Last weekend my girlfriends and I decided to treat ourselves to a “girls” day in celebration and reward for a very busy and productive year. Usually our gatherings include trips to the library, study sessions and coffee shops as we tackled graduate school classes together but this time the reason was much better – a spa day in Reno. Our destination would be poolside, consisting of rejuvenating spa treatments, celebratory beverages and of course, great company and laughs. Based on one friend’s previous experiences, we chose Spa Toscana at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino on South Virginia Street. We cleared our schedules, made a few calls to confirm appointments and packed our bags for an indulgent day in Reno.
Every spa day should be this effortless. When the day of our appointments arrived, I pulled into the conveniently located self-parking and reunited with my friends about an hour before our 11 am massage appointments. First stop, a visit to the Passport Reward’s member card registration desk where within minutes I was registered by the helpful concierge with my “local’s” passport reward’s card extending 20% discounts on all room, food, beverage, retail and spa purchases beginning immediately. So convenient and immediate, I loved it! Plus, it remedied any guilt I was feeling about the $$$ I was about to spend.
My friends and I found our way towards the resort pool and nearby Spa Toscana where we checked in for our appointments. The first thing I noticed was that the spa was bustling with visitors. It was a Sunday, but in early June, and I was surprised to see it this busy. Nevertheless, our service was extremely courteous, not rushed and on-time. After being graciously toured the spa lounge amenities, locker facilities and relaxation areas, we changed into our robes and were escorted to the upstairs private relaxation lounge where we awaited our spa therapists, sipping on flavored waters and teas.
Within minutes I was greeted by Tamara and whisked away to a treatment room for a 50-minute deep tissue massage. Tamara was delightful, intentional and very knowledgeable. After reviewing with her areas of focus and attention, she made me feel at home allowing me the ability to customize the treatment room with TV video choice, select an iPod music 
station and even the temperature of the massage table. I was already in heaven. My massage was exquisite. Tamara applied a perfect combination of deep tissue pressure techniques with smooth, longer relaxing motions that both healed and relaxed. My only disappointment was that I hadn’t booked a longer treatment! After my massage, I returned to the relaxation area where I met my girlfriends and headed to the salon for mini-pedicures and conversation. A quick pedicure later (just what I wanted), we were ready for an afternoon at the spa pool area.
Having worked up an appetite and thirst from our morning of pampering, we made our way to the nation’s only indoor/outdoor Caldarium spa area that features an indoor heated pool, cold plunge pool and heated whirlpool with outdoor patio seating and views of the resorts main pool down below. Here we happily camp for the afternoon on lounge chairs under umbrellas and began ordering lunch items, mimosas and margaritas from resort staff. One immediately feels as though they are lounging poolside in Las Vegas, a sign that my staycation in Reno was working as a getaway retreat. As temperatures heated up above and beyond the 80’s we spent our afternoon alternating between the indoor pool amenities and sun deck patio further enjoying the best of both worlds.
Without realizing it, we saved the best for last – the Ladies Ritual room. The perfect ending to our relaxing day at Spa Toscana was a visit to the Ladies’ Ritual room were we began our spa ritual journey through the eucalyptus steam room, cold plunge pool, cedar wood sauna, hot whirlpool and cascading deluge showers. While relaxing (and laughing) in the steam room amongst thick clouds of steamy mist, a friend announced “I think this is my new favorite place in Reno”, we all immediately laughed, signifying without words how we all unanimously agreed. Spa Toscana truly is our new favorite place in Reno.
I hope this blog post helped you learn a bit more about Spa Toscana and gave you ideas about where to host your next girls day in the Reno-Tahoe region or spend a birthday or couples celebration. If you have visited the Spa Toscana at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno what treatments do you recommend? What other spa locations in the region do you enjoy? Please share your feedback in the comments below.
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