Jacobs pours citrus massage oil straight into the bath to soften skin - wearing her hair piled on top of her head - and a mud mask on her face. The heat coming from the bath helps the mask get deeper into the skin, she says.
Kinnaird, meanwhile, also multitasks in the bath, putting a deep conditioner on her hair, showering to rinse her hair after the soak.
Jacobs also encourages a post-bath cool rinse because while it's good for skin to detox in warm water you will want to close the pores afterward and cool water will do that. And, she says, you must lather in moisturizer after you've gently toweled off. The skin will respond best to the moisturizer if it's still damp.
At W Hotels, the towels are made of combed cotton, which treats the cotton fibres to make them plush before they are spun into yarn. Hotel and spa towels tend to have a higher gram-per-square-meter count - or weight - than most people buy at home and that's why they feel so cozy. W's, for example, have a GSM count of 700.
As for the robe, again the difference is the plushness. The Four Seasons Resort Whistler in British Columbia uses a 100 per cent velour terry-cloth robe, which is both soft and absorbent for coming out of the bath, in its rooms, while its spa uses Kashwere robes made of a machine-washable synthetic that mimics cashmere.
Jacobs thinks people associate better baths with hotels for two reasons: If you're on vacation, you'll have more time to enjoy, and if you're in a hotel, someone helps along the process, whether it's providing products at your fingertips or even just cleaning the tub.
"At a five-star hotel, they'll offer to draw the bath, they will even put rose petals in it," she said.
Kinnaird, though, thinks the rest of the world should take a bathing lesson from the Japanese - don't bathe in the tub. The actual cleaning of the body is often done with exfoliating washcloths while sitting on a little stool and using a hand-held shower. The bath is strictly for "chill-out time."
"The Japanese view a bath as totally therapeutic. It's not about cleansing the body but it's about soothing the soul," she says.
