Balima Day Spa Geneva

So you’re visiting Geneva, strolling through the winding streets of the Old town, digesting that roesti you just had at the Café du Bourg de Four… and then it starts raining. It happens. You start wishing you were in the tropics somewhere instead. Little did you know (until now) that you were just steps away from the Balima Day Spa, a small, rustic spa specializing in massages and Balinese rituals.

As soon as you walk in, you feel you’ve stepped through the looking glass, where the charm of Old Town Geneva meets the tropics of Bali. The Spa offers a menu of options to choose from at average prices, as well as its own line of aromatherapy oils. If you've chosen the Bali Santai massage, you’ll be given the choice of what scent you’d like massaged into your skin – can’t go wrong, they all smell lovely and a host with a soft touch will explain which ones energize you, and which ones will send you off to sleep. Either way, you’ll be in la la land by the time the masseuse is done.

What I find particularly nice about Balima (other than the good massage and the charming staff) is that you get the rare opportunity to see the inside of one of these buildings in the old town. Newly renovated, with complete respect for historical standards, the massive wooden beams might make you think, for just a minute, you are indeed halfway to Bali.