Spa review: Ahasees, Grand Hyatt Dubai

Ahasees at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai, gets you smelling of coffee and feeling thoroughly relaxed - it's the ultimate pamper session

I'm normally non-communicative at spa sessions. Get on with it, let me just enjoy my time. At Ahasees, I am happy to discover I have a social side to me even when I'm spa-tially inclined. The welcome staff give me a rundown, and I'm actually not bored, and even nudge for more explanations. Ahasees, I am told by someone called Zeeshan, is Arabic for "sensation". "Oh, you mean, like ehsaas [the Urdu/Hindi word for sensation]?" I ask, basking in a new-found sensation of being a semi-linguist. "Exactly!" he beams.
As I'm whisked into the therapy room, I feel like I'm getting into some inner space - quite different from the last place I reviewed, the hammam. My room is beautifully appointed, and there's even a bath-tub. I immediately ask my therapist what that's for, and she says it's for a milk bath. A la Cleopatra? She laughs.
The lights are dimmed to my liking, and the music upped and downed till I find the perfect point of listening pleasure. Ninety minutes later, I felt it was all done too soon.
A special mention of my therapist Tari. She's from Bali, and she's terrific. Ridiculously adept at the art of kneading and friendly without being intrusive - the perfect masseur.

Therapy time
Hit the treatment bed after choosing the kind of music you want played - I opted for "water sounds", there were sounds of murmuring brooks, rather nice! The next half an hour, you are "exfoliated" - scrubbed clean, so to say, with a coffee scrub. You take a shower, and then lie down again for a massage using an oil (again, you can choose as per your preference) blended with patchouli, sandalwood and frankincense. The entire treatment is about 90 minutes: 30 minutes for the scrub; 1 hour for massage and intervening shower.

What we loved...
This was one communicative session: the spa managers took time out to explain the whole process, and escorted me right to the therapy room. Great spa etiquette, I thought! The treatment itself was terrific. Finally, the after-spa ritual - lounging at the relaxation area - was a real treat.

What we didn't...
There was absolutely nothing to dislike! But if I had to hairsplit, then the lockers in the changing room were a bit complicated. You have to remember a "secret code" in order to open the locker designated to you... and by the end of my session, I'd forgotten mine!

Reservations: 04 317 2333; spa.grandhyattdubai@hyatt.com
Cost: Dh650
Our rating: 5/5
sushmita@khaleejtimes.com