Birthdays Done Right

I treat my birthday like a holiday for me to celebrate ME!

Take the Day!

I have not worked on my birthday since 2009, with the exception of when I was in Grad School and still had to go to class. Other than that, I truly do treat the day like a holiday to celebrate myself with some much needed self-care either on vacation or with a stay-cation at the spa! The past two years, I have been lucky enough to have a few friends join me for my annual ditch day for a massage and pool party at the Hilton Waterfront’s Spa del Mar in beautiful Santa Barbara! Last year, one of the girls couldn’t take the entire day, but took an extended lunch to join us for a massage and some pool time!

Spa Day 2019

You know I am all about the discount, quality, and getting the best value for the money. Spa del Mar delivers on all three and we left in a spa day relaxation coma!

Spa del Mar offers locals 20% off their spa treatment and other special locals only deals! The spa at the Hilton Santa Barbara Waterfront Resort definitely has the best spa deal in town: we showed up at 11 am on FRIDAY to lounge in the pool and eat our picnic lunch before our 1 pm facials and massages, plus our parking was validated! A few of the other hotel spas in town only offer a locals discount Monday through Thursday for limited hours and either charge extra for use of the hotel pool or don’t grant access to spa guests, and then you still have to pay for parking! It’s still summer in Santa Barbara the first week of October, so we needed the pool! With the locals’ discount, my 60 minutes European facial with Silvia, validated parking, and pool party cost a total of $120 (non-locals price of $150).

Know Before You Go!

Before you book your spa day:

Call your local hotel spa and ask if they offer discounts for locals;
Lockers;
Validated parking;
BYO picnicking (i.e. can you bring your own food and champagne); and
MOST IMPORTANTLY, do they provide complimentary pool access!?!?!?!?!?!

This info isn’t always on the spa website and extra fees for parking and pool use really add up to a whole lot of sticker shock! I love that Spa Del Mar loves locals and advertises all of their specials for locals on their site!