At the beginning of 2025, a good friend gifted me a day spa voucher at a well-known British chain of spa hotels.
On the booked day, our imagined day of calm was met by queues for the sauna, overfilled hot tubs, and most of our pre-booked lunchtime slot was spent in another queue, meaning that to make our afternoon spa treatment we had to decamp to the cafe and grab a bite.
I have to say that the said spa was not a calm experience in any shape or form.
As clients increasingly want to combine holiday travels or business trips with zen moments, I was struck by the contrast between this and other day-spa experiences I have had in the UK and the spa visits I have enjoyed in Québec.
For example, the recently expanded Bota Bota in Montréal, walkable from many downtown hotels, is a large floating barge on the St. Lawrence River.
On arrival you are handed a fluffy gown and towel (clients bring their own flip-flops) , and venture down to the changing room before heading back upstairs to a variety of saunas, steam rooms, and pools.
With views across the river and up to the mountain, it’s a welcome escape from city life after a busy day sightseeing or business meetings.
Pools are laid out on the barge and also back on land. Our highlight was the relaxation room, with hanging chairs bringing a literal meaning to the phrase to just ‘hang out’. It felt like I was swinging my cares away.
I visited in the autumn and both the blaze of autumn colours, which gave an orange tone to Mont Royal, and the crispness of autumn air, provided our senses with added layers of visual and ambient calm.
An hour out of downtown, in the community of St. Bruno, is the relatively new modernist cube of Forena Cité Thermale, described as “where the woody essence of Germany’s Black Forest meets the freshness of Iceland’s verdant plains”.
I visited on a Sunday evening in the depth of winter: the snow lent a lovely crisp crunch to the experience, while the pools felt even more therapeutic whilst looking out on a white palette.
The sauna space was ample and I particularly enjoyed being able to grab handfuls of free salt scrub for the showers. There was a nice touch: covered shelters protected our gowns from the falling snow.
Forena’s restaurant has plenty of availability and we enjoyed a delicious Arctic Char and a warming beef bourguignon, served up with wonderful laid – back Québec hospitality – friendly, relaxed and always with a smile.. No rush here.
Further out of Montréal, just a comfortable two-hour drive away in Bromont, in the Eastern Townships, is BALNEA spa + thermal experience, the largest spa in Québec. In the winter months you can usually arrive without a booking.
With landscape features erased by the whiteness of snow, there was a certain peacefulness. BALNEA offered us the best selection of relaxation rooms; a Moroccan-themed one, a beach-themed space or being mesmerised by the tropical fish in the super calm aquarium space.
We were lucky enough to just walk and grab the window table in the restaurant – again no booking, no queue and a wonderfully fresh and delicious fish dish.
Agents should mention to clients that BALNEA also operates an outpost at Montréal airport where clients can grab a last-minute chair massage, pedicure or manicure (especially useful in this age of more delayed flights).
At BALNEA, a separate building offers treatments. Although it doesn’t offer on-site accommodation, the nearby retro-inspired converted horse ranch, Le Beatnik, provides simple, cosy and clean space to sit by a modern fireplace with a locally sourced cheeseboard and a glass of red wine.
What’s more, it is literally walking distance from BALNEA. There’s another reason to visit here: if your clients are fans of the author Louise Penny, who created the Inspector Gamache series of books, it’s easy to combine Le Balnea with a visit to Knowlton, where the author lives and where she based the fictional village of Three Pines.
What else does Québec offer? Think empty roads, easy relaxed driving, and affordable, friendly Canadian service. If your clients are seeking an escape to help them slow down, suggest incorporating some “Québec calm” into their holiday.
I found all three spas I visited to be particularly uncrowded, certainly when compared with the UK. They offer calm and relaxing spaces with lots of room to decompress – and without without feeling that I was being ‘processed’ or had to move along at pace.
Moreover, all the staff were more than helpful, making sure their guests felt comfortable and informed about the options and experience ahead. We didn’t book for any of our onsite restaurant experiences, where the food options were high quality and allowed for different dietary requirements.
Selling Tips
- Many Québec spas operate “no talking” policies in the pools so don’t expect to be able to have a good natter or gossip. Some indicate whether pools are silent or whispering – and these rules are monitored.
- Most have a no phone policy to ensure spaces are genuinely relaxing and not full of people grabbing Instagrammable moments so your clients are assured phone zen.
- Clients should bring their own flip-flops/footwear but towels and dressing gowns are provided. Most sites have on-site shops to purchase swim suits/shorts if required.
- And If experiencing the spas in winter, do suggest wearing a woolly hat to keep the head warm and hair protected.
Fact box
Bota Bota: botabota.ca; Forena; forena.ca; La Balnea:
Other Canadian Zen spots
Hot springs British Columbia
The west coast of Canada offers numerous hot springs where clients can dip into the waters or plan trips around them, embracing Canada’s vast wilderness, mountains and forests along the way.
From the rugged Hot Springs Cove off Vancouver Island, which is only accessible by boat/float plane and with no spa facilities, to the more manufactured Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia is king of the Canadian springs destinations, with the Kootenay region in the southeast of the province being the main corridor. British tour operators specialising in Canada would easily be able to tailor-make road trip itineraries incorporating a mix of experiences.
Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta
The 2025 opening of the BASIN Glacial Waters at Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies has brought a new level of spa thinking to the region. With views over the iconic Lake Louise, guests will find a mix of wellness experiences to bring focus, relaxation and renewal to their holiday. www.fairmont.com
Scandinav
The Scandinav brand has many spas across Canada, including in ski resorts like Whistler, British Columbia, Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, and Blue Mountains in Ontario. The resorts are set among natural beauty and offer thermal pools to dip in and take the waters, and spa treatments on site. The newest addition has recently been announced Being built 20 minutes outside Edmonton, Alberta, the new spa will overlook the North Saskatchewan River and is due to open in 2028. www.scandinav.com
Geo Thermals
Although hot springs may normally be associated with mountain terrain, the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba are also home to naturally mineral rich thermal waters like the Temple Garden Hotel and Spa or the Manitou Springs in Saskatchewan. Although a functional looking hotel resort this is Canada’s largest indoor salt and mineral pool situated lake side and a way to claim your zen and capture some of the goodness of the waters, if visiting this area. Manitou Springs Resort & Mineral Spa
