Morning massage Amsterdam: an hour before breakfast, with a second day of sightseeing still ahead
Written for visitorsNot everyone wants the massage at the end of the day. Some visitors wake stiff after the first long walk, with a full programme still ahead, and would rather take the hour before breakfast. The house works around the clock, so the morning is as open as the evening.
The second morning of a trip is often the stiffest one. Yesterday's long walk has settled into the calves overnight, the shoulders remember the bag, and today's plan is every bit as full. A morning massage in Amsterdam, booked for seven or eight, sits between waking up and the first ticketed slot of the day. It is unhurried in a different way from an evening booking: there is a clock to keep an eye on, but the whole day still lies after it.
Booking the night before
For a morning hour, write the evening before. Give the address, the room and floor, the length and the hour you want her to knock. The reply comes the same evening, so you go to sleep knowing the morning is arranged. If this is your first booking with the house, half the fee is paid once the hour is agreed, as the deposit entry explains; a booking made more than twenty-four hours ahead carries the same deposit, so a request written two days early sends half as well.
Planning a morning massage Amsterdam around tickets
Leave a margin after the session. A booking from seven to eight, followed by a shower and breakfast, fits comfortably before a museum slot at ten. A ninety minute session is better paired with a later slot, or with a day whose first stop is a walk rather than a queue. Check when the hotel stops serving breakfast, since some clear the room at half past ten, and an hour lying down tends to slow the rest of the morning.
The room in the morning
Morning rooms need a little more thought than evening ones. Draw the curtains so the light is soft rather than bright, and keep the heating on, because a body fresh from sleep cools quickly when it lies still. Hang the do-not-disturb card on the handle; housekeeping starting early on the corridor is a common interruption. She brings the towels and the oil, as at any hour.
After the hour
Give yourself a slow start afterwards: a short walk to breakfast rather than a tram across the city, a coffee, and only then the first sight. Nothing on this site claims that an hour on the bed does anything for the day that follows. What it does give you is a quiet hour before the queues begin, and some visitors find they prefer it that way round. The guide to a sightseer's day shows how the evening version fits, if you want to compare the two.