Did you know the largest spa in North America is on a spectacular sprawling hillside in Chelsea, Quebec? Indeed, Nordik Spa-Nature has been bringing rest and relaxation to the nation’s capital region since 2005.
Nestled in the Gatineau Hills, just a short drive from downtown Ottawa, this year-round indoor-outdoor facility features age-old techniques and rituals from Nordic countries. The idea of a thermal spa is to do purifying cycles that alternate hot and cold, with rejuvenation in between. It’s a concept that has been popular for centuries across Europe.
Nordik Spa-Nature brings that concept to life right here in Canada, with baths, saunas, aromatic steam pavilions, waterfalls, and calming areas for reenergizing.
Saunas of all sizes
This mother of all spas is simply extraordinary, with seven outdoor baths, an infinity pool, floating pool, and seven saunas, each unlike the others. The saunas are contained in wooden buildings of various sizes, using dry heat produced by overheated stones.
My favourite was the tiny Barik sauna, built from red cedar and designed like a barrel lying on its side. I had to crouch to enter, and once inside, it was too small to even stand up. However, that was okay. Because on this day, it was all about lying down.
Relaxation areas
The multi-level rocky landscape is thoughtfully designed with solitude in mind. There are hammocks, hanging chairs, giant beanbags and oversized cushions. Lawn chairs circle fireplaces sheltered by gazebos. Beach loungers line the simulated sandy beach complete with the sound of ocean waves.
Indoors you can recline with musical headphones, stretch out on hot marble slabs, or nap on mats. And just when you think all the spa things couldn’t get any better, you’ll discover that the mother of all treatments is waiting below. Dug five meters deep into rock, in a minimalist and dimly-lit subterranean setting…
Unique experience underground
Nordik Spa-Nature’s Källa pool is the second of its kind in the world (the other being in Switzerland). The saltwater floating pool invites you to experience weightlessness and timelessness in a silent underground cavern. The air temperature is perfectly calibrated to match your body’s temperature, which matches the water’s temperature, creating one sensation of mental and physical bliss.
It truly allows you to drift away and forget about time and space, your physical self, your worries, your cares, your thoughts, and pretty much everything else…
Including… ummm… what was I saying???
