· Naturism
People ask what the difference is, usually meaning: what am I letting myself in for. It is a reasonable question with a fairly short answer.
The massage itself is different
This is the substantive one. In a draped massage the therapist works around a towel, moving and re-tucking it to reach each area, breaking the stroke every couple of minutes to do so.
Without it, the massage runs unbroken. A single stroke can travel the whole back and down a leg. There is no pausing, no cold gap, no adjusting. It is a smoother and more continuous hour, and that is the whole argument for doing it this way.
The therapist is undressed too. That surprises people who assume it is one-directional, and it is the thing that makes the room feel level rather than clinical.
What you will not find here
No relaxation lounge with cucumber water. No robes and slippers. No package deals, no course of six, no product being recommended at the end. No waiting area with other people in it.
Some people miss all that. Most, in our experience, were only ever tolerating it.
What you will find
A place down a country lane, with its own signed parking bays. Signed parking bays on site. Private rooms. The same therapists week to week, most of whom have been here for years, and who our regulars ask for by name.
Is it awkward?
For about ninety seconds, and then not at all. That is not us being reassuring — it is what nearly everyone reports, including the ones who were most nervous on the phone.
If you would like to know exactly what happens step by step, we have written that out too.
More on this: about The Maltings.