Have you ever wanted to try a hot stone massage? How about dinner in the dark? If yes what would a better time than a special occasion like Valentines Day or your birthday?
Above: photos from Helsinki Day Spa and their Valentine’s candies. 🙂 Tip: If you buy a gift card worth 150€ or more during February you’ll get free products worth 65€! (Hot Stone Massage there is 152€ in case you want to offer this to someone 🙂 )
I had my first time in hot stone massage experience around an year ago. It is super relaxing and stress relieving way to spend some time in a spa!
If you’re in Helsinki, you should try Helsinki Day Spa. They have excellent service, professional staff and their waiting room includes free snacks and champagne, yummy! Also the treatment rooms are very high quality but still comfy.
In the hot stone massage your whole body will be treated with hot (not burning hot just very nicely warm) stones. Some relaxing scented oils are also used. The massage therapist told me about the oils they use and then I got to choose what kind of oil I wanted (pain relieving, detox or relaxation oil). The massage here takes 70 minutes.
Above: sunset at Katajanokka Helsinki and Katajanokan Casino. I was advised not to publish any food photos to make sure you won’t know what your eating if you guys go. They change the menus but the structure might sometimes be similar.
After the massage we went to the Restaurant Katajanokan Casino in Helsinki to enjoy our very first Dinner in the Dark. The concept of dinner in the dark is that you’ll be in a entirely dark restaurant eating three course meal without seeing the dishes. You must use your nose and mouth to figure out what you’re eating and drinking.
It was quite shocking at first to actually be unable to see. However we managed to eat without a big mess and we kind of got used to being blinded after the first course.
To make this experience more interesting there was an actual blind person, Kaisa, hosting the night and telling us how is it like to live when blind. She told us about every day life, guide dogs and how technology helps her. She also shared some funny stories (this was only in Finnish).
In Katajanokan Kasino they have been hosting these for two years now, beginning from Valentine’s Day 2015. The night there was a big success that was even more interesting experience than I originally expected. And it’s not only about the experience also the food and service are really good in this restaurant! Tip: Similar dinners are served in several other restaurants worldwide.
Above: I also got some roses for Valentine’s ❤
You should definitely go and try! You can book your Dinner in the Dark here.
Have you been in spa? What kind of treatments you prefer?
Have you tried dinner in a dark? Would you like to try?
It’s always so lovely to receive flowers, any day!
The spa time looks amazing. I love going to the spa 🙂
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Spas and flowers definitely make any day a good day! 🙂 I hope you had amazing Valentine’s Day!
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Sounds like you had an awesome Valentine’s Day! I’ve always wanted to try one of those dark restaurants!!
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You definitely should! It was not only good food but also the experience is so different and interesting. It’s an experience you’ll for sure remember.
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This looks like an amazing experience! It’s important to take some time for each other and what’s better than going to the spa?
XXX
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So true! Having some pampering time together in the middle of the week is the best! 🙂
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I wish I could persuade my hubby to go to a dialogue day but he’s got this enormous fear of massages (because he’s super ticklish) so that’ll never happen 😃
Katja xxx
http://www.katnapped.com
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Maybe you should go enjoy spas and massages with some friends? 🙂
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Oh, your Valentine’s sound amazing 🙂 We should definitely head there on our anniversary later this year. Although, hot stone massage would sound absolutely perfect at the moment haha 😀
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You guys should absolutely do that! We enjoyed both the spa and the dinner a lot. 🙂
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Wow, what a nice Valentine’s Day! I love massages so I’d enjoy this one as well but dinner in the dark seems even better! There’s one in Prague as well and I’d love to visit it to have the experience !
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You sure should do it! It would be interesting to hear your thoughts afterwards. 🙂
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Ive heard of dinner in the dark but never tried it! Sounds like a seriously unique experience.
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That’s exactly what it is! 🙂
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I’d love to try the hot stone massage! Dinner in the dark, that’s a pretty interesting concept too. So glad you had such a lovely Valentine’s Day 🙂
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I hope you had an amazing Valentine’s Day too Nya! 🙂 Hot stone massage was a wonderful experience, if you have a change go and try!
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Both are on my list! Haven’t tried them yet. But I’d love to. Especially a hot stone massage. It’s good to hear that it’s super relaxing and stress relieving. The restaurant sounds very interesting. Must have been impressive to talk to Kaisa and hear about how it is to be blind.
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Yes. It was confusing and interesting to be blind for about two hours. When Kaisa told as her stories and experience it was so much easier to understand and emphasize when I was kind of blind too. It amazing how well you can actually act without seeing. Go and try yourself!
