A new spa off Midway Drive is offering the ultimate no-excuse shiatsu massage. It takes as little as 15 minutes. The cost starts at $15 with no need to tip. Nobody touches you or attempts to chitchat. You get to keep your clothes on. Hair and makeup remain untouched. And there’s no sticky mess from lotions. A massage at sanctuate! — yes, that’s the spelling and no, you won’t find it in the dictionary — is being touted as the “new generation of massage.” It combines techniques from the traditional shiatsu discipline based on reflexology, with “intelligent massage technology” to help men and women recharge and rebalance themselves. The spa in the Point Loma Plaza shopping center is the brainstorm of founder and CEO Karima Zaki. The former vice president of development at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront who has more than two decades of experience in the hospitality industry, Zaki conceived the idea for her spa at a trade show, where her painful sciatica had been acting up. Another exhibitor offered her a massage in a robotic chair that fully reclines and hugs the client as it kneads, vibrates, rolls, undulates and squeezes. And, in the midst of all the commotion and traffic of the trade show, an idea was born. By the time the massage was finished, the entrepreneur and single mother had the seed of a business plan in her relaxed and uncluttered brain. At the end of January, she opened her first spa, built around the Inada Sogno DreamWave recliner-bed, and aimed at stressed-out individuals who don’t otherwise take the time to pamper and rebalance themselves when needed. “I decided to open sanctuate! in response to a call for a way to find peace of mind, body and soul in a world where stress levels are high, time is in short supply and the number of demands placed on individuals at work and in the home are increasing rapidly,” Zaki said. She believes sanctuate! will redefine the traditional massage studio with the use of the cushy, leather Inada recliner-bed. Actually, she has four of them in the 1,000-square-foot space once occupied by Help-U-Sell. Zaki gutted the place and rebuilt it with three private therapy rooms with domed ceilings to enhance the feeling of being “enveloped in someone’s arms.” Decorated in pale turquoise, gray and white, the spa is inviting for men as well as women of all ages, she said. She’s already played hostess to a 22-year-old and an 86-year-old and everyone in between. Zaki said half of her clients are men, many of whom “are not the massage type of dude.” The $9,000 Inada recliner-beds, she points out, are a huge step up from the $3,000 massage recliners sold at the mall. “Think Volkswagen … and then Ferrari,” Zaki said, trying to put it in perspective. The Inada recliner-bed sports 30 motors, eight rollers and 101 airbags that envelop and pamper from head to foot and from back to hands. The massage starts with an infrared scan that finds an individual’s pressure points to customize every massage. Although anyone can buy the recliner-bed for the home, “There are so many distractions at home,” Zaki said. At the spa, clients get a private room — there’s also one with two recliner-beds for couples —”for alone time we all crave.” Zaki said she is optimistic about her massage-spa concept as interest has been increasing with word-of-mouth recommendations. She figures there are 315,000 people living within five miles of the place “and I need less than 5 percent of them to make this a booming business.” Zaki indulges herself in a robotic massage about every other day. Not only is the therapy relaxing but it’s helped her chronic sciatica, she said. She recommends short, frequent massages, rather than infrequent, longer ones. “A 15-minute massage once a week is good,” she said. “The sweet spot is 30 minutes once a week.” Caring for your body with regular massages, she said, isn’t much different from going to the gym. “You can’t go once a month and stay fit and healthy.” The massage recliner-bed offers eight programs, which can be combined. Among the choices: a 15-minute full body; a full-body air, which Zaki said is great for pregnant women; a DreamWave, the signature massage for relaxation; an eight-minute Stretch, with special attention to the back and torso; the Morning, to kickstart the day, and Night, to wind down. A sanctuate! massage just “feels expensive,” Zaki said. A 15-minute session is $15; 30 minutes for $20 and 45 minutes for $30. The addition of Stretch is $5. A combination of two treatments plus Stretch, for example, is $25. A $75 monthly membership with no contract necessary consists of five, 30-minute sessions. There also are weekly specials, including a two-fer, Tuesdays through Fridays from 9 to 11 a.m. “Our massages are time-efficient,” Zaki said, explaining that 38 minutes at sanctuate! is equivalent to 90 minutes of traditional massage. “A masseuse can’t be so many places at once.” A massage at the spa is “full immersion,” targeting all the senses to fully relax patrons and quiet the chatter in their heads, according to Zaki. In addition to the feel-good massage, there’s the “unisex” scent of white tea fig, relaxing music on headphones, restful images on a flat-screen TV and, for taste, a gourmet chocolate at the end of the experience. The spa welcomes walk-ins and groups, including bridal parties. Zaki said she hopes to sell franchises nationally and internationally. Someday, she believes, the quick, no-excuse, no-hands Shiatsu massage spas will be in every neighborhood, perhaps “the Starbucks of massage.” • sanctuate! 3619 Midway Drive, Suite K, (619) 223-1774, www.sanctuate.com