The spa is in the bottom of the hotel, and had a very 19th century kind of feel to it. Our package began with a mineral bath in the long, claw-foot tubs. After that we went to the steam cabinets. For these first two parts, my husband and I were basically separate, which was kind of disappointing since we were doing the couple's package. But the treatments felt very nice. Our hour-long massage and facial took place in the same little room. The massage itself was fantastic, but I would describe the atmosphere as more medicinal than therapeutic. For instance, there was no kind of aromatherapy in the form of candles, incense, or scented oils. All in all it was a unique, worthwhile experience.

We live very close and go to Eureka several times a year for a weekend getaway. Eureka is such a unique place. The problem is the locals want to live there, and need tourists to be able to do that, but act as though they'd rather you not come. A good example is a bumper sticker I see regularly on a car parked outside a rental cottage "not all of us are here on vacation" Dude, don't park that outside your tourist cottage. But this is often the feeling we get from the establishments we frequent. And we frequent a lot of them. We have stayed at every historic hotel in Eureka, save one (and a friend we recommended it to had such a rude interaction w/ owner we don't feel the need) and many different cottages and b&bs. We recently went back to the Palace after five years. OMG! They had the fridge stocked, towel animals, chocolates on the bed, robes and slippers, you name it. Now this may seem basic for most hotels, but for Eureka it is amazing. I have never felt like we were actually expected or wanted in a hotel in Eureka. We enjoy the Crescent, but just try to get a corkscrew or some little extra. The bathhouse is a trip back in time and such a treat. They anticipated our needs and prepared for our arrival. Thanks Palace Hotel.
PS A few days later, we actually got a thank you note in the mail for staying there!

I went to Eureka Springs for a relaxing and healing weekend with friends. My mother had passed away unexpectedly and a wonderful friend planned this trip. The hotel was lovely and I was excited. However, my sheets had blood on them and there is no hotel staff at night. My tv didn't work because they were having problems with cable. I mentioned the sheets to housekeeping the next day and they changed them but that was after a sleepless night.. I also mentioned it to the person at the front desk that morning and he ignored me. I then had a spa visit in the hotel and had paid for an hour facial but was dismissed after 30 minutes. I paid for an hour and gave a tip prior to the facial as is required and now I know why. I tried to get the attention of the person running the spa but did not get them until 30 minutes later. I would not recommend this hotel because their staff and service was lacking. The hotel is quite expensive for this area and my complaints were ignored.

I've had a lot of professional massage and spa packages, and after a wedding, I was REALLY looking forward to this.

We chose the couples spa package.

The mineral bath was great. It went downhill from there. Instead of a sauna for the "eucalyptus steam" they use old style steam cabinets. That's fine, I can live with that. Except at 6 feet tall, and the seat on it's lowest setting, I had to contort my back in such a way to fit in, that it left me with pretty bad pain in the lumbar and thoracic spine. No big deal, I'm about to get a massage, right?

Well, it's supposed to include a mud wrap for your face and a half hour massage. I told the Massage Therapist (who said she was an instructor) that my back was wrecked from the steam cabinet and she assured me she'd fix it.

After taking several of our 30 minutes of our massage time to apply the mask, she worked on my shoulders and ignored my back. I reminded her and she worked on my mid back and took a lotta the pain away. My lumbar back is still killing me though. I'm seriously considering heading to a chiropractor in the morning.