The continuing effort of our family to combat the overpowering rise of the temperature brought by the “El Nino phenomenon” have made our heads more imaginative in coming up with ideas on where to spend the simmering day comfortably and at the same time enjoy family bonding moments.
My family thought of one of these places and it is a place called Ace Water Spa. I came to know about the place some four years ago and in fact had brought my family there before. It was during our tapings for a show for kids aired on Channel 5 titled “KIDARKADA” where I was one of the hosts as Tito Right. Ace Water Spa was one of the show's sponsors. The Ace Water Spa TV ad shown during commercial break was effective that I decided to bring the family to this city oasis.
Last sunday, which was mother's day, my eldest daughter Kira invited the whole family to spend our afternoon at the Ace Water Spa. She offered to pay our entrance fees so there was no more reason not to have a second visit to the place considering also that we were all sweating that usual hot sunday afternoon!
So, we quickly filled up our bags with swim wears, towels, soap and shampoo and off we drove to Quezon City. Ace Water Spa is located at the center of Quezon City, specifically along del Monte Avenue near the corner of Banawe St. Yes, near the area famous for cheap auto supply stores and chinese restaurants. It was about 1:30 pm when we arrived at the Ace, and I noticed that it now has a ballet parking service.
When we entered the reception area, the staff wearing colorful hawaiian tops immediately entertained us. After my daughter paid the entrance fee of P500.00 per person (children below 12 years old pay half), we were led to the locker and shower area at the second floor. The staff were very helpful in giving directions where my personal locker and the shower rooms are located. The locker room was very clean and orderly despite the number of people who were in the area when I arrived.
After I took shower, I immediately proceeded to the door leading to the SPA area at the ground floor. Another staff immediately gave me a red shower cup before I reached the stairs leading to the SPA area.
The entire SPA area is covered with an all-weather roofing. I saw about one hundred persons crowding almost all entire area which is as big as two and a half basketball courts.
My wife, two daughters, niece and son-in-law met at the stairs since the locker and shower rooms for females were separate from that of the maless. Slowly we explored each section of the water spa. The first section after the stairs is the half olympic size swimming pool were people are lapping slowly, not as professional swimmers but swimming leisurely enjoying the cool water of the swimming pool.
The second section is an area after the swimming pool is a space about 30 sqm where there are several high pressured water fountains projecting water four meters up to the air. One can choose his own water fountain and stand up in front of it and let the water flow into his body. A kiddy pool is located at end of the fountains.
The third section is the water massage area. The whole area is filled with water where people are submerged up to the breast part of the body. It is as big as a basketball court and is divided into several sub-sections where there are different kinds of high pressure water massage. One sub-section has high pressure water falling from the overhead. Another sub-section has three concrete bed-like structures where a person can lie down facing the concrete slab while high pressure water is falling from above giving his back a strong massage! Another sub-section has five curved structures which resemble a sun-bathing chair where a person can lie down while strong water is coming out from holes on the chair massaging his back. Several sub-sections have high pressure water coming from the wall hitting the legs, the front, sides and back portions of the body. The entire third section is bounded with creek-like canal surrounding the section where people can swim and walk around with its waistline high water.
The fourth section are the sauna and steam bath rooms. There are separate steam and sauna rooms for female and male.
The fifth area is the herbal hot baths with three different pools containing three different herbal extracts and varying water temperatures. A super cold tub is provided where bathers from high temperature herbal water baths can make a quick dip.
Finally, a loft above the sauna and steam area serves as the rest area where chairs are provided for bathers to lazily lie down after going through series of activities.
For four hours, the P500.00 entrance fee is a very very fair! At about 6:00 pm, we went to the shower area and took our shower. On our way out, the staff gave complimentary stubs for egg soup. After having our soup we went home feeling very much relaxed! Ace Water Spa is highly recommended to cool down and relax this summer!
