It was a friend’s 50th birthday today, so a few of us celebrated by booking a spa day and lunch and the Mandarin Oriental Washington DC.

The Mandarin Oriental hotel is surrounded by;  the Potomac River, massive federal buildings, highway over passes, chained fences guarding parking spaces, the Smithsonian Institutes, rail tracks and a few dead ends. This area is known as L’Enfant Plaza, and it is busy with government agencies, state/agriculture/transportation and justice department buildings. Much of our U.S.  government business is launched from these large square offices where their agency’s name is carved in gold over the doorway. We look small walking into these secured buildings with tinted glass windows and trimmed gardens. The tone is official, white collar,  with red/white and blue ties~  and this is the obstacle course the guests  of the Mandarin Oriental  (and my friends) drive or walk through on the way to the hotel.

We made it past the gauntlet  of government buildings and streets lines with detailed parking signs, and as we walked into the hotel~ a feeling of peace and oasis fill our Zen longing hearts and spirits. The lobby is open and filled with light and the floral centerpiece  is the size of a small rain forest.  It smells like a rain forest; sweet, green, with a touch of jasmine. All decorations, fixtures, beams, flooring, vases, cases and carpets are earthy, calming with a splash of Asian lines and color. There is no noise, no rush, and no signs of  the large square government office buildings. It is a foreign land inside,  a time machine that takes you away from DC and to an instant get-away.

The spa is exquisite, done well from all angles. Service, products, lighting, steam, therapists, teas, and towels. It is a place of peace in a busy city, in a busy country during a busy time.

(more about products, service, girls celebration, that crazy American lunch menu and the price… on the way)

Susan Gwaltney, Essential Spa Consulting