Club Oasis Spa, Hyatt Regency Kathmandu… not really an Oasis

Posted By Jon Nickel-D'Andrea on Apr 2, 2017 | 2 comments

The Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu offers a “luxury retreat” in their Club Oasis Spa, but what we found was far from an oasis, and more like a rundown bathhouse.

Mind you, it all started out well. You head down to the S level in the elevator and you’re greeted by a waterfall and lotus flower floating in a bed of rose petals.

Oasis Entrance

There is an inviting waiting area with soothing colors and calming lights.

Waiting Area

At the entrance there is a large cabinet with all of the products that they use in the spa for sale.

There’s a beauty salon (which was closed at the time) off to the left hand side…

Beauty Salon

And there’s a gym area off to the right hand side. You can see down the hallway a bunch of side rooms. These are the treatment areas.

And that’s all the pics you’re gonna get folks. Even though we let the hotel know ahead of time we would be coming and doing blog posts, the front desk would not allow us into the empty spa areas to take any pictures. We pushed back slightly, and a large imposing man came down to hammer home the point. No photos. Oh well, no problem! I’m going to have to paint a picture with my words for you.

Zen, what Zen?

Imagine walking down the hallway and smelling chroline the closer you get to the back. The lights get brighter, destroying your zen experience that you had in the beginning. Heading into the locker room could be a challenge if you’re claustrophobic. There was barely any room for privacy and the changing area could fit 1 person, maybe 2 if you were lucky. At this time of day there were three people all trying to not touch each other while changing. Awkward to say the least.

Once you head through the locker room you come across the communal Jacuzzi. The pool itself is elevated about 4 feet off the ground and the only way to get in is by climbing up three large stairs. The floors are slippery tiles with no non-stick surface to speak of. The smell of cholrine grew stronger, which only turned me off even more.

After this there were two more doors on either side of the room. On your left is the dry sauna and on your right the steam room. Both spaces were dark and dank and didn’t promote any sort of relaxation at all.

Once we saw the prices, whatever sense of oasis, calm, and relaxation was gone. Massages started at $70 BEFORE tax and tip, and the total packages were upwards of $200 for a massage, facial, manicure, etc. In a majority of spas in the USA you can snag a massage package for a couple of hundred dollars, so if I’m going to be in Nepal halfway around the world, I shouldn’t expect to pay the same price as I would in Los Angeles, Denver, or Chicago.

As we left, the front desk agent saw a grim look on our face and tried to save our visit. “No, please come back! We know you’ll like… try us!” Yeaaaaa no, sorry. That won’t be happening. I’ll be finding my Oasis elsewhere.

Have you ever been to a spa to relax, only to find it was far from that?