Sometimes its hard to find a good spa. Even though I look at all the sites – SpaFinder, TripAdvisor, Searches, Other Blogs Articles and Rankings, I am sometimes surprised by what comes rated fairly highly on those sites versus my own experience. I talked previously about a trip I was taking for work in Tampa, and how I was using all of those items to help me hone in on a spa to visit while in Tampa. The spa at the Marriott Waterside was highly ranked – and not in an advertising kind of way. So, I was very excited to get down there an experience what the spa had to offer.
When I went to the front desk to check-in, I was taken to a door that the attendant unlocked for me. This was the entrance to the locker room. Never I have experienced a locker room door be locked. But, with the other half of the hotel floor dedicated to conference space, I suppose that is for the safety and benefit of fitness club and spa-goers. But still…
The Spa
The locker room was really bare bones, as I have come to discover are most hotel spa locker rooms. From there, you walked out to the waiting area. The waiting area is really dark, and very little seating, I had booked two spa treatments that day, and had about 20 minutes or so between treatments, and instantly realized this was a mistake and that this waiting area was not a place where you can just lounge and hang out like so many other spas.
My therapists were both very pleasant and skilled. However, the treatment rooms were so small, I felt so bad for how difficult it was for them to move around. Still an average spa visit is better than no visit at all. But I just really wonder at the original comments that I saw which led me to check out the spa in the first place.
I am perplexed at the reviews I saw online. It wouldn’t be my first choice while in the Tampa area. In fact I would much rather go to Spa Sudeva if I was in the area over the Marriott Spa. But Tampa is a big city and I will keep exploring spas when I am back in town.
September 2016
Rating:
Spa Waterside
700 South Florida Avenue · Tampa, Florida 33602 USA
+1-813-204-6300
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