Take a relaxing dip in this pool without getting wet

Mar 29 2008 by Hannah Davies, The Journal

Spa visits can be a wonderful treat, but you may not afford the time or the prices. Jule Wilson discovers a kind-on-the-wallet treatment.

I HAD never before received any kind of treatments from a college, but the incredible prices at the spa within Gateshead College’s new Baltic Campus convinced me it was time to change that.

I decided upon a session on the facility’s dry flotation bed as it is something I had not heard of before. I had been tempted to try a flotation before but thoughts of it being a tad claustrophobic had always made me too hesitant to actually make a booking.

This seemed like a great alternative, and the college agreed to throw in a shape and polish, in a fetching shade of neon orange, for my nails afterwards. I was particularly pleased and surprised that I was able to remain fully clothed during the flotation, demonstrating the treatment’s versatility.

While I opted for a quick pick-me-up in the middle of a working week, many choose to have a full body wrap, allowing the oils in the wrap to sink into their skin as they lie suspended in the bed’s warm water. So each flotation is tailored to individual needs.

Although a dry treatment, there is a platform built into the flotation bed which, when switched on, lowers you into a pool of water within the machine itself.

You never touch the water, because while it is inside the bed, you lie on top of it, on a surface. And there is not a hint of claustrophobia.

I lay down on what was initially a hard but comfortable platform, and my therapist Tina, who is in the final year of a BTec in Beauty Therapy Sciences, wrapped me up inside the covers.

The bed had been warming up for about 20 minutes before I arrived, and with a strange whirring sound the plastic surface surrounding the platform felt like it had disappeared and I was gently lowered into the water.

And that was it. I was left alone with my thoughts in a pleasantly darkened room, amazed by how well supported I felt by the water. It was as if I had gone back to bed, but the most comfortable bed in the world, and I could gladly have gone to sleep.

Ten minutes later I was back on “dry land” and felt far more refreshed and relaxed then when I arrived.

In fact it felt so quick that I was tempted to book a body wrap flotation for a wee bit more pampering on my next visit.

The Baltic Salon and Spa is open to the public each Thursday and treatments range from just £2. A body wrap costs £15 and a typical body massage is £8.