortable with someone else that they know," Hardesty says. "It is important in some cases to experience the relaxation and calm of a massage with a mate as an escape from their hectic lifestyle."

Nick Fritsch, who provides traditional one-person massages at Vintage Salon & Spa Unique Massage in Ft. Mitchell, also makes couples massage house calls for those couples who are either too busy to leave the house, are more comfortable having a massage in their home or if the couples massage is a surprise gift. Fritsch says he and another experienced massage therapist often make couples massage house calls together. "I always tell people that everyone deserves a massage once a month, so why not have your massage with someone you love, recieving the same experience together."

The price is typically the same per person for a couples massage. But the prices do vary depending on the spa, massage therapist and convenience level. For example, a convenient couples massage house call will run you $160 per hour with Fritsch, a 60-minute couples massage at Woodhouse Day Spa is $150, $144 at Mitchell's and only $140 at Spa Chocolat.

For those of you ladies going solo on Valentine's Day, but still want to be pampered with a massage, Fritsch is offering a Valentine's Day special of $50 per one-hour massage from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Or, you can click here for a coupon on a special Valentine's Day pampering package at Avalon, which includes a hot stone massage, facial cleansing, toning, masque, moisturizer, Kerastase hair treatment and Jane Iredale mineral makeup application.

Click the play button below to see a Web cast with Fritsch.

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Photo: cloud9living.com