Wellness for couples: a spa evening for two and gifts for couples

You would love some time together, but a weekend at a spa hotel costs as much as a short holiday and the next free date is in March. Or you are looking for a present for a couple you know who already have two of everything. Either way, wellness for couples is a good idea: time together, warmth and quiet, without the laundry pile or the phone. Here is a plan for a spa evening for two at home, gifts for couples and an honest look at when a spa weekend is worth it.

Wellness for couples at home: the spa evening for two

For an evening on your own, we have a guide in Home spa: your wellness evening at home. As a pair, a few things change: you need to agree, take turns, and the bathroom is usually too small for two. Here is how to make it work anyway.

Agree on it beforehand

It sounds unromantic, but it helps. Pick an evening when neither of you has to “just quickly sort something”. If you have children, organise grandparents or a babysitter, or wait until they are in bed. Both phones go into a drawer together. Whoever checks first does tomorrow's washing-up.

Turn the bathroom into a spa

Clear everything off the shelves that does not belong to the evening: toothbrush mugs, razors, half-empty bottles. Candles or a lamp with warm light on, heating up half an hour beforehand, two towels and two dressing gowns over the radiator.

Take turns instead of squeezing in

Two adults fit into most bathtubs only in theory. Better: one of you has a long bath or shower while the other prepares something, tea, fruit, the sofa with blankets. Then you swap.

Do something for each other

This is the part you do not get alone. A scrub made of sugar and a little oil for the other's back, a hand massage with cream, washing each other's hair.

Gifts for couples that both will enjoy

The tricky part of gifts for couples is that both people have to like them. What works best are things you experience or use together.

• A voucher for time together: a cooking class, a wine tasting, a dance lesson, a day at the spa.
• A babysitting voucher for couples with children. Possibly the most underrated gift of all.
• Two good dressing gowns or two large sauna towels.
• Something for the shared bathroom: two soaps with different scents and two holders in two colours, so each has their own.

As Christmas gifts for couples, small wellness sets are especially popular, because they include both people and do not just sit around.

A soap each: two Soapis on the wall

A small everyday problem for many couples: one likes lavender, the other something fresh, and the shower shelf ends up with four bottles and two soaps sitting in a puddle. With Soapi, every bar hangs on the wall. A bottle cap is pressed halfway into the solid soap, the soap hangs from the magnet and dries all round. Soapi sticks to smooth tiles or glass with a waterproof adhesive pad, no drilling, and costs €12.95. With 10 colours, each of you gets your own, say petrol and peach, or black and cream white. If you want three straight away, go for a Soapi Trio for €24.99: two for the shower, one for the basin.

A wellness gift set for couples with Mix & Match

With Mix & Match you pick 5 products, pay €50 and shipping within Germany is free. Two ideas for two:

• Spa evening set: 2 Soapis in lavender and petrol, a lavender soap from Marseille, a KLAR shower bar and a Skargard shampoo bar.
• For a shared home: 2 Soapis, a magnetic key holder for the hallway and two soaps, for example from Blaull and Grete Manufaktur.

Add a handwritten voucher for a spa evening where you prepare everything, and the gift is complete. For ideas on wrapping soap nicely, see How to give solid soap as a gift.

A spa weekend for two: when it is worth it

A weekend at a spa hotel is different from an evening at home: no cooking, no tidying, no household staring back at you. It is mainly worth it if you find it hard to switch off at home or have something to celebrate. A few tips:

• Book midweek or outside school holidays, when it is often quieter and cheaper.
• Check what is on offer: is there a sauna, a quiet room, treatments for two?
• A day at a thermal spa is the budget alternative: sauna, pools, a quiet room, and you are back home in the evening. How a sauna session works is explained in How to use a sauna properly.

Frequently asked questions

What can couples do for wellness at home?

A spa evening: warm up the bathroom, dim the lights, take turns in the bath or shower, give each other a scrub or a hand massage, then tea and a blanket.

What do you give a couple who have everything?

Time together: a voucher for a class, a day at a thermal spa or an evening with a babysitter. Or something that gets used up, like two lovely soaps, so it does not end up in a cupboard.

Can you stick two Soapis next to each other?

Yes, each Soapi has its own adhesive pad. Leave a little space so the soaps do not touch. Please do not stick them on painted or wallpapered walls.

In short

Wellness for couples does not need a hotel: a free evening, a warm bath, some time for each other and two soaps that hang dry on the wall. Put together your set for two with Mix & Match.