Nuru massage in Amsterdam, and the bathroom it depends on

Where it comes from

Nuru takes its name from a Japanese word meaning slippery, and the gel was first made from a seaweed extract. The format developed in Japan in the late twentieth century and travelled to Europe along with the gel itself. Present-day gels are usually plant based and odourless, and she brings her own.

The technique

Gel is spread thinly with the hands first; then she uses her forearms and body to glide across your back and legs. Weight comes in gradually, and she checks with you before adding more. Movements are long and slow, and the gel stays warm and slippery throughout because she renews it. Speed stays low; the format is about the glide, not the tempo.

What to expect

She brings the gel, a sheet to protect the bed and her own towels, and the first few minutes go on setting them out, with the heating turned up. She explains the order of things and states her limits before she begins. The gel is warmed and applied, and the session proceeds slowly, her weight introduced gradually and never suddenly. Afterwards comes an unhurried rinse in the shower, and the bed is left exactly as she found it.

Who it suits

The guest who wants one evening unlike the others and has a bathroom that suits it. A traveller who has booked oil sessions before and wants something different. It is less suited to a room with only a bath and a slippery tiled floor, and the reply will say so honestly if your description suggests that.

What it is good for

Something genuinely unfamiliar on a trip that may otherwise be a return to things you already know. Guests who assumed they had tried everything describe it as the booking that was new to them.

At your address

Nuru massage in Amsterdam with warm gel, brought to hotel rooms and apartments with a walk-in shower across the city centre, from ninety minutes to three hours.

Length

Sixty minutes at 180 euros leaves little time for the rinse, so ninety at 270 is the sensible shortest length. Two hours at 360 suits a guest who wants the bathroom part to be as unhurried as the rest.

Related techniques

Body-to-Body Massage · Tantra Massage · Sensual Massage