For decades, Newport Beach municipal code prohibited men and women from getting massages in the same room. The code required spas to provide separate facilities for men and women.
The Newport Beach City Council voted to lift the ban in December, and allow men and women to receive massages in the same room at resort hotel spas.
The restrictions dated back to a time when massage parlors in Newport Beach offered more than just rub downs. Independent massage parlors in the city used to be hotbeds for prostitution, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Evan Sailor.
The city does not require special permits for the now-legal couples massages, Sailor said, so there are no figures for how many local resorts plan to offer the services.
The ordinance was enacted primarily because the Irvine Co.-owned Resort at Pelican Hill and a local Marriott hotel asked the city to allow the practice, he said.
“I think one of the pivotal reasons why we really took the initiative and the Irvine Co. approached the city with regards to this ordinance is to bring attention to the fact that the industry has really evolved,” Mays said.
Spas across the country have begun offering massage treatments aimed at couples with special suites, fireplaces and romantic music.
Day spas were not included in the ordinance, and only a few local resort hotels are offering couples services. A few resorts said space limitations prohibited them from offering couple’s rub downs.
“Right now, we do not have facilities that would accommodate two people — our rooms just aren’t big enough,” said George Lysak, executive director for sales and marketing for the Balboa Bay Club & Resort.
