Nurture Spa, Tagaytay

WHERE: Tagaytay City, Cavite

DATE OF TRAVEL: April 09-10, 2007

WHY YOU SHOULD GO:
Because even though you're still in the city (Tagaytay), you will really feel the slow-paced life inside the spa. It's lush vegetation and meditation corner make it a perfect place for relaxation and thinking. This proudly Filipino Spa is perfect for anybody whether s/he visits it with friends, with family, with his/ her partner or alone.



DESCRIPTION: (from Nurture Spa's Website)
Nurture Spa is a Department of Tourism accredited destination spa located in Tagaytay City offering international standard spa treatments, Filipino, Asian and continental cuisine and comfortable overnight accommodations. Nurture Spa is proudly Filipino, offering a distinctly Filipino spa menu and unique Filipino accommodations in authentic native Ifugao huts.

The 2,800 square meter garden has 6 gazebos where guests can enjoy spa treatments; 9 indoor massage rooms, 4 "ulogs" or native huts, 7 air conditioned rooms, 1 restaurant, 1 coffee shop, 1 seminar room (good for 24 people), outdoor yoga/meditation area surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. We can accommodate a total of 15 outdoor treatments, 13 indoor treatments, and 22 overnight accommodations.


Nurture Spa formally opened in December 2002 and has been nominated for the 2005 Asia Spa Crystal Awards.

Nurture's natural ambiance, healthy yet delicious food, quality aromatherapy essential oils, international standard spa treatments and body-mind-spirit activities combined make it easy and fun for anyone to start embracing a "wellness lifestyle".


At Nurture you will enjoy a beneficial and therapeutic break from the stress of city life. Nurture Spa's Microvacation Packages are designed to meet your different needs. Whether your objective is to rekindle relationships or manage stress - the Nurture team is ready to give you a relaxing and rejuvenating experience that brings you back to your true nature. The Nurture Experience is not limited to Tagaytay, as we can bring the Nurture Experience right where you want it, be it at your home or at your office - through the Nurture SPArty.

Over the years, Nurture also gained the reputation as a choice for garden weddings, wedding anniversary celebrations, engagement and corporate functions.

Nurture Spa is owned and operated by CP Treasures of the Orient Inc., a Philippine corporation duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines.


HOW TO GET THERE:
We drove from Manila to Tagaytay. From Tagaytay Rotonda (Taal Lake on the left), we went straight until we reached Magallanes Square. Then we turned right on Magallanes Drive (just right after the square). We just followed the signs going to Nurture Spa. It's quite hidden so make sure to look for Magallanes Square as your landmark. :)

CONTACT NUMBERS: (+6346) 4830804-05/ (+63918)8888SPA

HELPFUL LINK: www.nurture.com.ph


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:
For Charlie's post-birthday celebration, we decided to go to Nurture Spa. We love getting massages so much that it's really part of our "date" to get massages (especially FOOT!) every so often. No doubt a trip to a Spa in Tagaytay was something exciting for us. It wasn't really hard to look for the spa though you won't find it without knowing about it or without their map/ guide on how to get there. Anyway, when we found our way to Nurtue Spa, we were warmly greeted by the staff and were asked to register before showing us our room (they have nice rooms -- and bathrooms!). After maybe an hour or two of resting, we went to the massage room for our scheduled Kambal Kamay massage, an hour massage that involves two therapists! Sounds, exciting right? Well it was good...but we probably expected more. It turned out that the therapists, although there were two of them, were doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. It was just like one therapist using her two hands. We would have liked it more if one was doing our foot, while the other was massaging our head.:P Maybe the P1,900 per person massage fee for an hour was too much for that. Anyway, we decided to explore the Spa afterward. We walked around their garden, the huts, the restaurant, etc. We think it's pretty cool how they have a space for yoga and meditation given that their space is not that huge. We expected it to be larger. However, one of the things we were sort of disappointed at was that there was no Tagaytay View (the lake, the tagaytay scenery, etc). If we didn't know it was located in Tagaytay, we wouldn't have guessed its location at all. It would have been nice if we had a view of the lake while getting our massages. In all fairness though, Nurture Spa will give you a sense of peace and serenity. Its lush vegetation brings you back to nature. Truly, it's a place where you can relax, unwind, think and nurture yourself. After some walking and some more picture taking, we headed to our room to change for our "date" outside the Spa. We decided to eat out (in Mushroom Burger actually because I haven't tried it yet at that time...It's true!!!), eat dessert at Sanctuario and drink coffee at Bag of Beans. So we told the guard that we would be back because we were staying there for the night. He nodded and told us not to worry because somebody will open the gate for us. We followed him and took our time eating and exploring the usual Tagaytay. It didn't take long before we got sleepy. It was a long day for us (we ate in Breakfast at Antonio's, explored Calaruega then ate lunch at Sonya's Garden before checking in Nurture Spa..oh and we drove from Manila) so we decided to head back early. We were back before 12 midnight. The guard, not so true to his word, almost scared us because it took about 30 minutes or more before somebody heard us. We thought we would be locked outside the Spa the whole night. Whew. So much for not worrying. We quickly fell asleep when we got to the room. It's a good thing we scheduled our Pawi Hand and Foot massage at 10 am already, so we didn't have to wake up so early. We checked out after our massage and left the Spa at around lunch time. Overall, it was a good experience but looking at their current rates, we think it's quite expensive especially for Filipinos (of course if you convert from dollars and compare it to the rates abroad, that's a whole different story). The massages are good, but nothing great nor different. Still, if you want to get away from the city and from all the stress, it would be helpful to come here...whether to think, to sleep, to rest or just to hide from it all. :)

--Paula