Balinese Massage at Intan D’Zaress Spa

Intan D’Zaress Spa, Gadong: Balinese 90 min Massage $35

Peace and loving relaxation. Traditional Balinese massage technique passed down through generations in the Javanese and Bali traditions. A restoring and calming experience heightened with Swedish massage, acupressure, skin rolling and relaxing strokes.

Welcome to Intan D’Zaress Spa, a spa which markets itself with traditional Indonesian spa treatments and Balinese massage. I found the spa while blog hopping, and have read promising reviews about the 3 month old spa in Gadong. At the time, that was the only information provided – no address or phone number provided especially when Gadong covers quite a wide area. It was quite difficult for me to find the spa and since there’s no website to check for the addresses or even signs leading to the spa. But eventually I managed to track down the location.

The spa shares the same block with Cosmopolitan College and Processta in Gadong. Its at the building right by the Gadong river, if you know Booker bookstore in Gadong, there is a small road leading to this building. Now that, trying out different spa treatments have become somewhat a leisurely activity of mine – I thought I have tried out all spas in this country. But spas or health centres specialising in foot reflexology and massages are shrooming and expanding here.

Intan D’Zaress spa opened recently in December 2008, its unfortunate that no one really knew about it partly because of its obscure location but its mostly to do with the fact that the management didn’t really market the spa well. Anyway – this is one spa I will have to write about because I feel that it deserves the attention that it should get.

There’s not a lot of Balinese spas out there in Brunei especially for men, most of the spas like Martha Tilaar and Tunjung Sari Spa in Delima only cater for women. In the Kiulap area, most of the massage and spa therapists are Thais or Filipinos – the massage techniques are very different than a Bruneian traditional massage experience. From a Thai masseuse you will generally experience plenty of stretching and yoga movements while the Filipinos mostly learn Western massage techniques such as Swedish and Sports massage.

A Balinese massage is probably what’s on offer here which closely resembles the traditional Malay experience. It would be great if someone could open a Brunei-based spa offering traditional massage and immerse the Brunei Malay culture in the spa treatments. I mean just look at how detailed and intricate the Bruneian wedding journey is with Mandi Bunga (floral bath), Berbedak (scrub and traditional camphor body mask treatment) and Berinai (Herbal nourishing mud and henna for the hair and skin for fertility). It would be nice to see this one day – our culture is as equally as rich and beautiful as the Balinese and the Thai cultures.

Anyway, the 90 minute treatment starts with a warm, soothing foot soak with basalt stones at the bottom of the bucket. The massage therapist then apply hot towels all over my back. The warmth was definitely welcome, it really makes your body and muscles more relaxed. Steam coming from the white towels felt really good, it reminded me of my childhood where my grandmother would apply hot towels on my forehead. Its very traditional indeed to start with this.

I also would like to point out that, I really like that the towels have the words Intan Spa embroidered. It really gives a personal touch to the spa, making it all exclusive and unique for the spa customers. Although I did not like the use of plastic flowers as shown at the picture above. It makes the setting cheap and tacky in my honest opinion.

I have experienced Swedish, Thai and Shiatsu massage before, I thought there wouldn’t be any more massage techniques besides that. Generally, I could easily predict what the massage sequence is especially with Swedish massage normally given by Filipinos. This Balinese massage experience was unpredictable. This is a good thing, the massage sequence and the strokes were really good. Balinese massage is different than Swedish because it also deals with acupressure points and deep tissue. If you like your massage to be firm but hated Shiatsu, Balinese massage is for you.

If I have to say something negative about the spa, its the massage bed. The hole where you put your face into was ill-fitting and it was not so comfortable when compared to the ones in Thann Sanctuary Spa or Shiatzen Spa. It left a slight mark on my face, but this was compensated by the incredible Balinese massage.

One thing for sure, my busy thoughts in my mind and restlessness at night were all gone after the treatment. Like most massages I received, it makes me feel calm and relaxed. What I like about this treatment is that, the massage begins with the hot towel and it ends also with the hot water towel, wiping off the excess oil from the body. Tense muscles are a thing of the past with the steam treatment.

Intan D’Zaress Spa is definitely a serious contender in the league of spas available in Brunei. For a 90 minute massage costing only $35 and having to actually delivered. This one spa have exceeded my expectations! This spa puts down Zen Spa, Amanha Spa to shame. For a hot-stones massage, just add $10 to the price – bargain!

Verdict: 8/10

90 minutes of Balinese massage costs $35. Call in 2426160 for more details and reservations.

Intan D’Zarezz Spa, Unit 4, Ground Floor Kompleks Hj. Tahir II BE 3519 Gadong