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Review of Bale Bale Traditional Spa in Jakarta

I was searching for a spa near the city or Senayan and chanced upon Bale Bale Traditional Spa/Massage which has a branch at Gandaria; they also have a branch in Cipete. I wanted something not too expensive and a quick fix- a massage and a scrub. I was also hoping to find something not so clinical, I usually dislike spas in shopping malls or chain spas.

We drove by Gandaria City and cut through a lane on the side towards a residential area; we found Bale Bale Spa amongst the houses.

Traditional Spa in Jakarta
The spa entrance.

Traditional spa and massage in jakarta
A down-to-earth Balinese ambience greets one when entering.
The first impression of the spa was good as the space smells nice and looks clean. There were couple of ladies doing the hair creme bath, a popular hair treatment/head massage among both locals and expats here.

The menu is comprehensive and prices are cheap as compared to average spa standards in Jakarta; so I decided to try all three- the traditional massage, lulur (body scrub) and waxing on the legs.

I was led to the side of the compound and was thrown a little off guard when the body massage area was much shabbier than I expected it to be (judging from the hair massage area which was pretty decent). It was on a wooden platform with makeshift dividers and it didn't look the most appealing, at least to me.

The air conditioning wasn't working too well at the massage area either; I was thinking in my head that this was truly 'traditional' so you can't really use the air conditioning to be authentic..hehe..

That being said, the massage was good and the masseuse was diligently trying to smooth the knots ; considering it is 20 bucks for both massage and body scrub, it was really value for money if you can get pass the shabby interior.

The traditional scrub which they call Lulur; was a bit of a mess and I wasn't really expecting it to be the way it was. They applied body mask and scrubbed you at the very same area they massage you.

Finally after 2 hours, it was waxing time. I really didn't know what to expect. They used the sugaring method, but room temperature ones; which successfully removed just couple of hairs..lol..  I was not very hairy at the first place and so you can imagine how very effective the waxing was.

Overall

Ambience- 5.5/10
Service- 6.5/10
Value- 7/10

I would return to Bale Bale again to try their hair creme bath which looked like their best seller and perhaps the massage if I felt like doing both at the same time. However I would skip all the other tempting options on the menu.

 Bale Bale Traditional Spa
Housing Gandaria Park Block C 16-17 Jakarta Selatan
 : 021.7253326 / 021.7506587
Website: http://balebalespa.com

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Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

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