Frog's Hot Tubs

10 School Street Plaza, Fairfax

45FROGS (457-647); frogshottubs.com

What do they offer? 

The iconic Frog's Hot Tubs is the ultimate experience in relaxation. They offer a wide variety of therapeutic massage techniques such as Swedish, Esalen, Deep Tissue, Shiatsu, Acupressure, Lomi Lomi, Polarity, Trager, Sports, Neuromuscular, Cranio-sacral and Thai. All of the massage therapists are licensed, highly-trained and experienced.

In addition, Frog's offers a community hot tub, two private hot tubs, and a refreshing cold plunge.

Frog's Hot Tubs also has one of the bay area's hottest saunas, a women's sauna, and a clothing-optional sun deck ,which many clients also love for star gazing at night. 

Half an hour of public facilities use prior to the massage is included in the price. And there is plenty of free parking in School Street Plaza. 

How long have they been here? 

Frog's Hot Tubs is a family business, owned and run by the Hales for nineteen years. Before Frog's at the same site was a business called Relax, which opened in 1978 and had quite a colorful past. Prior to that, the space was a school.

The Hales decided to rename it Frog's, but kept the same funky and bohemian vibe and included peacock feathers, ferns, with lots of dark wood. Of course, the fun and quirky frog theme abounds and frogs painted on walls peek around corners, over fountains, and generally act as friendly mascots adding to the charm and warmth of the place.

Who are they? 

Several generations of the Hale family – mother, daughter and son - have lived off and on in Marin County since 1974. Currently, they all reside in West Marin.

Prior to Frog's, the owner had been a home health nurse for many years, working at Ross Hospital and Marin General Hospital. 

Why are they business of the week?

Frog's Hot Tubs is a wonderfully cozy place to go for a massage on a rainy night as well as a summer's day (especially if the idea of a clothing optional deck appeals to you). 

It has a 1970s hippie vibe with ferns, birds in a large cage, fountains, dark wood, and a laid-back casual atmosphere. Frog's is completely different than the sterile spa experience many other places offer. Not to say that one is better than the other, this one is a throwback to the seventies and you should know that before you try it. 

Each of the massage rooms has been charmingly and cheerfully hand-painted with foliage, branches, and birds. And of course there are frogs. Each has a ceiling fan and windows to the outdoors. Windows have blinds should the customer prefer darkness, but no one can see inside the massage rooms. The doors are louvered but they lock.

The private hot tubs have four walls but no roof, and are open to the sky so only the birds can see in.  

Several pink flamingos (brought back from Mexico) decorate the women's dressing room area, and there is a serene unsigned painting above the couch in the front lobby area, which many people think could be a Canadian Lake surrounded by tall cliffs.  

Every month Frog's donates to all the local schools, silent auctions and raffles. Currently they are working with The Light House. 

Warning: between the hot tubs and changing areas, you will most likely see folks, mostly men, walking around with only towels wrapped around them. Or, often sans towel, especially if you are in the communal area of sauna, hot tub, or sun deck. Nobody seems to notice much or care.   

The several dozen massage therapists at Frog's are part-time or on call. Many work elsewhere or have their own businesses. One therapist has been there for 17 years. Because they specialize in many different techniques, often the receptionist is able to match the therapist appropriate to whatever problem the client describes when he/she makes an appointment. And, of course, regular clients come weekly, or more often, for massage by their favorite therapists.

There are seven massage rooms. The price is $20 to come in and $1 a minute for massage. They suggest a half hour hot tub before massage to relax the muscles  so that the client receives the maximum effect of the therapist's efforts.   

Frog's has many stories. Here are a few I was told about:

In the beginning, when Marin stayed up later, they offered massage until 2 a.m., and had a regular clientele of people who worked late nights in restaurants, hospitals, etc. A pizza delivery man often came in at the end of his shift to trade pizzas for a massage.

Once, while he was there for his 11:30 p.m. appointment, the owner was in the front reception area playing scrabble. Before she left at 2 a.m., as always, she checked the locker rooms to be sure every key was accounted for. What she didn't realize was that the pizza man had changed his clothes in the massage room, not the men's locker room, so she didn't know he was still in the building. The massage was so great that he had fallen asleep on the table, and was there all night, which the owner discovered when she returned at 8 a.m. the next morning.  He was so relaxed he didn't know he had spent the night there either, he slept through until morning. Needless to say, both parties were more than a little surprised. 

Another time, after the Health Department had decided that public hot tubs could no longer be wood, they had new ones made and painted in dark blue with swimming pool paint. The owners and staff were all delighted with the way they looked until the clients came out wearing only their towels, and had, literally, turned blue. The paint had not dried as thoroughly as it was supposed to. Of course, the clients were given a refund and a fun story to tell.

Frog's has even had a movie debut.  There was a spoof on spook James Bond and one of the private hot tubs was used in a scene. 

Oh, and the peacock feathers, by the way, came from the family ranch. The tail feathers fall out naturally.

Frog's Hot Tubs is open from 10 a.m. until midnight, seven days a week, and they take walk-ins without an appointment. 

If one of your New Year's Eve resolutions is to take better care of yourself, or be less stressed, I suggest you give Frog's Hot Tubs a try if you are not already a regular.  I can tell you for a fact that being there is an ahhh-some experience.