So far, my husband has been writing the TR. This day - Friday - was my spa day. So he asked me to add my thoughts. This is Melody - the "mel" in travlrmel.
I did not want to leave Aulani without going to the spa. Plus - I did not want to leave Hawaii without getting a Lomi Lomi massage. (Lomi Lomi is my favorite massage style, but difficult to find anyone trained in this style in Colorado.)
I learned from the yoga instructor (on Tuesday) that spa tours are offered daily at 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. I scheduled massage on Wednesday - two days prior. Scheduling was very easy - and I was able to schedule multiple treatments.
We visited the spa on Tuesday. They were out of brochures, so I struggled to decide what I wanted to do. Luckily, I was able to refer to the DISboards. I selected my services from this site:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-resorts/aulani-hawaii-resort/spa-services.htm.
There has already been some TRs about the spa. I won't have any photos that are as good as the one already posted.
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/g1350-aulani-spa-and-fitness-center.html
However, one element you can't get from the photos is the sense of calm the environment evokes. Going down the hallway creates a sense of tranquility. The stone I selected was "balance" or "pono" in Hawaiian.
I started with a Laniwai White Bath soak. This soak was outdoors (see stolen pic):
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/aulani-spa-and-fitness-center/p69085-laniwai-spa-37.html
I was left alone to enjoy the soak by myself. I had a pitcher of cold water, two muffins, and two guava jellies to munch on while I had the time alone. If going down the hallway started the movement to relaxation, the soak only continued the journey.
My second treatment was Nature's Magical Niu, which was a coconut scrub. The scents were amazing. The scrub was very enjoyable and I don't have any complaints. However, I will just point out in the the description, it states, "You are then wrapped in hydrating Ti leaves." I had a total of six Ti leaves -- and this was far from being "wrapped." The wrapping comes from the sheets and towels that you cocooned in after the scrub. My treatment was indoors - most likely because I had the scrub. (You might have seen pictures of massages outdoors.) After the scrub, I was able to take a shower in the room. My skin was so soft and smooth after the scrub. I felt like I was glowing - even though the room was dimmed. Once I dried off, I laid back down on the massage table for my third and final treatment -- the Signature Lomi Lomi.
For DVC members, I was able to upgrade to the signature Lomi Lomi (from the normal Lomi Lomi) at no extra cost. The difference is the use of hot stones with this massage technique. If you are not familiar with this style, think of a massage in waves. The therapist uses the heels of their hands or forearms to move across the body in waves.
I wish I could have added a few more services so that I could have spent the whole day there. The staff is very professional and you feel comfortable at all times.
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While she was at the spa, I drove to the Northwest. We'd take the road into Ko Olina and get off the exit, never seeing the other side of the exit. I drove out there to see what was there. It was definitely less crowded, there were several beaches that were fairly empty. I stopped at a small independent grocery store and picked a couple bags of Lion coffee and pink Hawaiian sea salt. Had lunch at a hole in the wall restaurant and got a Korean Kalbi (beef short ribs) plate lunch with a choice of 4veg.
When I got back to the hotel, Mel was back from the spa. We went to Costco and did out Christmas shopping, it is only 3 or 4 miles away. We got some more coffee and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We also had to go to Target to buy luggage to bring it all home. Since I had my lunch, Mel grabbed a quick bite of pizza while we were at Costco it's the same price as the mainland. The counter was very crowded, lots of folks getting whole pies. I figure that pizza joints that cheap aren't too common there (just a guess though).
We ate at the resort for dinner, for the second time during our stay. We ate downstairs at Makahiki, it's a buffet style restaurant. The food was good, mostly Hawaiian type food, they had an Asian spiced brisket. I asked the waitress if she could find out what the spices were. She wrote them down for me, I am BBQ fan so I'm going to try to reproduce it. The laulau pork was very good also.
We tried to get a quick breakfast there earlier in the day, but since the character was going on, we couldn't get in and out quick enough, we ended up going to McDonald's. I got the Spam and Portuguese sausage plate. I liked the Spam better than the sausage.
Day 6 tips and reminders:
- Bring a bathing suit to the spa (you may want to spend time in their outdoor spa area that is co-ed.)
- Tip (at 20%) was automatically included when paying the bill
- Get reservations if the character breakfast is going on
- Pick up Hawaiian souvenirs at Costco and Target
- Fill up your gas tank at Costco it was about $0.30/gal cheaper than Honolulu
I LOVE spam musabi and you hit the good bakeries for cream puffs and malasadas!
