Tigh-Na-Mara

My experience in Tigh-Na-Mara was a good one. It's in Parksville, British Columbia on the West coast of Canada. It was also my first experience at a spa.
We stayed at the Jedediah Lodge portion, which for Federal Government workers gets you half off the rate. It had a good kitchenette and a gas fireplace (plus a Murphy bed if you have kids or just need an extra bed). The Cedar Room restaurant is very good food and the local blackberry dessert wine is very tasty.
The spa itself was a unique experience. The grotto mineral pool area was tranquil and nice. I had the seaweed experience and the men's facial. I was a little apprehensive on the price but i had saved up funds in my travel budget so i was willing to go for it. I talked about it afterwards with my wife and came to the conclusion that it matters not if any of the spa treatments actually did anything beneficial to your skin or body, its an opportunity to be treated like royalty and gain an elevated sense of tranquility. The endless tapas afterwards, at the Treeetop Tapas and grill was very delicious. You can also eat in your spa bath robes. We let the server just bring us out things in the order he thought best. The octopus salad was one of my favorites.

In nearby Qualicum Beach, we ate at Giovanni's Ristorante to get some authentic Italian food (we went to Italy last year for three weeks). It was very good and very close to the real deal. I had the Pasta Puttanesca and it had me putting capers in my pasta for the next several times.

Overall a very good experience.