Exploring the best of Toronto and Southern Ontario.

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you’re doing well and enjoying this beautiful “second summer” we’ve been having here in Ontario. As excited as I am to welcome sweater weather, I have to admit I’ve really been loving the warmer temps. Summer always goes by too quickly – but this one felt especially fast – so I’ve been relishing Mother Nature’s little extension of the season (which, sadly, is due to end within the next couple of days. Nothing lasts forever!)

I don’t know about y’all, but these days, life seems busier than ever. It’s been a particularly busy year for Tania and I. Between renovating our house and backyard, shopping for engagement rings, planning our trip-of-a-lifetime to Italy, hosting parties, researching cars (I’m in the market for my first vehicle!) and now starting to plan a wedding, it seems like there’s always a new project underway. Couple that with a busy 9-5 job, my blogging and Instagram “side hustles”, weekends that always seem to be packed with plans, and the mundane everyday tasks of running a household, I feel like I rarely take a break. So sometimes – as much as I love filling my weekends with action-packed day trips – it’s so nice (and necessary) to plan a day to do nothing but relax. That’s why Tania and I recently headed to The Pillar & Post for a much-needed spa day.

Part of the Vintage Hotels group, The Pillar & Post is one of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s most iconic hotels. Located in a 19th century heritage building, the luxury hotel is known for its five-star accommodations, fine dining restaurant, and its 13,000-square-foot 100 Fountain Spa. I’ve stayed and dined at other Vintage Hotels before and have always had a great experience, so I was excited to check out the Pillar & Post for the first time!

Tania and I booked a 50-minute couples’ aromatherapy massage. When you book a massage or any other spa treatment over $100, you get access to the spa facilities for an additional three hours outside of your treatment time. The spa facilities include the hotel’s outdoor pool, indoor saltwater pool, saunas and hot springs whirlpool. If you wish to use the facilities without booking a treatment, you can purchase a day pass for $75. (The 100 Fountain Spa is currently running a limited-time special: until October 27, day passes are just $50 per person.)

Guests are asked to arrive half an hour before their appointment to allow enough time to check in and fill out any necessary health forms. Our massage wasn’t until 2pm, but we came at noon to get in some pool time before our treatment! We were greeted by the friendly front desk staff, who showed us to the locker room. White terrycloth robes are provided by the spa, but guests are asked to bring their own slippers/flip flops. After getting changed, we headed back upstairs to the outdoor pool.

The outdoor pool area is absolutely gorgeous! It’s surrounded by tall trees that provide shade and privacy, while the pool’s focal point – a striking stone water feature and firepit – gives the space a cozy ambiance. Did I mention the pool is heated!? We went for a quick swim, then settled into our lounge chairs, where Tania sunbathed and I caught up on some reading.

The pool has full restaurant and bar service, and you just need to flip up the flag attached to your lounger to signal that you’d like to order. (How convenient is that!?) We ordered a bottle of Chardonnay from local vintner Speck Brothers Family Tree Wines. It was served in a chilled ice bucket that stayed right by our lounge chairs. We were a little hungry and didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach, so we also ordered a plate of sweet potato fries to share.

The nice thing about The Pillar & Post is that if you order a bottle, you don’t have to finish it all in one sitting. We drank about half, and our server put the rest back in the fridge so that we could finish it later in the day.

The 100 Fountain Spa is especially famous for their hot springs whirlpool, so of course we had to check it out! The hot springs pool is very popular and the space is quite small, so the spa limits how many people can use it at a time. You must reserve a 20-minute time slot for the hot springs in advance (there is no additional cost for this.) They do allow you to book extra time – subject to availability – on the day of your visit, but in my experience, 20 minutes is the perfect amount of time. Any longer in a hot tub and I start getting a little woozy! The hot springs feels like a little secret garden oasis with a rock garden, waterfall and lush greenery. I wish we had something like this in our backyard!

After visiting the hot springs, we headed into the darkened “quiet room” and enjoyed some lemon water until we got called for our massage appointment. Our massage therapists were Rodger and Dallas, and they were both wonderful. They’ve both been practicing at The Pillar & Post for several years, and Rodger even teaches massage therapy courses at Mohawk College. Now, I’ll preface this by saying that Tania and I are used to going for regular massages with therapists who know us and work hard on our problem areas, so we often find that spa massages are a little too gentle for our needs. Not the case here! Both Rodger and Dallas really focused on our problem areas, and asked us several questions to ensure they could give us personalized and effective treatments. Both Tania and I agreed this was the best spa massage we’d ever had! Plus, the aromatherapy component was so nice and relaxing.

After our massage, we headed back to the outdoor pool area, where we finished the rest of our wine and ordered a late lunch. The hotel’s poolside menu is casual and offers a selection of salads, burgers and sandwiches. I ordered the classic chicken club wrap and Tania got the “Great Canadian” burger, and we also got a Caesar salad to share. It was a ton of food, but it was now late afternoon and we were starving (we probably should have consumed something other than wine and sweet potato fries that day!) so it hit the spot. I’ve gotta say, eating lunch in my spa robe was probably my favourite part of the entire experience. It reminded me of that amazing feeling on Christmas when you just stay in your pajamas all day, but decidedly more luxurious and indulgent.

After lunch, we went to check out the indoor pool area, which consists of a large saltwater pool and hot tub. The space is beautiful! From the tall ceilings to the skylights to the tropical greenery, they’ve done a great job at bringing the outdoors in. Unfortunately there was a large group monopolizing the hot tub, so we didn’t get to try that out (why does that always happen!?) but we really enjoyed the saltwater pool, which was heated to the perfect temperature.

We had a fabulous experience at the 100 Fountain Spa, and I highly recommend it to anyone in need of a relaxing spa day. It’s the perfect place to take your significant other, mom, group of girlfriends, or just anyone special in your life who could use some pampering. The Pillar & Post offers RMT receipts for their massages, so if you have health benefits to use up before the end of the year, take note! Tania and I each get COB under the other’s plans, so our massages ended up being completely covered – the only thing we paid for were our food and beverages.

If you’d like to experience the 100 Fountain Spa for yourself, you can make a reservation by calling 1-888-669-5566. Weekend and holiday appointments open up two weeks in advance. If you’re hoping to visit the spa on a weekend or holiday, I recommend calling as soon as possible within that two-week window, as spots fill up quickly. (Although I haven’t booked on a weekday so I can’t speak to that directly, it’s my understanding that weekday appointments are much easier to get.)

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend – and, to my Canadian readers, a very happy Thanksgiving! We’ve got three different celebrations on the agenda this weekend, and I’ve just finished making three different desserts to bring. (Y’all, if life keeps up this way, I’m going to need another spa day real soon!) I’ll be back next week with another post, but in the meantime, I wish you and yours a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving celebration!