Thai Orchid used to be a shop in Wellington. I never visited but there were reports that the manager ran a legit business, although her staff would occasionally throw a sneaky extra at risk of being fired. The shop is now closed, but the owner still offers Thai massage from her home.
Booking was about a month ago and straightforward by text. Directions sent for a private road not currently registered on my SatNav. Note the potential to get lost. The venue is on a private road near to Wrekin College. Nice estate with detached houses. Parked on her drive. One hour traditional massage £45:
External Link/Members Only(Note that the address and mobile number on this webpage are correct, but the pin on the accompanying goggle map is in the wrong place by a large margin.)
Ok, so the background did not offer much encouragement that any extras would be available, but I fancied a traditional therapeutic massage to ease a persistent muscle strain and went along with no great expectations of anything else.
On arrival, the lady directed me upstairs and asked me to fill in a form with address, medical details etc. I was caught off guard and made up a name and a few details. She then went through the form with a fine tooth comb. At this point she was not particularly welcoming or smiley, probably sensing that I was making up stuff. Interrogation over and I was on the table. Strictly underpants on, but I was not too surprised and had come expecting a good therapeutic massage which is what I got. Something that I had not experienced before was the use of a large vibrating massager on the back of my legs, my back and shoulders. Altogether not an unpleasant sensation. This was followed by application of a wooden block to various parts of my body which she then wacked with a large rubber headed mallet. To be honest this was quite alarming at first – when I say wacked it was a series of really solid blows that reverberated through my bones. The end of the massage was more gentle and relaxing and was accompanied by details of exercises that I should do at home to stretch my muscles and remain agile in my old age. The lady became much more friendly and smiley as the hour passed. It was my first visit and I suspect that she was silently questioning my motives when I arrived and who can blame her frankly.
She used a lot of tiger balm – so watch out if you are heading home to the wife without a ready explanation.
I would not go back unless I was in greater need of therapy, but I could not fault the whole experience on the basis of it being a legit therapeutic massage. I go for neutral – only because of the frosty reception.
