Roatan Review: Serenity Day Spa

The last part of my stay at West Bay Lodge (which also included Celeste’s Island Cuisine) was the part I was most looking forward to – getting to check out Serenity Day Spa (speaker alert). I visited during a stressful time and I just wanted to relax.

This spa is full service and right on site at the lodge. I find the worst thing after a relaxing spa day is going out in the cold and driving your car home, so I absolutely loved getting a late appointment in the evening so I could bliss out and shuffle the 50ft back to my hotel room and go to sleep!

The first thing I noticed about the spa is the smell – it smells absolutely divine inside. Thanks to certified aromatherapist owner Celeste, there are essential oils all over the spa, and they are used both in creating custom massage lotion (I chose ‘Serenity’ – lavender, mandarin & cedar, which was lovely) and in their purpose-built aromatherapy soaker tub:

They can make all kinds of blends but the two that stuck out for me were special ones for divers and calming terrible bug bites (I should have gone here when I first arrived on Roatan and got mauled by the bugs!)

My practitioner was Miss Ordie, who was such a peach. I actually had met her before out in town so it was a nice surprise to see her there and catch up. She was very professional and gave me a quick tour of some of the treatment rooms, which were all air-conditioned and spotless:

After taking a look through the services list, I finally narrowed it down after much hemming and hawing (I wanted everything!) and I decided on a sea salt scrub with a massage, and a papaya facial. Ordie agreed that I had made a good choice!

I got changed and put my stuff in a little locker, put on the provided robe and padded over to the treatment room. There, I got on what looked like a huge piece of tinfoil, and Ordie told me all about the sea salt she was scrubbing me down with. They mix it in-house with coconut oil made by local women on the island. I had never had a salt scrub before so wasn’t sure what to expect. I ended up super soft and smooth after, but getting rinsed off on the table was a little weird for me. But hey, I’m always down for a new experience! After that I had an hour long massage which was amazing…I told Ordie beforehand which areas I wanted more attention on and she delivered. I could smell the essential oil blend that she put into the massage lotion and it smelled so good! She also asked twice about the pressure, which I appreciated, although it was perfect. Once an hour was up and I was sufficiently turned into happy mush, she got to work on the papaya facial. She did a double cleansing with both an oil and a wash with a Clairsonic, and then applied the mask that they make from papayas growing right on site – just papaya and local honey, so good for your skin! At this point in time I remembered that I actually hate papaya and the smell of it, so I focused on the honey smell and tried to remember how great papaya is for your skin! Twenty minutes later she rinsed it off and I was moisturized and ready to go. I was so relaxed that I actually don’t remember walking back to my hotel room and falling asleep – now that’s a good day at the spa.

I enjoyed my day at Serenity a lot, and appreciated all the little touches that went into this place. The murals on the walls/ceiling (photo above), the custom oil blending for the massage lotion and real treatment beds were a welcome surprise. I can’t wait to go again to try a pedicure and a mud wrap.

What you need to know:

• hours of operation vary but they are open late most nights – best to call ahead to book an appointment
• located on-site at West Bay Lodge in West Bay (across from the mall)
• call 2445-5069 or email info@serenitydayspa.com, you can also find them on Facebook
• bring: cash or credit cards, and flip flops to wear around the spa
• please remember to tip your practitioner, and a reminder that torn, ripped or otherwise damaged US bills are not accepted by banks or businesses on Roatan so please don’t try to pay or tip with them

Rika’s Rating: just thinking about this makes me relax. I love this place and am already looking forward to next time.

Disclaimer: Serenity Day Spa generously hosted my visit, but my opinions are always my own no matter who is paying the bill!