Anyone who has read James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific or seen the film that was based on it, South Pacific, will know Aggie Grey. Though maybe not know her by that name. In the book and the film, she is known simply as Bloody Mary. She founded her eponymous hotel in Western Samoa’s capital, Apia, in 1933 and it became famous among the American servicemen posted to the Pacific during World War II.
After the war, the legend grew and it was visited by the many actors who came to film or simply vacation in Samoa. In the original hotel in town, the fales (houses) are named for the stars who stayed there: Dorothy Lamour, Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, William Holden, Raymond Burr, Robert Morley.
The original hotel is currently closed after particularly severe cyclone damage but its sister hotel, Aggie Grey’s Resort, a little further along the north coast of Samoa’s main island of Upolu, is still alive and well. Both were recently bought by Sheraton and they are still the biggest names in the (thankfully underdeveloped) Samoan travel industry.
The great advantage of the Resort is that, unlike Aggie’s in town, it has a long, beautiful beach, with a turquoise lagoon and behind them both a garden full of tropical rainforest trees and plants. Hidden away within these is the Manaia Polynesian Spa which is not just exactly what you need after an unconscionable flight – it is also the paradise spa of your dreams.
The treatment rooms are, of course, outdoors, the beds on raised platforms with thatched roofs and wafting curtains and surrounded with sounds of Samoa – mynah birds, the susurration of the waves in the lagoon, the occasional thud of a coconut falling to the ground. Red hibiscus flowers are scattered over the beds and there’s a scent of woodsmoke on the breeze. It’s warm and you quickly feel relaxed and, almost certainly, drowsy.
I had given some thought about the best treatment after a long flight (relaxation, please, and rehydration with a few knots ironed out) but also to the fact that my English winter skin was about to be exposed to a fierce sun and, even with my trusty 50+ sun screen, a little bit of exposure would inevitably take place.
The best plan seemed to me to be a combined body scrub and massage with an additional facial. All of this, though, was not going to be using your usual products. Here, spa products are not just local; they are pretty much as they came off the tree. Samoa is not a place that seems to need much in the way of imported scented oils and essences. Instead, it works with the incredibly diverse ingredients that are all around.
So, there was a base of coconut oil for the scrub/massage with lemon juice and a bit of grit from brown sugar thrown in. This was applied very much as a whole body massage by my therapist, Matule. The sugar was a bit scratchy at first but in the heat seemed to melt into the coconut oil that my skin, profoundly dehydrated from the plane, drank up gratefully.
Matule left this on so my thirsty skin could make the most of it while she moved on to my facial. There was a very simple cleanse, followed by an exfoliant made of coconut cream as a carrier combined with crushed coconut shell. This was removed with hot, damp towels and then a mask followed made of plain old papaya, picked that morning and mashed to a pulp.
Papaya has so many benefits for the skin. It’s a deep cleanser and its proteolytic enzymes of papain and chymopapain reduce inflammation. It’s also a moisturiser, it reduces pigmentation and wrinkles and improves dark spots. Not surprisingly, I’m more than happy to be plastered in the stuff. While this takes, Matule gives me a super-relaxing scalp massage before I go to shower everything off and discover my skin is satisfyingly smooth and nourished.
Delightful as all this is, you don’t go all the way to Samoa just for a massage (though, believe me, you really will need one by the time you get there). Western Samoa, however, is a beautiful place to visit, a little known gem of the Pacific. It has remained one of the most traditionally Polynesian of the island nations and has a rich and fascinating culture.
Aggie Grey’s is on the main island of Upolu, a true tropical paradise with dense rainforest, beautiful villages, superb diving, snorkelling and surfing (the last, for the proficient only – these can be dangerous waters) and perfect white beaches where you can stay in a beach fale – family-run traditional homes built on the sand and as close as you can get to that castaway feeling. Perhaps more surprisingly, this is also where Robert Louis Stevenson made his final home, Vailima, now a museum, which included a couple of Scottish baronial-style fireplaces to make the creator of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde feel at home though, for obvious reasons, a fire was never lit!
This is just an introduction, though, to these paradise islands. Watch this space – there will be much more coming up soon…
For more information on Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort, including details of spa packages, please visit www.marriott.com.
