We called them the morning we were supposed to check in, and asked if we could check in early, and also if we would upgrade to a room with a view of the bay. OMG, worth it!
They opened our car doors for us and offered a helping hand out of the car, which made me giggle. We handed over the keys to our rental car to the valet parking (included in the Groupon) and another man helped load our bags onto a fancy little wheelie cart.
We took the elevator to the third floor and walked to the end of the hall way (lined with marble tables, crystal chandeliers, and ornate vases) and entered through the room with the only red door. We asked our luggage bearer why our room was the only one with the red door, and he said because it is more of a suite room, compared to the others (what a steal!).
The room was small, but beautiful! The sheets were super soft and there were really nice thick, plush bath robes to lounge around in. It didn't take long for us to feel at home. :) I was temporarily disappointed that there was not a bath tub in the bathroom, because I had packed some bath bombs from LUSH, but alas, there was only a shower.
Upon check in, they handed us a card with translucent paper explaining what we had access to, for the duration of our stay. I immediatly wanted to know more about the "Complimentary Spa Ritual" so Alex (my partner) called the front desk. We didn't know what to expect, but the lady on the phone assured us that we could just walk barfoot in our robes to the elevator, press "S" for SPA and follow the light to heaven. So we did.
You show up in your robe and they provide you with spa shoes, and tell you to enjoy yourself (clothing optional).
First, I grabbed a glass of cucumber water, and derobed myself and entered into the sauna that smelled of eucptalus oil. AAAAHHHHH, that's what I call breathing easy. Then I set out to discover the rest of the spa.
Oh, here are the bath tubs! They are available for reservation in one of the Spa Ritual rooms. I was in heaven, I see what they were talking about!
I rinsed off my sauna sweat in the shower that had 9 heads, NINE SHOWER HEADS! You know, because one just is not enough.... Yeah, anyway, there was one giant round head directly above your head to feel like rain, three aimed at your shoulders and torso, two more at your mid forso, and three at vagina height, so you get really clean, you know what I'm sayin.
My own spa ritual began establishing itself:
Sauna with cucumber water
Shower
Jacuzzi tub with hot tea
Ice-cold wash cloth to the face
Deluge shower (felt like a waterfall neck massage)
Shower -leaving conditioner on my hair
REPEAT!
There were rolled up towels everywhere, in case you needed a fresh towel. There was also a juice room where you could relax quietly and sip on hot tea, iced tea, orange mango juice, or cucumber water. I tried them all, of course. There were two locker rooms, a bath room and a "dressing room" full of lotions, hair styling equiptment, and mouthwash just in case you mouth didnt feel as clean as your entire body. WOW.
The spa closed at 4pm so I had to leave just as the sun was setting behind the palm trees that were planted just outside the window in the jacuzzi spa room. I went upstairs to reunite with Alex (the Spa is segregated by gender, so people feel comfortable nude) and we sipped on some wine while we photographed the sunset over San Francisco.
Now, the bay is known for its foggy weather, just for some reason, we lucked out and it was one of the clearest days we had experienced in a while (it sprinkled rain the next day!) We had a picture perfect view of the golden gate, and everything as far as the eye could see.
We brought our own wine, which was awesome because the wine downstairs was $20 for the two of us to each have one glass of Malbec. We like to be fancy, but on a budget ;)
I also made some chocolate covered strawberries before we left the house. It is one of my favorite desserts in the entire world. I melt dark chocolate with a spoon full of coconut oil and rapidly stir it. Remove it from heat right before all the chocolate is melted to avoid burning it. Once it burns, even just a little, it's like curtled milk= your life will be over.
We also packed some ingredients to make breakfast because we checked the "In Room Dining" menu before we checked in...let's just say that the simple oatmeal was about $15 bucks. Yikes!
So, we made bagles with tofutti (vegan cream cheeze) topped with capers, arugula, fresh thyme, edible flower petals and tomatoes (hand picked from our garden). Alex put salmon on his, because he's not quite vegan yet...
They had coffee in the room that we made, and we also had some fresh squeezed orange juice that I juiced before we left from the oranges grown on my parent's tree.
Overall, we had an amazing, romantic time at the Claremont, and can't wait to go back (it's mega expensive, so it will be a while) the spa experience alone is enough to make me want to stay there again.
My advice: upgrade to a bay view, and pack your own snacks! Don't forget to go to the spa before you check out too! The spa opens at noon, but they let us go in early at 11:30. Check out is usually at noon, but they said "Don't worry Miss Davis, just go ahead into the Spa and we will call the front desk and get you a late check out at 1pm. Can you believe that! Hands down, this was worth every penny.
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