My Experience at Four Fountains Spa

Happy New Year to all my Haute Kutir readers and friends!!

How did you started your 2014? Well I started mine by visiting a SPA. I chose to start my new year by pampering myself at Four Fountain Spa.

Its been quite sometime that I have been getting calls from Four Fountain's ever efficient team at Delhi but somehow I couldn't visit them owing to my haywire schedule. I was happy that I could finally strike off this one item in my blog "to-do" list and . Ah! How much I was aching for a good spa session.

About Four Fountain Spa

Four Fountain de-stress Spa is touted to be India's largest chain of affordable day spas. They have 17 conveniently located spas in 8 cities of India. They offer SPA therapies for de-stressing, de-toxification, immunity and beauty for men and women. These therapies include over 20 body massages, body polishes, body wraps and facials. They also offer "Spa-on-wheels" in Mumbai. To know more about Four Fountain Spa, visit their beautiful website

The SPA service I took

I was having severe leg and body pain and wanted to go for a full body de-stressing and de-toxication spa from sometime. I told my requirement to the reception manager proactively and took whatever they offered me. Somehow, I missed the availability of a trained professional to expert guide me with my requirements and end up having a green tea scrubbage which was totally something I regretted taking, given my acute requirement. 


My Experience: 

After selecting the Spa they asked to fill a self declaration form giving my demographic details and also signing a disclaimer that I am responsible for the therapy etc etc. The room was getting ready and I was asked to wait. Soon I was escorted inside the Spa and liked the serene and clean environment. The ambiance of the entire place was dim lit, done in good taste and looked neat. I was taken inside the spa room and I was happy to see the bath attached inside. My SPA therapist was a sweet, gentle lady who helped me to keep my belongings inside the cabinet including my cellphone which she asked me to keep on silent mode. 

The room looked decent and clean with spa table, a small chair nearby and a big mirror. The assistant asked me to change into spa cloths and left after telling me about the bell to ring once I am done. 

A look at the table, it was broad enough and had a small bolster leather pillow, a towel, disposable cloths that fit my size. The lighting in the room was negligible and with a little haste I changed into the spa cloths and called my assistant to begin her process.

The lady was very friendly and dealt me with kindness and patient. She checked my pressure levels and ensured to maintain it throughout. However, the spa type given to me was inadequate and inspite of my request to the spa manage to give me a full head to toe pack, they chose to be indifferent. My spa session went on for almost 60 minutes. Post Spa the assistant gave me an option of steam bath or the regular bath and helped to escort me to the wash room [given the fact that my leg was soaked in oil]. 

I have to stop my therapy midway after realizing too much scrubbing which was otherwise not required for my regularly scrubbed skin. I was little disappointed to know that SPA being given to me has only scrubbing and no oil massage in it. The therapist however, was generous enough to add oil in the spa. It saved the day for me.

The shower was little messy as the water at washroom started collecting on floor creating a huge pool beneath my leg. I have to stop my shower mid way. Post the shower, I changed back to my normal cloths and collected my bag and moved to the reception to pay my bills etc. 

It was a very mixed experience at Four Fountain Spa, Malad for me. The only thing that stood out for me was the helpful and receptive nature of the spa therapist. In terms of spa package, It was not great and in terms of benefit in terms of post Spa pain relaxation, it again was quite mixed opinion.

What I liked about them

• Location- The Spa is located at prime location on main road at Malad West [ Area closer to my home]
• Clean and quite ambiance inside the spa even though the space is small but it gave a cosy feeling though
• The Spa Therapist and her service oriented behavior
• The not so greasy oil they used
• Attached shower room with stool in Spa room
• Good offer for family membership
• The fact that they are popular chain across India with standardized services making them reliable name to avail SPA services instead of risking with local so called spa services wherein you apprehend to change into other cloths or battle dirty ambiance
• They offers services for both male and female and best part is that they give same gender services and not cross gender unlike some dicey Spa at big locations

What I liked less about them

• Their ability to not offer me the exact therapy or cater my very specific need.
• Therapeutically may be but physically I didn't feel very much relieved post massage. [I had a terrible upper limb pain in the evening]
• Limited availability of manpower at reception- I spent around 20 minutes to pay my bill while the receptionist was busy answering customer calls
• Water accumulation on floor during shower

Will I re-visit?

