 After drooling at this place for 2 years, we decided to brave the expense and go to start off the Easter week holiday. We spent two nights in this wellness centre (that's the term in Switzerland for anything related to baths and spa) with the intention of soaking the stress away.
I discovered the bath while looking for architectural places of interest for my visiting friends. I was immediately seduced by the minimalistic design. However, the rooms are quite expensive: the cheapest is CHF 107 per person although it includes warm breakfast (meaning boiled eggs besides the usual cereal, yoghurt, bread, cold-cuts, and cheese) and unlimited access to the wellness centre.
You can read all about this place, its famous architect, Peter Zumthor, and the village Vals by googling 'therme' and 'vals' so I won't bore you with facts.
After braving a 4 hour train and bus ride, the last leg being a particularly nauseating trip on the Post Bus through winding roads, we arrived at Vals, a very deserted little town. Upon disembarking, someone quickly snatched our bags. He was apparently the chauffeur who ferried guests up the hill to the hotel's reception. We were the only guests so it was rather awkward riding in a large van. After a few seconds, we arrived at the reception. Contrary to the deserted bus stop, the hotel reception was a total chaos! Lots of people were checking in and out with some more lounging around the hotel bar.
The lobby hotel unimpressive: the main tones were blue and red (yes, like the American flag), the area poorly lit, and furnitures rather tired. We were told that our room would be ready only at about 3 PM (we arrived at 12) but we could immediately visit the therme. A little round token like a face of a watch strapped to a plastic band were given as our pass to the therme throughout our stay. We decided to trek the village and find lunch.
Lunch was nondescript in a sad, empty restaurant in the village centre which consists of a fountain and a church. But we discovered a great way to put eggs into pasta: I imagine it to be pasta carbonara because there were bits of hams and eggs in it but the eggs were very generous and set the whole dish was egg-fragrant.
After lunch, we were told that our room was ready. We took our luggage to our twin, non-designer room which is arranged to mimic a ship cabin. The whole building does resemble a section of a cruise ship, a brainchild of a marine architect. That fact tickled us silly: who would've thought of bringing a little maritime romance to the mountain? And arranged the rooms to resemble a ship with its numerous little and compact storage? No wonder the hotel went bankrupt and had to be rescued by the village. Anyway, room was in an immaculate condition although the TV was a relic from the original hotel (established in the 1960s and went bankrupt in the 1980s) and there were some locked cabinets belonging to the owner of the room. Yes, the rooms are supposedly part of a time-sharing scheme.
We fished out our bathing suits and went to the bath which, in contrast to the room, lives up to its hype of being truly timeless, minimalistic and beautiful. The architect hopes to recreate a bathing experience inside a mountain with stone and glass. From the rather dingy reception where we receive our towels, we passed through a darkened tunnel to emerge to a long corridor consisting changing rooms and lockers. There are separate lockers for men, women, and families. From the changing rooms, guests trickle out to the other side of the room into the bathing area. Rinsing in the showers near the staircase is mandatory.
 Further down the corridor, still on the upper floor, there were two turkish baths: one is for those who wish to steam naked. Each room is further divided into three areas separated by plastic flaps: the inner-most room is the steamiest and the fullest. During our visits, we managed only to secure places in the middle room. Guests sit comunally on smooth granite blocks and sweat from the steam. We didn't peek into the naked-only bath.
We went to try the outdoor pool first as it has always been my obsession to soak in warm water while breathing in the fresh mountain air and staring at snow-covered hills. We desperately looked for the door that leads us outside because we were cold from the rinsing shower. When we found it, we were greeted by the skin-puckering cold air so we jumped immediately into the pool. Stupid us. Once in the water, we realized that there was a narrow transitional pool which eases the change from the warm inside to the chilling outside.  We soaked in blissful warmth and had our feet massaged by the powerful, submerged jets of water. This experience of contradiction was as good as I imagined it to be. From time to time, we dipped our heads into the water to warm them. When the spouts are free, we swam over to have our shoulders and backs massaged by this vigorous jets of water spurting out of brass pipes. This went on for sometime before our heads freezed from the cold. This time round, we went inside through the water tunnel. Once inside the full grandness of the place became apparent to us: the materials were valser quartzite, locally mined and cut into narrow one-metre strips for the walls, polished for the benches, unhewn in large pieces for the floor, brass for the metal works such as water pipes and towel racks, and glass for the ceilings. Dots of low-hanging, deep yellow halogen lights were placed in strategic places to compliment the natural lightings.
