Heavenly Bliss at Nuat Thai Tomas Morato

Whenever I get a massage, I can never fall asleep because that is when my mind is most active. Last night, while getting my back kneaded, words were flowing through my head. I was that excited to blog about it. Before anything else, this was, hands down, the best massage experience I’ve ever had. Yes, almost even better than Neo Spa, which is the most “high-end” spa I’ve been to. Speaking of which, I really love the experience Neo Spa gives you. I digress. Back to Nuat Thai.

Or, maybe I’ve been getting the wrong kind of  massage all along. I usually get the combo of Thai and Swedish, but today, I tried just the Thai, head, back and shoulders. So let me start from the beginning.

L and I entered the Nuat Thai building near Congo Grille on Scout Limbaga corner Tomas Morato.

Hello Thai Buddha (?)

Even before we enter the door, I was greeted by the relaxing aroma of peppermint. The place is infused with the scent. We waited a little, then was led through a pebbled path to this area, where we got foot soaks. 

Please excuse the quality. I was using my camera phone. Path leading into the massage area on the first floor.

Foot soak to start the experience

Then we were led up the stairs to our massage room.

Second level reception

Hello again Mr. Buddha (?)

Second floor. Path leading to our room

Our room.

I love that, unlike other spa places, there is no common room. Everyone gets his/her own nook, lending privacy to every client, regardless of the service he/she gets. But since L and I came in together, we got to get massaged in a room with two beds. As I waited for the masseuse, I settled on the massage cushion, which was laid on the floor. I especially liked this differentiation from other spas, although they did have bed options too. As I closed my eyes and zoned out, the music enveloped me. The music was the kind of music you’d want at the spa – soothing and zen – instead of the kind they have at my old neighborhood spa, which was instrumentals of cheesy love songs I really hate (think Wind Beneath My Wings, The King and Queen of Hearts) or at one really bad spa, Love Radio. No I don’t go to sleazy spas, okay. I just like to go to affordable ones.  Back to Nuat Thai. I loved the privacy at this spa. Well here, I could get both class and affordability.


The only thing lacking is the specialized massage bed with the hole for the head. I got a crick in the neck until I decided to just keep my head straight down (as opposed to turned to the side) and propped my chin on the baby pillow they had so that I wouldn’t suffocate.

My masseuse started with my feet, so I reminded her that I was only going to have my HBS (head, back, shoulders) done. She says, “Opo Ma’m” and proceeds to massage my feet, then my legs. I like that although you asked for HBS, they still pay some attention to other parts of your body to kind of warm up to the massage. It still felt good to have my lower extremities massaged. Then, as she hit my back area, which has really been aching the whole week, I could practically die in bliss. One line came to mind, “The other spas I’ve been to were just practice. This was the real thing”. I wasted all my adult life getting combos when I shoulda been getting Thai massages! The pressure point style was more my thing than the stretching and pulling and caressing that you get from a Swedish massage. I like knuckles being dug into my muscle and thumbs and fingers disappearing into my skin. Ah, bliss! I could feel all the pain leave my back. Plus she did this weird fish motion thing with her hands that simply sent me into spa heaven. I can’t exactly describe what it was she was doing because at that point, I was drifting into unconsciousness. She was that good.  And all for the price of P250, no oil. With oil, you pay an extra P50. I’m usually big on scented oils, but this time, I didn’t mind it so much. I got to keep my pajama set on (yes, long pants instead of shorts) and the smell of peppermint was in the air, anyway. My friend got a full-body massage for the same price and she totally loved her experience, too.

After the massage, we were offered tea, which we sipped at reception. It was a nice touch as we were thirsty afterwards and the tea completed the whole experience. The place was also nicely decorated and totally gave a Thailand feel (not that I’ve ever been to Thailand).

Tea for us. 🙂

I’m glad to have found this new spa place. This one’s a keeper!

Nuat Thai Tomas Morato cor Scout Limbaga

(02) 4131446