Remember when I said that as a professional house sitter, sometimes you can be homeless? It’s true, so you need to have a plan. During our cross-Canada road trip we were able to break things up with not one, but two house sits in Saskatoon. But between those two sits were two nights of potential homelessness. Lucky for us our plan was to work with a specific hotel, and the feelings were mutual! Little did we know this place also has one of, if not the best kept secret in Saskatoon!

As our readers know, we like to do unique things and stay at unique places. So we did some research on unique places to stay in Saskatoon and the number one answer was the Delta Bessborough, aka; “The Bez/Bess”.  And having stayed here, we now we have something in common with Canada’s Prime Minister…other than just good looks and the occasional inadvertent elbowing of someone (I accidentally elbowed Tom Anselmi, former President of Maple Leaf Sports, in the back of the head while serving another table).

Now, we’ve stayed at a few former “Railway” hotels over our travels across Canada at one point or another. And we’ve visited several more whilst enjoying life. Having seen several of these hotels before it’s nice to have a baseline for comparison. But here’s the deal – there really isn’t a comparison.

Most of these types of hotels are large, sprawling stone structures that are the focal point of a skyline, and The Bez is no exception. It’s a castle on the river that can’t be missed! Our room was comfortable, clean, and the decor was perfect. And speaking of rooms, the view from our room alone was just outstanding and enough to set The Bez apart from many other similar hotels across the country. Boasting a downtown waterfront location that can’t be beat, this landmark hotel is within walking distance to, well, everything!

Good morning #Saskatoon! Beautiful sunrise @deltabess #wearethebess

A photo posted by Shelly and Al (@sellallyourstuff) on May 6, 2016 at 6:05am PDT

And as is common with many older structures, there are stories of ghosts, paranormal activity, and the like. The Bez offers their own tale of a fedora wearing ghost-dude who wanders around the place. In fact, I think Shelly may have even spotted him. So naturally, being an avid watcher of movies (especially from the 80’s) what did she decide to do?

Campfire stories, folk-lore, and potential “Stay Puft Marshmallow Man” references aside, here’s The Bez’t thing we discovered about the Delta Bessborough (see what I did there, clever, right?). And this blog post took a twist after we discovered it too. Many people who’ve stayed at The Bez probably don’t even know this little gem exists because it’s kind of a secret discovery, but not really a big secret, you just have to know what you’re doing. But I’m here to help though, so without further adieu…here it is…

The Bez’t Kept Secret in Saskatoon is at the Delta Bessborough!

Here it is: The Bez has a secret water therapy wellness circuit. Hehe, I bet most of the staff don’t even know it, let alone the numerous guests who’ve roamed the halls and Prime Ministers who’ve frolicked in the rooms!

Okay, here’s how things played out. We did the river walk along Saskatoon’s amazing riverfront path which spans several kilometres. It’s one of the many free and awesome things you can do in Toon Town. You can walk, run, bike, Rollerblade, or take a canoe, kayak, or SUP out on the river and watch all the people walking, running, cycling, Rollerblading, etc.

Anyway, when we returned to our hotel our dogs were barking…LOUDLY! Like Cujo loud. So, naturally, we hit the hotel hot tub. The temperature was perfect – hot – but not scalding. The sign says the temp is maintained around 103 Fahrenheit. The jets were powerful enough to get a good massage too, although they could use some upper back/shoulder jets to take it to the next level. After 10 minutes it was time to cool off, which meant…

COLD PLUNGE!

We went into the pool, and after 10 minutes in a hot tub, a cool-water plunge is a slight temperature shock to the system – but that’s the point. And you don’t stay in the cool water long, you just need a quick dunk to cool off, because you follow the cold plunge with more heat. Next up – the steam room.

Having known we were making our own wellness circuit we preheated the steam room so it was an ideal temperature when we entered. Breathing in the steamed moisture and just relaxing was another dose of awesomeness. And again, only 10 minutes was needed, so after that, guess what time it was…

COLD PLUNGE!

Another dunk in the cool pool and then it was back to the hot tub for 10 more minutes. But we didn’t even need all 10, just 7-8 minutes this time. Then…

COLD PLUNGE!

And after that plunge it was time for the dry-heat of the sauna. I think Shelly almost fell asleep in there too. There was ample room to lay down on a bench – a necessity for any good sauna. After 10 minutes of the warm, dry sauna, guess what time it was…

COLD PLUNGE!

That plunge followed with a few more minutes in the hot tub, about 6-7 minutes to be almost exact but not really exact, and then it was time for one last plunge for a final cool down.

After this 40 minute circuit we relaxed in the loungers overlooking the pool and river. The funny thing about this whole experience was that there were kids playing in the pool from the time we got in the dry sauna. So that whole time we were able to maneuver around the half dozen little dudes; moreover, we were able to almost completely tune them out (although they were pretty well behaved kids).

Fully relaxed, we went back to our room to clean up for dinner out in downtown Toon Town.

Now, had we not done this circuit we’d likely have had sore feet in the morning from the previous day’s long walk. But thanks to this little bit of water therapy we awoke ready to take on the world with happy feet!

A special thanks to the Delta Bessborough for hosting us, and as a return gift we’ve created an info-graphic on how to enjoy a water therapy wellness circuit (below).

If you follow us regularly you know we’re big on wellness, be it a massage, yoga, or water-therapy, to name a few things. And this hidden little gem was an added bonus of staying at The Bez…but that’s not even the most unique thing about The Bez, or even the reason we contacted them to collaborate. That, my friends, will be detailed in our next post about what awesomeness The Bez provides the good people of Toon Town!

Now go sell all your stuff and Relax!