 Next was the fire pool, a small room painted red with narrow ledge in the water for people to sit inside a 42 degrees Celsius water. It was soothing to be in such warmth after the cold but soon, the heat became uncomfortable. We fidget and twitched: time to cool off in the ice bath, an even smaller (and always empty) pool cooled to 14 degrees Celsius.
 Dipping the first few toes into the seemingly freezing water was painful. The trick is to be quick: scurry fast into the water and dip the body up to the neck in the freezing water. Take a gulp of air as you emerge and quickly dip yourself again. The second time around, the cold water actually felt pleasant. I walked back to the fire room feeling as if my whole body was pricked by ice needles in every pores. I quickly soaked myself into the hot water and felt an enjoyable burning sensation on the skin surface. That was to be repeated a few times until I was sufficiently invigorated and relaxed at the same time.
 We went around and discovered a few cool features: the harmony room is a tall narrow grotto reached after through a labyrinth, lit as if it were a cave of the jutting tones. The water drips echoed in that room and the air was stale and stuffy. We didn't stay long. Another is called the flower room where pleasantly-heated water is perfumed with flower petals and fragrance. It was nice and soothing but rather boring so we went out again. We discovered a slim waterfall of potable water around a brass ring with brass goblets. The water tasted horrible, I guess, from the natural minerals, particularly iron, dissolved in it. There were also several pockets of what they call the break rooms where people can rest their weary bodies, read, or sleep on the loungers.
 The most boring feature is perhaps the indoor pool as it is simply a large pool in the middle of the building. This pool, however, afforded an excellent view all round. Every scenery in this place is carefully thought of: a window in front of the resting area facing the mountain, a smaller panel with branches plastered all over the glass like a painting, a glass door with view toward the steaming outdoor pool, etc. 
We went back to the bath after dinner. It was Sunday and the bath was open for a quiet, mid-night session for hotel guests only. There was really no talking or noise allowed in order to enjoy the full bathing ritual. Soaking away outdoor in the enveloping darkness and refreshing cold is an experience I'd love to repeat one day.
For dinners, we went to La Cucina down the hill, across the street from our hotel. It served excellent pastas and pizzas and another place of interest in this ghostly town. On our last night, we tried their hot-stone meal which consisted of mushroom and parmesan risotto topped with steamed vegetables and three-types of seared meat all kept warm in a round pot made of, what else, valser quartzite. The dish was deliciously and warmly homey.
My husband really likes it there: he loves the bodily pampering as well as eye-head coordination exercises (ie. ogling at the uniformly slim Swiss misses). I don't mind the bath, my favourite being the outdoor, fire, and ice pools, and I really enjoy the massive yet light structure and all its thoughtful touches. However, the place is really far from where we live. While I came prepared for rest and relaxation, arming myself with books and conditioning the mind for a lot of sleeping, the place comes across as a little depressing. Scenery-wise, the village and its environ is far from the cheery and gentle Adelboden. There is an outing to the nearby man-made dam (Zervreila) and narrow strips of ski slopes in the area. A visit to the Valser mineral water facility is also possible if you're really pressed for entertainment. But people do go there solely for the spa.
Another multi-million francs facility has been commissioned to be built by the famed Basel architects, Herzog and de Meuron, in a nearby village. I probably visit this architectural landmark for my future baths instead.
Therme Vals
7132 Vals
Tel +41 (0)81 926 80 80
Fax +41 (0)81 926 80 00
None of the photographs is mine as photographing is not allowed inside the spa. They are taken from various sources.
 | elisa3da wrote on Mar 22, edited on Mar 22 Pas baca judul postingnya ... waowww ... Peter Zumthor yang langsung lewat di pikiran gua :)
The minimalist guru, hihihi :)
Kado yang bagus menjelang ulang tahun ya Ven :)
Seru juga baca pengalaman nya, berubah2 nyemplung ke air yang bermacam temperatur dan lokasi.