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Yes, I have been to a Spa but only for a 30 min back massage. I love the idea of a hot stone message. I am going to treat my mom and I to a girls spa day and will include the hot stone option 🙂
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Sounds good! 30 minutes back massages are great if you’re busy or having a sore back. But for relaxing spa day the hot stone option gets my vote! 🙂
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I love hot stone massages and I really enjoyed mine. Next week I am going for suction cups! Hope it helps. 🙂
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Sounds painful to me but I hope it helps. 🙂
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I am not a fan of massages, but I am definitely a fan of food. And I have never gone to a dinner in dark. The idea is absolutely fantastic. I would love to spend my next Valentine’s dining in the dark. I’m just picturing myself relying on all the other senses other than sight. Excellent idea!
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Yes! You really have to use your smell and taste. I also started to speak more about the food because you cannot see others reactions or the food itself.
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I am actually going to Helsinki for the first time in June! So I would definitely want to book the hot stone massage at the day spa. Thanks for the tip! I’m glad you enjoyed the dinner in the dark as well. Sounds like a memorable experience.
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Yes it was! You should definitely go to Helsinki Day Spa and try their hot stone massage. They offer excellent service and have an excellent lounge with all complementary amenities too. The location is also perfect! Enjoy your stay in Helsinki and check out the other posts about Helsinki here. 🙂
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Sounds like you had a grand valentine’s day! I also wanted to try the massage! If I was there, I would had a hard time choosing between 3 oils as I want them all. Haha! And as for the dinner in the dark, we also have one in our country here! The servers are also blind. I actually haven’t tried it yet but I’m pretty sure it will be a nice experience.
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Dinner in the Dark was very nice and interesting experience! Choosing oil was also interesting haha. 🙂
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What a great Vday you had. Both me and my husband had work that day. However, we found time to go off work early and had a simple dinner. He even give me simple flowers. Spa is not included though. You’re spa experience reminded me that I had pampered myself for a year already. I think it’s time to go back again. It is because of my pregnancy and breastfeeding that prevented me from going to spas. It’s because I am not comfortable.
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It’s good that you found some time to enjoy each other and sharing a dinner! 🙂 Maybe it’s time for you to enjoy spas and pampering again.
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I havent tried any hot stone massage. I would love to experience it though. I also enjoy scented oils and dim lights during massage. They certainly makes the experience extra special. How I wish I could escape now and have that treatment.
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Yes those little things make the pampering feel very special. I hope you can try hot stone massage soon!
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Ahhhh! Going to the spa and having dinner is really a good idea for a Valentine’s date! I just wish my date would like going to the spa too. Hahaha! Enjoying the sunset is so lovely. ❤
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Clad you enjoyed the post! 🙂 I hope you had an amazing Valentine’s Day too!
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It sounds like the perfect day! Massage, restaurant what is there not to love? I hope you’re spoiled with this treatment for more than just Valentines Day? 😉
I adored how your images complimented your experience – reading your post has made me book a special treatment of my own! Thanks for the great post, keep up the amazing work! 🙂
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Oh Kylie! Thanks for your kind words. 🙂 I’m so happy you enjoy my blog and the Valentine’s Day post! I hope you have amazing experience in the treatment you booked! We tend to have something similar once in month or two. It’s sometimes hard to find time for pampering afternoons but when we have time this are an excellent way to spend couple hours! 🙂
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That’s one romantic valentines date! Who wouldn’t want a massage and flowers never gets old. Never tried a valentines date at a spa although that really sounded like a fun date. 🙂
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Dinner is the classic way to enjoy Valentine’s Day but it’s fun to try something different sometimes! 🙂
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Seams like you had an amazing time! I didn’t do nothing for Valentine’s, we usually don’t do nothing because I don’t have any appeal for that day but this year even if we wanted we couldn’t because my boyfriend is a musician and had a gig (playing violin for couples on valentine’s dinner – haha) so yeah
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Well, maybe it’s not all about doing things on that exact day. 🙂 Probably you can have your own Valentine’s some day this week?
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I am a huge fan of spa’s and massages but I have never experienced the hot stone massage. Sounds really relaxing though and something I need to make a reality soon! But before that, I MUST try the dining in the dark experience as well…I can only imagine how open your other senses become during the meal.
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Please do that! Dinner in the Dark was so eyeopening experience. It’s hard to imagine how it is going to be before actually trying yourself. 🙂
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I’ve never been to a spa but it’s something I would love to try someday.
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It’s super relaxing, you should definitely go if you ever have chance! 🙂
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Wow this looks amazing 😀 I must try also hot stone massage I heard also from people I know it is very relaxing 😀
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Yes it is! I hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂
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