There are some things that you can’t go through life without… one of them happens to be beer, and the other a hot tub or spa. When I accepted an assignment to promote the Blue Haven pools and spas at the Sydney Royal Easter show where I had to literally do a live cross from a spa jacuzzi tub, I never thought that I’d be finding myself a number of years later doing the same thing… in a foreign land, and in ICEland of all places, but here I am, about to fulfil what appears like any mans dream… having a spa, and a beer at the same time, while also bathing in the beer… is it even possible? Yes, yes it is… and it’s one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ sort of events where you think to yourself ‘well, I only live once, so why the hell not?’

Upon arrival at the beer spa it’s like arriving at any other spa, you’re asked to sign in, pay for your experience, and then you’re given a locker key, and a towel and you’re directed to the changerooms. Get the layers of clothing off, and you’ll find yourself in a towel, and out in a corridor looking for a vacant room with a spa.

And in case you’re a bit prudish (yes, I know – it’s perfectly OK if you are!) DON’T WORRY! You don’t actually have to bathe in beer with other people (if you don’t want to)… You see it’s a completely private experience, and you get your very own room with a spa to sit back and soak… and not drink the spa water (BEER!) (and you’re not a kid anymore, alright? So don’t try it!) Instead, why not play the role of barman for a day and pull yourself a beer? Upon craning your neck you soon realise that you are NOT alone… Oh, no… you see, there’s a beer tap right next to the bath, prompting you to think in your beer induced relaxed state – ‘Oh, it must be here to keep me company? How sweet!’ And before you know it you’re pulling yourself a beer into a pretty big glass, and seeing how frothy this beer is you feel as though your body is soaking more, and more as the HOT beer bubbles permeate through the water and exfoliate your skin… this must be what those hydration therapy experiences must be like? It must be the manlier version of such an experience. There are no limits to how much beer you can drink… so pour away another beer… and then another… and then… you might want to refill your glass, and then go outside for a bit of a break, and a dip in one of their outdoor spas.

Stepping outside you soon realise that the beery goodness that’s been warming you is quickly replaced by a cold stiff Arctic breeze… and coming off some snow capped mountains you hurriedly carry your beer over to the hot tub, and soon you realise that the outdoor spas are just hot water – NO MORE BEER!? in the spa… it would seem, so climb into the hot tub, and warm up quickly before the wind gets your face in a cold and brutal smack, and you dunk your head under the water to warm up. Get warm in the spa… and take another sip of the beer… exfoliate your skin with the hot naturally mineralised waters of Iceland’s geothermal mass, and relax even more whilst taking in the stunning views of the mountains. Oh, you don’t want to look directly at the mountains? That’s OK too, after all you have already broken many, many taboos today already… drinking a beer in a spa bath, pretending you’re a barman (in your own little fantasy world), and finally… the BIGGEST sin of all… BATHING in beer?! OK, just go right ahead and put your back to the mountains then, why don’t cha’. But you’ll soon see that natures beautifully sculpted rockies are just reflected in the big clear windows of this facade of the building… perfect!

This all sounds too good to be true, right? But I’ll let you in on a little secret… it’s not! It’s all real, there are no catches, and there is literally nobody around to bother you. So continue to bathe away, and relax… the beer is flowing, the beer is exfoliating, and the hot water from those geothermal water sources is elevating your heart rate slightly, but it’s stripping the skin of dead skin and dirt… it’s removing the crap from your pores… it’s bringing cool beer into your body, and your insides are starting to cool down.

The beer spa @ Bjórböðin in North Iceland is an experience that you simply don’t want to miss… it is a rare, one of a kind experience. So bathe… exfoliate… warm yourself up… cool yourself down… AND Repeat.