Local Gems: Ste. Anne’s Spa in Grafton, ON (Review)

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m all about pampering myself and, when it comes to traveling, I typically go for staycations. So, naturally when I had some time off this April, treating myself to a spa day was a must! Matt and I decided on booking a day-spa at Ste Anne’s Spa.

Ste. Anne’s is a little slice of heaven located in Grafton, Ontario, which is about an hour away from Toronto. If you haven’t been here before you seriously need to visit ASAP. For those of you that live a little further away than we do, you’ll be happy to know that you can book over-night visits.

I’ve been to the spa before in the summer, and I’ve always wanted to visit it in the other seasons as well. It’s one of those places that is absolutely stunning no matter the time of the year.

Because I visited it in the Summer, I was actually most eager to go in the winter. It unfortunately didn’t work out with our schedule this holiday season, so when we it started snowing the morning of our visit this April, I was selfishly excited. (Good ol’ Canada.)

We arrived at the spa bright and early at 8:30 even though my first treatment wasn’t until a little over an hour later. We wanted to get there first thing so that we could take advantage of the everything Ste Anne’s has to offer and make the most of our incredibly relaxing day and a much-needed escape.

Upon our arrival we went for a quick tour of the spa as Matt was a first time visitor. (I’ve officially turned him into a spa person. He is already talking about going back this summer!) After that, we got changed into our robes for the day and took some time to just sit and relax together until it was time for my first treatment.

My first treatment of the day was the Eucalyptus Body Wrap, I had never had a body wrap done before and I had heard lots of good things about the different wraps from my friends so I was really excited for this treatment.

Oh. My. Gosh you guys. I am never not having a body wrap – seriously you guys, this is a must-have treatment and I will be getting one every time I visit from now on! It was so incredibly relaxing and my entire body just felt so much better after it.

The treatment starts off with a 15-minute steam in one of Ste Anne’s many steam rooms to help soothe your mind, relax your muscles and kick start the process. After that, you’re taken into a private room where you are wrapped in a hot towel. Next, you lay down on a bed that is also lined with hot towels and you’re wrapped up in a layer of hot linens soaked in eucalyptus oil. Basically, you become a cozy human burrito.

While laying there, I also enjoyed a scalp massage, a mini face-treatment (mask and moisturizer) and foot massage with Ste Anne’s foot cream. This treatment helps to eliminate toxins from your body, boost your immune system and helps your circulation. The last two benefits are the main reasons why I decided to try this particular wrap as everyone knows my immune system isn’t the best and I have circulation problems. I definitely think this treatment helped with both of these things. I left feeling so relaxed, refreshed and my body has felt so much better since the treatment.

After my body wrap, Matt and I met up and headed to the quiet room to take advantage of the massage chairs and relax a bit more until it was time for lunch which was a part of the spa package.

The lunch is a 3-course meal and there are a wide variety of items to choose from. As someone who is gluten-free, one of my favourite things about Ste Anne’s Spa is that they always have a huge variety of items that I can choose from, plus the food is incredible. They also have a dedicated gluten-free bakery on-site, but we’ll get to that later. Vegans and vegetarians will be happy to know that they have lots of options for you, too!

For lunch, Matt and I both chose the soup of the day which was a pineapple coconut curry soup with peppers as our starter. For the mains, Matt had the Asian inspired noodle bowl and I had the personal pizza with prosciutto, spinach and onions. Both dishes were gluten free, which meant I was able to try Matt’s dish as well. For dessert, I enjoyed a chocolate raspberry tart and Matt had the blueberry cheesecake. Gluten-free folk: all of the desserts are safe for us to eat!

I would highly recommend any of the items we tried, I think next time I’m going to get the noodle bowl that Matt had because from the little bit I tried, it was delicious and left me wanting more!

After lunch, we headed to the outdoor field-stone grottos. Ste Anne’s has three of them, and they each have different uses. There is a hot tub, a plunge pool for cooling down and the current pool. This area is actually one of my favourite parts of the spa year round! After some more relaxation, it was time for my other treatment.

My last treatment of the day was a 1-hour Swedish massage, which is another must-have spa treatment if you ask me! All of the massages at Ste Anne’s are performed by Register Massage Therapists.

I’m prone to holding my tension in my shoulders and upper back, and I still get pain flairs from my leg injury last year. The weeks leading up to our visit I was definitely having some some issues and I was feeling really tight and had quite a bit of pain in these areas. My RMT worked with me to address these areas and I left my massage feeling so loose and incredible. She was able to get rid of all my pain! Honestly, I left feeling the best I’ve felt in over a year. I also realized that I should be getting massages more regularly to help with my flair ups when I do experience them.

After my massage and Matt’s treatment, we headed to afternoon tea which was something I had been looking forward to all day. We had an assortment of gluten free goodies such as scones, sweet treats, wraps and sandwiches while each enjoying our own pot of tea.

It was the perfect end to an incredibly relaxing day and we decided to wrap up our day shortly after that. Matt I both went our separate ways for a little bit; he enjoyed the grotto one last time and I went for a quick steam and soaked in the hot tub in the girls locker room before we packed up and headed out.

On our way out, we stopped by Ste Anne’s Bakery to pick up some gluten-free goodies. We each got some scones, cheese bread, cookies and macrons to take home. I was also thrilled to find out that you can order all of the delicious baked goods online for delivery!

We had such an incredible day and are already talking about planning our next visit. When I came back to work the next week everyone kept commenting on how relaxed I looked and my “zen” like aura. I have to admit, it was 100% because of the spa trip and I didn’t really realize how much I needed it until after the fact.

If you’re looking for somewhere to unwind for a day or overnight, I highly recommend you guys to check out Ste Anne’s Spa. For those of you who have been before, I’d love to hear about the treatments you had and if you would recommend them for my next visit.

It was such an amazing day and I can’t wait to go back!