In order to best accommodate our wonderful guests, the Urban Spa team waited for the New Year for our annual Christmas get away. Because of this, the spa was closed from January 6th-8th and we would like to sincerely thank our guests for being so understanding of this 🙂 We worked hard to earn our get away and your support and understanding is greatly appreciated.

As part of a thank you, we brought you back some of our favourite memories! Kerri and Jean-Guy (the co-owners of The UrbanSpa) organized this trip as a surprise for the team and having the events unwind was quite an adventure. We were all divided into three teams for some friendly competition. Each one of our challenges earned points for our team. The grand prize was some extra perks through out the awesome getaway!

The first stop of any adventure is to get into costume… and our theme… zombie apocalypse. The three teams were challenged to get into the best zombie attire they could and go get as many pictures in the public as possible. The public embarrassment was worth the fun 😉

Once we finished our zombie photo shoot, we packed up our stuff and walked outside to find a SUV limo, waiting to take us to our next destination! We were all under the impression that we would be car pooling, but the limo idea was much better 😉

 

As soon as we were piled into the limo the anticipation to see where we were headed really kicked in! We all paid close  attention to the direction we were headed and the next stop… BATL Pickering! We all got some one on one training time to figure out the axe throwing strategy, but after that it was game time! Some of us found this came quickly as a talent… others not so much LOL but regardless, we all had a great time! After a long day of competition, Shea Bailey walked away the champion!

For everyone who has never been to BATL before, we strongly recommend it! The staff are amazing and you’ll have the time of your life! Check them out here.

Axe throwing pretty much exhausted the team so the ride to our next destination was a little more relaxing. We cruised up to the Marriott and got assigned to our rooms with a bit of downtime before our dinner. We went to ONoir which was a first experience for most of us. ONoir was Canada’s first Dine in the Dark restaurant in 2006 and provides an experience like no other. Dining without your sight heightens your ability to smell and taste. It takes foods that you eat regularly, like potatoes and vegetables and adds an intense culinary flare.
ONoir also gives the experience of what it would be like to eat as if you were visually impaired, just like the wait staff at the restaurant.

All of this just in the first day! Day two began at 11:30 a.m. when we met as a team to find out what events awaited us that day.

We were all so excited to hear we were headed to the Ripley’s Aquarium for a tour! Another first  experience for most of us 🙂 The aquarium is breath taking. Their mission is to provide a world class experience that fosters education, conservation and research and they nailed it. One of the most amazing parts is the overhead tunnel. It is North America’s longest underwater viewing tunnelwith more than 5.7 million liters of water. You walk through the tunnel while different fish, sharks and stingrays are swimming overhead. It is absolutely breath taking.

The final outing of our get away was a big one… numerous members of the Urban Spa team actually had this on their bucket list so you could say it was a dream come true… CIRQUE Du SOLEIL! Our team have a passion for entertainment and theater, this experience was phenomenal.  The show was “Toruk- The First Flight” inspired by James Camerons “Avatar.” It truly was a jaw dropping experience. The cast was amazingly talent and the performance captivated our undivided attention. It is an experience that nobody will ever forget.Thank you again to all of our wonderful guests who were happy to celebrate the New Year with us and for your understanding during our getaway time. I hope that you enjoy the moments that we brought back for you 🙂