Checking Out Spas in Antigua, Guatemala

I have been coming to Guatemala since 1997. Originally in Antigua there were a few Spas doing primarily massages and some basic treatments, like facials. In these days I always thought of them a good value because they were so inexpensive (100-150 quetzales). With the arrival of day spas the number of spas in Antigua has grown to where there are now 10 or more spas. They are the Mayan Spa at two locations (Alameda Santa Lucia Norte) and Petite Mayan Spa (6a Avenida Norte) www.mayan-spa.com, Bella Spa (4Calle Oriente) www.salonbellaspa.net, Healing Hands (3a Avenida Norte), El Reposo Spa (1 Calle Poniente), Minoshka’s Spa (7a Avenida Norte & 5a Calle Poniente), Skin Deep (1a Avenida Sur), Casa Madeleine (Calle de Espírita Santo) www.casamadeleine.com, Hotel Healthy (Body & Face Medical Spa) (Carr. a Cd. Vieja km. 1.5) and Reginadawn Spa Bed & Breakfast (5a Avenida Sur). While these spas now offer a greater variety of treatments the overall level of service is still basic or inconsistent at most. Maybe the downturn in the economy coupled with the need to keep the price at a level to attract costumers has not helped. Typically a 60-minute massage ranges from 150-300 quetzales (at today’s rate of 8.2 quetzales for $1US) Antigua prices for massages are excellent.

Mayan Spa



Very few of the spas in Antigua are stand-alone spas in fact many are actually beauty parlors with some spa service. This unfortunately often results in some of the employees being cross-trained on everything from hair styling to massage therapy. The result is your day at the spa may result in a person with long nails giving you a massage. From a spa users point of view this is scary! In the past I have tried Bella Spa (it has now down sized and moved to a new location), Mayan Spa at both locations, Skin Deep. During my most recent visit I had 60-minute massage at Minoshka’s Spa (200 quetzales), Reginadawn’s Spa (200 quetzales) and a private massage therapist (300 quetzales). Both Reginadawn and the private therapist were good however Minoshka’s was excellent. My husband also had a 60-minute massage with a different therapist and he also felt that the massage at Minoshka’s was excellent. Overall, we both felt that their staff was better trained compared to our prior spa experiences in Antigua.

Reginadawn's Spa












There are some online sources that you can use to check out spas in Antigua. One excellent source is www.tripadvisor.com that posts spa reviews. Two excellent local online magazines in English are the Revue www.revuemag.com and Que Pasa grupoquepasa.com. In addition, the website www.antiguaselect.com posts ads for spa services in Antigua.

Also for information on Antigua's more elegant spas see spaswinefood. You will find the following spaswinefood posts useful:

1. The Ceiba Spa
2. Antigua's More Elegant Spas

Availability of Wines in Antigua is Good

If you are not ready to give Guatemala’s first winery, Chateau DeFay www.chateaudefayvineyards.com a try then you should know that you can purchase good wine in Guatemala. Chilean wines makeup 60% of wines sales, with Argentinean and Californian wines being the next most popular wines, according to 2009 statistics www.CentralAmericaData.com . The same source notes that 45% of sales are at supermarkets, 30% at restaurants, 15% at liquor distributors and 10% at wine stores.

Calle del Arco



One of the best places to enjoy wine in Guatemala is Antigua. In Antigua, you might want to start on Calle del Arco (5 Avenida Norte) where there are two wines shops, Almacen Troccoli and Tobacos y Vinos.


Almacen Troccoli




Tobacos y Vinos







Almacen Troccoli, which use to be a paint shop, later a paint shop and liquor store combo is now offering a good selection of liquor and wine. El Sabor del Tiempo Restaurant is adjacent to Almacen Troccoli. The other shop selling wine is Tobacos y Vinos. Sangre also on Calle del Arco is a restaurant offering wine tastings. In addition, throughout Antigua other than dropping by La Bodega Supermarket there are a number of specialty shops and many restaurants offering a good selection of wines (see www.revuemag.com and grupoquepasa.com for further suggestions).

Guatemala’s First Winery: Chateau DeFay

During our most recent trip to Guatemala I was doing some research on wines when I happened to discover a website for Guatemala’s first winery, Chateau DeFay. We just had to visit and so we did. We followed the directions on their website www.chateaudefayvineyards.com. Upon arriving in Santa Maria de Jesus we discovered that the road to Palin was badly damaged by tropical storm, Agatha. Before hearing this warning we had seen a painted sign on a rock Chateau DeFay 6km – so we thought what’s the problem it is only 6km away on ripio (gravel road) and we have a 4X4. So off we went – after a slow drive where we saw more painted signs at 5km, 3km etc. and finally we arrived at the entrance to Chateau DeFay.

We received a wonderful welcome by the owner, Jacques Defay and were treated to wine tasting. We were pleased to see and hear about the progress of a young winery. Establishing a winery in Guatemala is commendable given all the unique challenges.

Chateau DeFay has a pleasant dinning room where we enjoyed lunch. After the drive from Antigua we were most happy to be able to have lunch in such an awesome setting. If you get the chance it is worth a visit.


Sharon
Antigua, Guatemala
July 8, 2010