Inside the massage parlour described as the 'Rolls Royce of the East Midlands' - Mirror Online

[massage]

An erotic massage at Bubbles is the stuff of Derby folklore.

Stoke-on-Trent Live goes behind the scenes to get a sneak peek at the inner workings of the massage parlour its owner once described as the 'Rolls Royce' of the East Midlands.

Our undercover reporter heads in armed with £30 and an open mind and soon finds himself talking tax and pension planning - in the buff.

As I ring the bell at Bubbles, a pair of eyes give me the once-over through the gap of a little hatch in the door.

The owners and workers at Bubbles Spa have no idea who I am and why I'm here.

Just an ordinary punter on a cold and rainy evening, looking for a sensual massage.

My heart is pounding.

The owner of the eyes peering through the door seems satisfied that I am no threat to security or the women who work here.

A massage at Bubble spa in Derby is the stuff of legend (Image: Nick Reid)

I'm let in and led to a vestibule, where a woman apologises for smelling of cigarettes.

She asks for a name and I give her one. Someone else's name.

The name of a friend, in fact. It was the first to come into my head.

She must be used to this. She has clocked me as a Bubbles virgin and explains the tariffs.

It’s £25 to get in the building for a massage but for an extra fiver you get an hour, rather than 30 minutes. I decline.

Thirty minutes is probably enough. Maybe this is a special offer for this evening.

Then you have to pay for the actual massage.

Fishnet stockings and a lacy bra


Prices start at £30 and for that you get a massage from a scantily clad woman.

For £40 your masseuse will be topless, for £50 she'll be naked and £60 gets you a massage in one of the VIP rooms.

A tour of Bubbles Spa Derby (Image: Nick Reid)

I pay the initial £25 quid in cash and wonder how the finance department will view my expenses claim for a sensual erotic massage at Bubbles.

In the waiting room, I find a woman sitting on a settee wearing a short black tunic with buttons diagonally dotted down the front, fishnet stockings, a lacy bra and pants set.

Enough buttons of her tunic are undone for her bra to be visible.

Given her attire, you'd perhaps expect a pair of heels but she's wearing what look like black trainers. They look slightly incongruous.

Still, if you work on your feet, it makes sense to wear flats.

There does not seem to be any other clients while I’m there.

The massage tables lit by candlelight (Image: Nick Reid)

Seeing someone you recognise might feel awkward and potentially blow my cover.

Hello dad, fancy seeing you here. Long time no see, Reverend. That kind of conversation.

The woman leads me down a corridor into a massage room then leaves me to shower.

I wash and wrap a towel around myself. There is a hair on the soap in the cubicle. Is it one of mine? Maybe.

The place is clean, if a little shabby in places.

'Do you want me naked?'


On her return she asks whether I want to be massaged with oil or lotion and explains that oil gets to your muscles more easily.

Lotion is quicker to wash off, she explains. I opt for oil.

"Do you want me naked?" I ask. She does. OK.

The towel is draped over a chair and I'm naked in front of a woman I met just minutes earlier.

This is a first, for what it's worth.

A Jacuzzi package was out of our reporter's price range (Image: Nick Reid)

There's tinny music coming from the TV in the waiting room. I lie face down on the massage table, feeling very exposed. At least it's warm.

She starts to work her hands up my thighs. In the mirror on the wall I can see her legs.

Her tunic isn’t long enough to cover her buttocks and I can see her underwear as the tunic rises and falls with the rhythm as she bends over to work her hands across my legs.

There is small talk. I concoct a dreary back-story about where I work.

She says it's been quiet because we're approaching Christmas.

The spa's owner let another reporter in for a tour previously- and this is what he saw (Image: Nick Reid)

"When the weather ’s bad or the football’s on it’s totally dead," she says.

Perhaps Derby County supporters make up a big proportion of the clientele, I suggest.

"They might come later and if they do they’re sometimes totally out of their faces. They can be a bit of a handful," she explains.

"Lots of the girls have their own regular customers though."

She talks about worries for her family and the future. She's self-employed so if the clients dry up then so does her income.

It is like the kind of conversation when you’re at the barbers. Only in the buff, obviously.

You get to be the masseuse


She tries the soft sell.

"With naked massage you have the option of body massage where the woman will massage you with her breasts.

"Just thought I’d let you know this for future reference.

"You can give the girl a massage as well, like a reverse massage," she says.

I ask: "Do you get many massages?"

The jacuzzi package is on the glitzier end of Bubbles' services (Image: Nick Reid)

"Yes, especially in the VIP rooms," she says.

"You’ve got a Jacuzzi as well. Is that part of the VIP package?"

"Yeh, we’ve got two VIP rooms, one with the Jacuzzi when the lady will assist you into the Jacuzzi either before or after your massage," she says.

"The lady will come into the Jacuzzi with you. It’s your choice whether you have it before or after your massage."

It's doubtful my expenses claim would stretch to the Jacuzzi package.

Naked and exposed


"In the other room we have a double bed. It’s a lot better for the body-to-body massage and the reverse massage. It’s quite popular, especially the bedroom one," she explains.

The massage table I'm on is quite narrow and to get two people on safely presents a risk of falling off.

One of the treatment rooms (Image: Nick Reid)

"Do you want to turn over sweetheart?" she asks.

I roll over onto my back and feel more naked and more exposed. There is a mirror on the ceiling too. I’ve never felt more naked. I watch her work the oil into my thighs, stomach and chest.

Muffled voices can be heard from other rooms.

"He was just f****** horrible."

"Stocked up on woollies, clothes, jumpers, you have to, don't cha?"

The masseuse gets closer, more intimate.

My hand is by the side of the table and her stockinged thigh occasionally presses against it.

Impossible to know whether this is accidental or part of the service.

Her hands move closer to an area where a sports massage therapist would tend to avoid.

I tell her that I'm not comfortable with her hands too close to my groin.

"OK, that’s fine," she says.

Bubbles has been described by its owner as iconic as Rolls Royce and Bombardier (Image: Nick Reid)

To be clear, we're not accusing anyone of wrongdoing or unlawful activity. Everyone has to make a living.

There's some animated chatter from the waiting room. Complaints about boyfriends. Canned laughter from the TV.

"Can you do me up?" someone asks. A telephone rings in the distance.

'Sweetheart'


Conversation with the masseuse sparks up again.

How many clients does she see each day?

"A good day...I say a good day...a busy day, five or six. You’re self-employed here. Doing all your own tax and stuff.

"Some days you don’t get any. You have to think of the future, especially with children, you’ve got to think of their futures as well."

Is there anything less erotic than talking about tax and pension planning?

"Feel free to jump in the shower, sweetheart."

She leaves the room and I shower again. On her return there's more chat.

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"We shut at 11 o'clock. We used to stay open till 4 o'clock in the morning. It's not as safe nowadays, we’ve been robbed a few times," she explains.

"There's security on the door so that’s good. A link straight to the police. You want to feel secure at work, don’t you?"

A lot of clients pay cash. They may not want a paper trail.

"Thirty quid, was it?"

"Thank you. You take care, darling," she says.