Yes.

Do I recommend?

Yes. Pl go for it. It is worth.

I normally very rarely visit Spa's etc as am little uncomfortable of the idea to be in bare minimums in front of a therapist or unknown place. One of the prime reasons that I visit only well known Spa in town and I think Four fountain being closer to my place and a brand name, makes it a credible brand.

I am however planning to visit a new spa this month. Let's see will it be Four Fountain again as I heard their red Thyme Oil Massage is good or any other SPA in town. Feel free to share your recommendation here and I may help you review it as well.

______________________

Rating: Ambiance 3.5/5; Services: 4/5; Value for Money: 4/5; My Overall Rating: 4/5

My Overall Experience:  I have simple benchmark to measure the quality of the spa is that a good SPA 

session should relive my pains and induce me to sleep, during or post the session. It missed this 

time except towards the end when my legs were being massaged with hot oil and I have to immediately go

for a wash. 

Given that I visited them only once and no precedents to compare with their other branch, I had a very 

mixed experience. My shower turned a little messy with all the water accumulating at floor. However, 

The massage session was decent and I look forward to visit them again to have a better experience.

Crispy Fried Okra

Okra also is known as lady's finger, is a widely consumed vegetable in India. It is high in Fiber, Vitamin C and Folate contents. It is a good antioxidant and good source of essential calcium and potassium.

Okra is a staple food in my household and I love its both version as widely cooked in my family i.e. roasted and stuffed. Off late I got little bored with the versions and thought of doing a twist in the way it is cooked at our home.I call it "Adding #Glamour to Bhindi". Yes. Okra is often considered as regular food in our homes so much that rarely do you see it being served at our parties. Here's adding a little glamour, little new flavors and a dash of little #Lifestyle to the very homely ladyfingers.

Crispy Fried Okra

Ingredients

• A bowl [250 gram] of fresh Okra washed and wiped with a dry cotton cloth 

• 1 Onion- peeled and sliced thin & long

• 1 Red Tomato washed and sliced in thin, long, slender pieces sans the pulp

• Indian Spices like- Roasted Coriander Powder [1/3 tea spoon], Garam Masala powder, Dried red chilli powder, Turmeric powder, Amchur powder [1 teaspoon each] and Salt as per taste

• Cooking Oil to fry

Total Cooking Time: 15-25 mins

Cooking Instructions

• Cut off the crown and bottom of lady's fingers and split it into thin, long pieces
• Take the oil of your choice and heat it in a deep wok
• Once the oil is hot, carefully add sliced okra in it and deep fry it for a minute. Do ensure that it is not raw yet retain the green colour
• Remove the fried Okra into a kitchen towel to wipe off the excess oil
• Take a mixing bowl, add the fried okra in it along with all the spices as mentioned above along with sliced onions, tomatoes and toss
• Transfer into serving bowl and if required a dash of lemon and serve

Tips

• You can garnish it with a dash of lemon juice or add thin slices of raw mango [half dried] and toss
• You can choose to use little sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomato. I chose Fresh Tomato as a healthy option to combat the oil in fried Okra. Ensure that u add fresh tomatoes immediately before serving so it doesn't turn soggy, soaked, spoiling the crunchiness of Okra

Your "Crispy Fried Okra with Tomato is ready to eat. I l eat my Okra with daal-chawal [steam rice & Pulse] serve this with hot steamed Rice and Yellow Daal [ my comfort food anytime].

I recommend this dish to all who likes adding variety to their food without playing too much with health quotient, Cooking Newbies, Mothers who find making their children lady finger difficult than climbing K2 and all food lovers esp Vegetarians who want to add an exotic element to their veg food.

Let me know if you tried this recipe and how was your experience. To share the picture with me.

I am also on Instagram as Ekta Khetan, follow me to experience the multi faceted life that we live

Stay tuned to this page for more interesting recipes, pictures and updates on Food, Fashion & Lifestyle! Hasta Leugo!

Ekta