ten thousand waves

A Review of Ten Thousand Waves

Prior to traveling to Santa Fe, I read an article by Fodor’s on world’s best hotels in 2019. I happened to have my trip planned to New Mexico for a meeting and noticed Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe was one of the hotels. In researching, Ten Thousand Waves offers a hotel, spa, and restaurant all a short distance from the main square of Santa Fe. It is near the National Forest and even though it is only a short 10 minute drive, you develop a feel of being in the middle of nowhere. It is Japanese style in esthetic and design and has been around since the 1980s. It has grown and changed significantly since it first opened its doors. I will focus my review below on the spa experience, as I spent about 4.5 hours here. During my visit, they were currently in the middle of an expansion. Outside the doors to the spa, there was construction taking place. It was not bothersome once we were in the spa, but it was loud and an annoyance upon our arrival and definitely does nothing to help you prepare for your spa journey.

Hotel: Online you can look through photos of all the lodging they offer. About one month in advance, the weekend I was considering was already booked. So, if you are interested, plan in advance! All of the rooms are very different and some were more esthetically pleasing to me than others. One advantage to staying here is access to the Grand Bath at the spa before the spa guests arrive. They do provide breakfast and internet access. Cell reception is not good in the area, so the availability of internet access is a must. I did not receive text messages the entire afternoon I spent at the spa which really adds to the experience of unplugging and relaxing.

Restaurant: Izanami is the restaurant on the property and located just a short walk from the spa. They open at 11:30am, and we had lunch here prior to our spa package. The food was great and there are gorgeous views if you want to sit outside. We had the seasonal pickle plate, a umami burger with fries, and the house-made gyoza. These were all fantastic options with the burger being my absolute favorite. It was unique with the tempura green chile relleno that was stuffed with Spanish goat cheese … amazing! They also have a full menu of sake and interesting beers.

Spa: Prior to booking treatment, I looked online where they have a full list of their treatments. They do have a number of spa packages. If you choose a package, you get a 10% discount off each treatment. My choice was the Buddha Treatment and my spa partner the Far Far East. I had four treatments for $287. Honestly, I felt this was an incredible value. In the past, I have paid close to $200 for a single massage. This package included a soak in one of their premium private tubs, deluxe herbal wrap, 50 minute therapeutic massage, and a salt glow. Amenities available to everyone at the space included a warm foot soak, meditation room, dry sauna, and also grand communal bath. I really enjoyed sitting outside at the warm foot soak.

Our first stop was the premium private tub. Within your private area, there is a large outdoor soaking tub. Inside there was also a dry sauna that was huge and just for us! Following this, I did the herbal wrap. This was probably my least favorite of the treatments that I received. I was wrapped in a cocoon of warm blankets and told to take a cold shower at the end. Next, I had my therapeutic massage. I enjoyed the massage and thought it was great. Finally, I had the salt glow. This treatment was very similar to how it sounds. It was an exfoliating body scrub with oil and salt. At the end of your treatments, you are free to continue and enjoy all of the spa amenities for as long as you would like.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience and felt it was a great value for your dollar. It was unique in being modeled after a Japanese spa. Some of the amenities were not what you typically find at your run of the mill spa, particularly the warm foot soak. The only complaint I might have is that it was rather crowded. We went for our treatments on a random Monday, and the place was absolutely packed. This obviously bodes well for their services, but I hope that completion of their renovations will lessen the obviousness of the crowd.

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