And relax…

You don’t have to go far to get away from it all, as our lifestyle editor finds out on a visit to Thermae Boetfort in Melsbroek

I don’t think I really understood the concept of ‘the spa’ until I arrived in Belgium. Sure, I’d enjoyed a few massages in my time, and as an occasional gym goer who only tolerated working out so that I could use the steam room afterwards, I thought I knew the drill: get wet, get hot, cool down, relax and repeat, all while moderately attired. However, the Belgian spa experience is a completely different beast. Although utterly enjoyable, it’s therapeutic and ritualistic in a way that’s almost religious, which is unsurprising seeing as the Belgian city of Spa is the spiritual home of the global wellness industry.

The first lesson you must learn is that whether you go in for luxury pampering or a quick sauna at your local gym, a visit to the thermal baths isn’t considered an occasional indulgence but aroutine necessity – kind of like teeth brushing for the body. And there are the rules. If you come from a place where a sauna is merely a warm place to read your book while allowing your deep conditioner to work its magic, you’ll be mildly shocked by the intensity of both the heat of the sauna and the concentration required to reap its true benefits.

But it’s an experience worth having, particularly at Thermae Boetfort. Opened in May 2010 by the Van Der Zijpen family (who also run the popular Thermae Grimbergen complex down the road), it is in the village of Melsbroek, which, though just minutes from Zaventem, feels like you are in a different world. The first thing you’ll notice as you crunch up the gravel driveway is the view of the Boetfort Castle, an unpretentious and beautifully preserved 16th-century building set within well-maintained gardens. Once home to a long line of distinguished families including Brussels alderman Hendrik Madoets and, centuries later, the family of former Irish President Seán T O’Kelly, today the castle functions as the aesthetic centrepiece of Thermae Boetfort as well as housing its restaurant and beauty centre.

All visitors are warmly welcomed at the reception area, where you are given a wristband, which serves as both a locker key and a tab for the duration of your stay. If you are staying overnight,you will also be given a complimentary bath towel, slippers and dressing gown. I was booked in for a Chopin cure, which offers two days of unlimited access to the thermal baths, one night’s bed and breakfast accommodation and five 50-minute beauty treatments. After putting my things down in my bedroom – one of seven gorgeous rooms named after the hotel’s former owners – I threw on my swimming costume and headed down to the baths.

Now, for those of you who aren’t used to public nudity, beware. Boetfort is split into two sections – the Curia side, where you can protect your modesty with a bathing suit or swimming trunks, and the Moenia thermal baths, where you are invited to enjoy your cures without clothes. Desperate to shake off the shackles of a cultural sensibility that inhibits me from publicdisplays of flesh, affection and enthusiasm, I resolved to go continental and do the nude thing. And it was fine. Liberating, even. No one was is in the least bit interested in my wobbly bits and, as one of my newfound sauna friends explained, going to the sauna naked is much more hygienic. “Why would you want to wear a bathing suit when you are going to sweat all your toxins out?” she reasoned.

Moenia (separated from Curia by a long corridor and a couple of walls, so definitely no peeking) offers access to five saunas, each with its own distinct benefits and atmosphere. There is one in the old castle stables, which offers a genteel start to the proceedings; a salt stone sauna, which is said to have healing properties, particularly for the bronchial tubes; a traditional Finnish eucalyptus sauna; a slightly secluded sauna in the former icehouse in the garden; and the minesauna, which I came to know as the Oven, but more on that later.

Moenia also houses a huge hammam, which would be the perfect location for a game of steam bath hide-and-seek if it wasn’t such a health and safety hazard. There is also a relaxing foot bath with heated benches, a heated outdoor swimming pool, a herbal jacuzzi, various hot and cold showers and a cold outdoor plunge pool. The Curia section also has plenty of options, including light therapy, music therapy and infrared saunas, as well as a relaxation salt bath, which is like a giant floatation tank in a wine cellar with coloured lights. It also has a foot bath, two jacuzzis, a heated outdoor swimming pool and a rest area.

One of the highlights of my visit to Boetfort were the bathing sessions, held several times a day in the various saunas. Known as the aufguss, a session leader pours a blend of water and essential oils on to warm stones, which causes the temperature in the sauna to rise before the warm air is then dispersed with a damp towel, allowing participants to enjoy its detoxifying and relaxing benefits. I went to a session in the old mine, which was a little ambitious for a relative novice such as myself given the fact that it is the hottest one, but I was duly punished for my impertinence. Of a 15-minute session, I lasted for six and a half before the combined temperature of the air and the towel beneath my naked bottom drove me out.

A kindly couple of nearby sauna experts tried to coach me through the experience, advising me to cool myself down with blocks of ice (there’s a dispenser just outside the room) and to move down to one of the lower benches where it would be cooler, but it was no use. I felt as if my internal organs were beginning to simmer in my blood. Sadly, leaving the sauna was only halfthe battle. I still had to endure a vigorous cool-down session, which involved a tag team of cold showers and submerging myself in a freezing plunge pool. In all honesty, it was actually more refreshing than it was traumatic, especially after the session leader explained the importance of cooling down properly if I wanted to avoid dehydration, exhaustion or even heat stroke. But it still took about 20 minutes in the resting area to regain my composure.

Thermae Boetfort also offers a variety of less challenging activities such as Tibetan singing bowl baths and didgeridoo sauna sessions, as well as a number of excellent beauty treatments. I started with 50 minutes in the flotation tank followed by a skin repairing facial treatment, a relaxing warm Thai herbal stamp massage and a Kasbah steam treatment, where I was given scented salts to rub on myself while a hot waterfall shower steamed up the room. But my favourite treatment by far was the detoxifying body wrap where you are smothered in white mud and dead sea salts, wrapped in plastic, left to stew for 30 minutes and then hosed down like a white van that says “wash me”.

In between all the preening, pummelling and steaming, you can stop for a meal at the restaurant. Situated on the ground floor of the castle, the eatery offers everything from healthy salads and soup to hearty main courses and desserts. With its good food, great service, excellent beauty treatments and wonderful sauna sessions, I left Thermae Boetfort feeling as ifI had been away for a week instead of just two days. I also gained in rest what I had lost in inhibition.

Thermae Boetfort

42 Sellaerstraat, Melsbroek

02.759.81.96, www.boetfort.be

Open from 10.30 to 0.00 daily. Access to baths only, €26; beauty packages start from €56 without accommodation

Getting there

By car, it takes about 20 minutes to get to Thermae Boetfort from Brussels - turn off the E19 or E40 just before Machelen. You can get there by public transport by taking De Lijn buses 270 or 271 to bus stop Geerensstraat, which is 700m from the complex

Why not also try

Thermen Dilbeek

Popular thermal baths just outside Brussels. Baths only, €24; day beauty packages from €49.

290 Kattebroekstraat, Dilbeek, 02.466.00.88, www.thermendilbeek.eu

Thermae Grimbergen

Sister establishment to Boetfort. Cosier but with more hotel accommodation. Baths only, €24; beauty packages from €55.

74 Wolvertemsesteenweg, Grimbergen, 02.270.81.96, www.thermae-grimbergen.be

Thermen Vitalia

Wellness centre near Leuven with a beauty treatment centre run by a trained homeopath. Baths only, €22; beauty packages from €75.

118 Leuvensesteenweg, Kampenhout, 016.65.01.90, www.thermae.be

Oxygen House

Private sauna rental for anything from two to 30 people. Overnight stays possible. Prices start at €100 for two hours.

2a Stiggelstraat, Berg, 016.65.12.78, www.oxygen-house.be