I remember some time ago, there is this couturier from the high-end market who once said,
“Men and women are better dressed than naked.â€
Of course this is obviously an embellishment to his ulterior motives as he definitely is looking at cashing in the line of clothes he is selling, but I will have to agree that for the majority, men and women are indeed better dressed, clothed that is, rather than naked. Do you agree?
Being not the truly prudish type, I quite welcome doing the Dutch way of enjoying the spa – butt naked that is. To aggrandize this fact, there is no division of men and women in most Dutch spas. Not even in the toilets and dressing rooms, after all, what purpose will it serve when everyone else is naked in the jacuzzi’s, saunas, and pools anyway. It is the same.
Let us just say that majority of the Dutch are quite comfortable with their own (exposed or not) bodies.
So I am here to report that yesterday that Blondine and I have been to the Spa Elysium in Bleiswijk near Den Haag yesterday. What a revelation I must say.
We have seen men and women, from all ages, in different shapes and sizes, clad in nothing but their birthday suits. And let me say this clearly as well, everyone was parading around without inhibitions in the spa like there is going to be no tomorrow in this flat country.
My first time to have seen so many genitalias up close in a day! Do I sound shocked? Not sure, maybe a bit, haha. Shaved, trimmed, Brazilian, bushy… massive, normal, and those that you can’t help but wonder for a second and say – Oh.
Oh well, I had to let out a chuckle defying myself – Come on, if they can do it casually just like that, like it’s the most normal thing to do in the whole wide world then what am I waiting for?
The spa’s slogan is ‘Centre for Well-being’, and honestly, I didn’t expect the place to be huge and very entertaining. It offers a wide variety of spa relaxation rooms with jacuzzi and hammam designed in themes that lets you journey back in time across the globe. You want ‘Byzantine’ inspired? How about ‘Tropical’ or ‘Mediterranean’? Maybe ‘Zen’ will do you good. Or the ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ harem. Back to the sauna roots perhaps in ‘Scandinavian’? Well, they even have art ‘Jugend Stil’. It is major lavish and artistic here.
The spa has 3 swimming pools, 1 outdoor and 2 indoors. Jacuzzis and hammam saunas are scattered all over the place. There are several choices of baths and treatments, there are outdoor hot wooden tubs, a beauty center, and they even have Finnish-style sauna log cabins in the garden – which unfortunately were still under construction when we visited.
To complete the offer, there is a buffet restaurant, a brasserie/a la carte restaurant, a bar-café restaurant in the garden with an open kitchen, and a relaxation bar.
Before the trip to Bleiswijk, Blondine and I have heard about not-so-exciting reviews about the spa. A fire broke out last year that caused some of the saunas and treatment rooms to be temporarily closed while they fix it. Naturally this resulted to construction workers walking in and out all day long for the renovation. If you are there to get naked and relax, the last thing you want to be confronted with is a construction worker clothed in his overalls grinning naughtily and staring at your genitalia while doing his work.
Good news though because the renovation of the indoor part of the spa has finished, thus no construction workers hanging out.
I’ll have to admit that it’s quite a lovely and luxurious place to spend the day. I will definitely go back, perhaps during the week when it’s less crowded. Yesterday Saturday was like visiting a circus or a pretpark. There were just too many people. I was already elbowing with others in the hallway. For a moment there we thought we were in some sort of Nudist Entertainment Park!
One thing Elysium needs to improve though is to create ample lounging space. This was seriously lacking. A bigger room with relaxing chaise lounge chairs or beds with nice and soft new age music in the background, and perhaps a mini bar in the corner to serve drinks would be a great add-on.
Visit Period: March 2009
Destination: Bleiswijk, Lansingerland (South Holland), The Netherlands
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