I’m not a touchy-feely person. I prefer a little personal space even among people I know well, and even more so among strangers. So deciding to try the Texas Eight-Hand Massage at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas Spa’s was the ultimate test—of the treatment, and of myself.

For those curious, an eight-hand massage is exactly what it sounds like: It involves four therapists massaging you at one time. That’s a lot of touching. As the day of my treatment got closer, I grew tenser in anticipation.

With a friend in tow, I arrived early for my appointment to try and calm my nerves in the spa’s steam room and sauna. Located on the hotel’s second floor, the facility—which was renovated in 2022—also features a whirlpool, serene relaxation rooms with complimentary refreshments, and dressing rooms complete with showers and provided toiletries.

Like most day spas in Dallas, The Ritz offers an array of massage and facial services, but where they stand out is in their more unique “experiences.” In addition to the Texas Eight-Hand massage, you can enjoy a 170-minute Texas Transformation, which entails a mud wrap, full-body massage, and reflexology treatment; a Calm, Balance, Delight journey that involves various CBD elements and craniosacral techniques; or Dean’s Margarita Salt Glow, a Dallas-exclusive treatment (named for the namesake behind the Ritz’s flagship Fearing’s restaurant) that involves a full-body salt scrub and customized massage.

As my lead masseuse brought me to the room, I confessed that I was feeling a bit anxious. She assured me that I wasn’t alone; some clients express some nerves leading up to the experience. My personal qualms about being touched aside, I wondered how it would be possible to focus on any one feeling with so much simultaneous stimulation. When I entered the room, I was greeted by the other three practitioners who would be working on me, and I felt as awkward as ever.

But to my surprise, once the massage began, I found the experience not only tolerable, but…quite enjoyable. The four therapists worked on different parts of my body at once—each expertly massaging a different limb, for instance—but working in concert, rubbing the same way, in the same direction, at the same speed. In fact, their movements were so remarkably in sync that it somehow resulted in one collective sensation. Think of it like a massage chair, with rolling and kneading happening in various areas at the same time. My muscles and mind relaxed, and I stopped focusing on how the massage was being administered and instead on how it felt.

The massage was incredibly soothing, and while I normally prefer a deep massage, with so much stimulation, anything more intense than what I got would’ve likely been overwhelming. In the span of a standard hour, each portion of your body gets four times the work as in a normal massage with four times the practitioners. Also of note is your level of exposure during the treatment; whereas in a normal massage, your body is covered aside from the area being worked on, in an eight-hand massage, a larger percentage of your body is being tended to—and, therefore, is exposed—at any given point. Of course the massage therapists take great care to keep private areas well-covered, but it may take some getting used to for modest types.

Meanwhile, my friend tried out the just-introduced Diamond Botanical Ritual—a treatment so new that she was the first to experience it. Throughout the 80-minute treatment, she was invited to give feedback about the way each step was administered—though, she reports, she wouldn’t have changed a thing. The ritual starts with dry brushing to exfoliate the skin and stimulate the lymphatic system. It’s invigorating and also somehow relaxing, she said—like a rigorous backscratch. Then a blend of dry Dead Sea salt crystals, ground rice, and grapeseed are rubbed into the skin to reduce water retention and the appearance of cellulite. (Her therapist, Darryl, said the effects are heightened with regular treatments.) Finally, she was treated to a head-to-toe massage, which she said was one of the best she’d ever had.

Back in the lounge, we grabbed a snack and a glass of water before getting dressed. When it was time to go, we exited the spa—leaving under the beautiful iron trellis detail in the spa’s lobby—feeling refreshed, and in my case, surprised at just how relaxed I felt.