One December evening, I went to Revivir Spa, a quaint little massage place tucked in one of the narrow alleys perpendicular to Tomas Morato in Quezon City. I was there once before, I even wrote about it here although did not mention it was in Revivir. (That Star Masseur has since moved on from that place; last I heard, he’s busy managing his barbecue joint somewhere in the cool hillsides of Antipolo.) That December night, I had an agenda, which was to try out Revivir’s Body Scrub + Massage package. Priced at Php 1,000 the package was pretty tempting. I thought to myself, 2 hours of pampering at Php1k? Not bad. Besides, who knows what pleasurable extras I would enjoy within those 2 hours. Hahaha! Well, how did I find my visit? Read on and find out.
Location
First I like the owner’s choice of the location. Revivir is along a quiet road in a busy Quezon City district. Meaning, it enjoys the best of both worlds — easy to get to, yet discreet and quiet enough to be a short microvacation hideaway. It is in a residential cluster of apartments, with a lighted signature signage that simply says Revivir. Pretty, actually.
For the Urban Gay Man
Just before you enter, you will see evidences that the owner has indeed put some thought in assembling this place for its niche market: the urban gay man. Decent landscaping of the greens right in front, quite a welcoming sight considering other massage places catering to the same market usually have a wishy-washy dubious thing about them. Revivir stands out in that regard. It’s clean and homey.
Alain
Alain, the manager of the place is himself like a neigborhood barkada/friend in the way he treats guests. He is a former masseur (although he still does it pa rin daw, as a sideline to being the spa’s manager) and you can see that in his physique — guwapo, matikas, and extremely pleasant short of being saccharine. When I arrived he wanted to show me the masseurs in his stable so I can take a pick — but I had a previous arrangement. I told Al, Revivir’s owner, to give me his best masseur. And so he did. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Greg, a simple but goodlooking enough masseur, picked among the stable to take care of the royalty of the moment, me.
Starting the Scrub Experience
Starting off, Greg asked me to take a quick shower. “Sir, para mag-open ang pores ninyo before ko kayo i-scrub.” I was confused with what he said, but was nevertheless obedient. I showered alone, although I must admit I would have enjoyed (and prolonged) the shower more if Greg was there with me inside the stall. Hahaha!
After the shower, I proceeded to Room #2, a spacious room with floor-level bed and a kawayan throne. Cool. Greg scrubbed me with a watermelon-smelling concoction all over my body. He was very meticulous and made sure every square inch of my skin has been scrubbed. Literally every square inch. *wink* After about 40 minutes we proceeded to the bathroom (yes, this time he accompanied me — weee!) where he helped me wash the scrub material off my body. He did it in the buff (double weee!). While doing it, he was proudly telling me about a massage technique he would try on me, “sir, gawin ko sa inyo mamaya yung ‘body massage’ masarap yun!” I was again confused (ain’t it really part of the package? But with the way he said it, I kind of surmised he was referring to a special massage technique — and boy was I right!)
He toweled me off like a disappointed baby (I thought he would go naughty on me while in the shower), but he snickered and I kind of imagined he would do that in Room #2 after my ‘body massage’. Thanks to EQ I was able to wait and did not gobble him up there and then.
The Massage
We went back to Room #2, where he did a dry massage on me. The massage was good, not noteworthy, but nevertheless good. He knew some good pressure points, although as points of improvement he probably should have more confidence in pressing some points harder than others. Per my experience very few masseurs has this skill (I’ve only found 2 so far).
Greg’s ‘body massage’ consisted of using his body to massage mine. I was lying face down, and he on top of me, on my back — just oil/lotion between our skin. It was very sensual, I being naked, and he… yes, he was too. Whew! (Just writing this down makes the room uber-hot. Hehehe!). I probably should not detail what happened after that, and let me just say Greg was very generous, and was willing to give what would translate to total customer satisfaction *wink*
One other notable thing about Greg is his attentiveness to me, his client. I guess it’s one of Revivir’s strengths — they train their masseurs well in this area.
Recommendation
Finally, do I recommend Revivir? Based on my experience, yes, very much so. The management has put together a place that respects the discriminating taste of urban gay men. As far as the service quality goes, Revivir should continue with encouraging their masseurs to ensure customer satisfaction. I know that some clients may go overboard in terms of expectations so it would be a challenge for them to satisfy all. And this is the part where I would put my disclaimer — all disappointments really come from failed expectations. So do a reality on your expectations, friends/future Revivir clients. (Fortunately I’m not one of those divas who feel mega-entitled, so it was easy to please me.) So if you’re like me and have very moderate expectations as regards ’service’, I would say give Revivir a try. You might just come out as one happy and loyal customer, just like me.
Final Note on Service Consistency
P.S. I believe the consistency of service quality can never be 100% controlled by Revivir — or any spa for that matter. In this industry, I would say 80% of the customer experience is under the individual masseur’s control… so even if I was totally satisfied with Greg one day, if I come back on another and say, get another masseur, I will not expect to have the same experience. Just a little word of caution.
For More Info
From Revivir’s site:
Revivir Spa
RELAX. REVIVE WITH US!
109 Scout De Guia Street, Quezon City
(Near Tomas Morato)
Landline 410-5249
Mobile
0917-858-5295 (AL)
0919-660-7575 (GERRI)
Landmarks: Jollibee, Aruba Bar, Cheesecake, etc. — all at the intersection of Tomas Morato and Scout De Guia
We have ample parking space and 24-hour security guard.
RATES
First visit is PhP 500 for one-hour full body massage. Future visits are discounted by Php100.
We do home or hotel service …. PhP 700 + actual transportation expense.
HOURS
We are open from 5pm to 2am daily. We have stay-ins who cater to guests arriving outside these hours.
We also take appointments.
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