If you are just looking for a brief low-down on the rules at Ten Thousand Waves, scroll down to the bullets.

Here’s a link to the place I’m talking about

Several years ago I visited Ten Thousand Waves with my mom and sister. I’d been hearing about it, and wanting to visit for years, and we finally made it happen. Just recently, I went back and stayed there for three nights as part of my 50th Birthday “I will milk this birthday for all the awesomeness I can” celebration.

I have since come across people who have said that they felt it was intimidating to visit there, and that they didn’t understand “all the rules”. I’ll be honest, this surprised me. I think that comes down to thinking other people know the things we know. I’m no expert in Japanese things, but I’ve had more exposure than many people, and to be honest, this spa is a cake-walk to some Japanese environments. But if you’ve never experienced a Japanese cake-walk, it could easily seem harder than it is.

For a little background, I’ve been to an actual Japanese Ryokan in a hot spring resort mountain town known for wild blueberries. Ten Thousand Waves is modeled on this kind of place, and they do an AMAZING job.

So what is a Ryokan? Ryokan are a traditional form of Japanese hotel. In fact, the oldest hotel in the world is a Ryokan. It’s kind of a bed-and-breakfast, that serves dinner too.

These formed along a so-called highway, a trail, that connected Tokyo and Kyoto. They also popped up near hot springs, and pilgrimage sites. Anywhere people would need a place to stay. They would often be situated a day’s walk apart, and they have some interesting amenities, some of which Ten Thousand Waves has adopted.

Because people would often travel to these ryokans on foot, they’d pack light. They would set ryokan up to let you get out of your dirty clothes, bathe, and wear a nice clean robe (called a yukata). They fed you dinner when you got in, and breakfast before you continued your journey. They have all the basic amenities you’d use to get cleaned up, so you didn’t have to haul everything. I still have the toothbrush I got at the Ryokan, it’s my travel toothbrush.

Ten Thousand Waves has adopted the robe concept, for guests to the spa and overnight guests. I loved that I didn’t have to put on my regular clothing again until it was time to check out. You can wander all over the place in your robe. You can go to the restaurant, to the meditation room, wandering the beautiful grounds, and no-one thinks it’s weird.

As an overnight guest, they also give you a haori which is like a jacket that goes over your robe. I want one. I seriously need to buy myself one. If for no other reason, so I can pretend I’m always at Ten Thousand Waves. Besides looking cool, the haori makes it easy to tell who’s an overnight guest versus a spa guest. Besides warmth, the haori can be helpful because the spa opens early most mornings for overnight guests to get a head-start on soaking in their outdoor super-awesome hot tubs, before the public has access.

They also give you slip on sandals, so you have this whole “I’m not in Kansas anymore” thing going on with the whole Japanese resort vibe. 

Let’s talk about actual rules:

-don’t wear shoes into the meditation room. (never wear shoes on tatami flooring, not just here, anywhere).

-In the co-ed communal tubs, you must wear a swimsuit bottom. 

-No smoking. 

-It’s good to keep your voice down, it’s almost a library vibe.

-Be nice to everyone (Ok, I made that one up, but it’s a good rule).

Now you might feel like there are more rules because of the cultural feel of the place, but they’re really chill there. Since the rules list is so short, how about I fill in with some things you might want to know.

How to book an appointment or private soaking tub:

Call as soon as you know when you’ll be there and what you want. It’s a popular place and things book up. If you need to cancel, give them as much notice as possible, because there are significant cancellation charges, and you must talk to a human to cancel, no leaving a message or anything.

What do you need to bring?

You need a way to pay, and your car keys. Your phone will not work, and there is no WiFi at the spa. There is WiFi at the restaurant and in the accommodations, but no reliable cell signal anywhere. Which provides an excellent excuse for not answering or getting back to anyone while you’re there. If you need to set up a ride, get that scheduled before you lose your cell signal, or use their landline.

Food:

The restaurant is in demand so make reservations before you go there. It’s an American-Japanese fusion kind of menu, that changes seasonally. I’m picky and I found plenty to eat. It’s not inexpensive, but it’s a good experience. For guests staying overnight, you can get delivery from places in Santa Fe, or hop into town, it’s only ten minutes away (which is crazy, it feels like it’s much farther). Overnight guests have granola in their rooms. The gift shop has a cooler with wraps and salads. I found what we picked up there to be tasty. 

Overnight guests:

Enjoy the amenities. They’ll bring you a clean robe at some point and leave dark chocolates in your room each day. They provide a nut-based granola that is gluten-free. If you, like me, are allergic to anything like almonds, then bring something else for yourself. They sell the soaps, lotions, and all that in their gift shop if you like them. Spa services, the restaurant, and gift shop items can be charged to your room.

The Grounds:

I love the Japanese mountain vibe. Their signs are in Japanese and English, they have the Japanese styling down to the style of posts along the paths, the lanterns, and every building has cool details.They’re working on making it disabled accessible, including building a cool pagoda elevator. The overnight options do not seem accessible. This is in the mountains, there are stairs all over, and dirt roads. Gorgeous trails to get around, but not at all accessible. 

Interesting things:

They have a foot soak right off the check-in/gift shop area and it’s nice. You sit there staring at a waterfall and koi swimming in a little pond. Nearby is the meditation room (no shoes). In the area where you wait for services, they have water, tea, and I think there’s a sauna right off that room. Upstairs is where you access the main communal tub. It’s very relaxing to sit there at night, soaking, and looking up at the stars. Another favorite is soaking while it’s snowing.

Locker rooms: The locker rooms are a work in progress, but you have lockers to keep your stuff, and towels to grab before you go soak.

Soaking tubs:

There are several private tubs, which are by reservation. You don’t need to wear a swimsuit in those; you work that out with whoever you’re going there with. There is a co-ed communal tub, you must wear bottoms. There’s a women’s tub that I believe is clothing optional. Grab a towel in the locker room and make sure you’ve taken a shower and are nice and clean. After massages, you definitely want to wash off the oils before going for a soak. 

If you go there for a massage, be sure to stay to enjoy the rest of the things. Soak your feet, chill in the meditation room, use the sauna, soak in the communal tub. It’s all included. Their therapists are phenomenal, I was especially impressed with the Thai Massage. They have to prove they can do each service by working on the owner before they can work on the public sooo….pretty strict quality control.

Ok, so just a quick refresher on the actual rules: don’t smoke, wear bottoms in the co-ed tub, don’t wear shoes in the meditation room, help maintain that awesome Zen vibe, and be nice to everyone. Now you’re ready to go. Enjoy!

*typos and other errors provided for your entertainment.