Yang paling keren kayaknya yang mandi malam2 gelap gulita itu ya ?
Ditunggu kunjungan ke HdM bath nya kalau dah jadi :) |
 | vinke wrote on Mar 22, edited on Mar 22 wellness and wealthy iniii.. sekaligus melangutkan jiwa :) |
 | yikk wrote on Mar 22, edited on Mar 22  While I came prepared for rest and relaxation, arming myself with books and conditioning the mind for a lot of sleeping, the place comes across as a little depressing.  Ah, you had such an adventurously relaxing time! Jadi, malah nggak sempat baca2 & tidur2an yg banyak gitu? Too depressing atau keasikan exploring? :) |
| minimalist guru, karena beliau benar2 purist+minimal ..
hmm, karyanya mungkin banyak, tapi yang terkenal sih gak gitu banyak (atau yang gua tau), contohnya selain thermal bath: art gallery di Austria (lupa namanya, soale nama Jerman), Swiss pavilion pas expo Hannover, ama museum di Koln (kalau gak salah).
Di Cirebon pun ada bbrp 'thermal bath' semacam itu dan menggunakan air mengandung belerang dari gunung. Dan okeee banget kalau berendam malam-malam :) sambil dingin2 di 'puncak'nya Cirebon ...
Wah yang Cirebon aja buat gua udah oke banget, apalagi yang Zumthor :) benar2 ngiler. |
 | Hi Ven...
suasana spanya rada 'dingin' yah?
mungkin krn minimalis murni.
oya...tanggung gak stay mpe ngerayain Geburtstag? Alles Gute zum Geburtstag dulu skalian ya Ven...
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 | Iya loh .. menurut gue rada " dingin " .. terlalu minimalis mungkin yaa .. atau mungkin gue yang gak " minimalis " hehehehehe ...
Good that you guys enjoyed it .. :) |
| Mungkin kalau difoto terlihat dingin :) karena terkesan monoton dan tidak terasa tekstur, cahaya dan perubahan suhu.
walaupun minimalis, tapi kalau tekstur penggunaan bahan diperhatikan lebih jauh, justru tekstur nya sangat maksimalis.
dan konon, inti dari design Therme Vals ini adalah stimuli keseluruhan indera kita ...
maap kalau terdengar sotoy (sotoy ini kosakata baru yang didapat dari mahasiswa gua, hahaha) |
| yikk wrote on Mar 23, edited on Mar 23 Ven, met ultah yaaa...! Hope you have a good one! :D PS. Maap... off topic, but I saw it on the little reminder in my inbox... :) |
 | aaah... nunggu foto2 di luarnya juga gapapa deh :))
ps ; happy belated b'day ya ven ! |
 | This is an owesome weekend spa experience...
Happy belated bday anyway! |
 | Alo Vennnnn.... gua re-join Multiply lagi demi ngebales review lo ini hehe.. kayak resurrected from the death gak seh haha.. :)) sekali lagi, omg. omg. omg. Therme Vals! Ini pas gua graduation project, gua research Therme Vals ini soalnya kan seperti yg telah di buktikan dari pengalaman lu disitu, semuanya di tujukan utk provoke the senses, dari aromatherapy (flower room) sampe panas dingin.. wah Ven.. pas gua research dulu, description dari multiple sources itu rather flat ya, tapi begitu gua baca review elu.. kayaknya Zumthor puas kalo apa yg dia pengen achieve, emang di enjoy ama spa-goers nya.. Gua serasa udah disitu (although gua pasti ke naked bath nya buat liat2 hehe, asal gak ada fraulein2 tua aja kekeke). Hotelnya rada parah ya, kayak from the bygone era.
btw, lu kan pernah blg kalo dulu pgn ambil architecture, keliatan sih, deskripsi lu itu very architectural hehe.. Wah, lu yg pergi, gua yg happy jadinya haha.. :)) |
| btw, happy belated bday ya. rayain dimana? tahun lalu kan sempet ke wine bar :)) |
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