Treat yourself to a Spa Vacation!
Whether you are into hiking, yoga and Pilates, prefer a wine-region setting, or consume only vegetarian fare, you can find a spa that fits your needs. Today’s spa world features numerous categories – weight loss, tennis, stress management, spirituality, pet-friendly, organic, medical programs, golf, ecofriendly, detox or connoisseur spas. Locations are worldwide and the benefits equally global.
Before “green” didn’t mean anything more than a pretty color, Deborah Szekely was using eco-friendly practices at Rancho La Puerta, a 3,000-acre property was founded in 1940 in Tecate, Mexico. Awarded by “Travel and Leisure Magazine” in 2010 and 2011 as the “The World’s Best Destination Spa”, it features an organic farm, sustainable land use, and recycling are some of the environmental elements incorporated into the Ranch, decades before they were in vogue. Ms. Szekely’s most recent project is the spa cooking school, La Cocina Que Canta. The mission is to help everyone there – staff as well as guests – make the connection between nature, fresh food and creative, everyday cooking. Thus Szekely is highly recognized as a philanthropist and activist. Rancho La Puerta, a 3,000 acre property is located in Tecate, Mexico, is considered a favorite among North American spas.
Fitness and fun all in one location from sunup to sundown can be found at Le Sport in St. Lucia. Activities include land and water options featuring mountain hiking, rock repelling, mentored workout programs, and a host of adrenalin-pumping activities. Guests will indulge in gourmet dining and daily, complimentary spa treatments such as loofah body buff with ginger lily. Rooms are decorated with a crisp West Indian fashion and enjoy a view of either the beach or wonderful gardens. The resorts epicenter of well-being provides guest treatments in hot and cold plunge pools or a sea-water-jet massage.
Surrounded by the Agean Sea, the Six Senses Spa Porto Elounda on the Greek island of Crete is devoted to the five senses. Guests will relax in one of 143 rooms or suites - many with their own private seawater pools – drink cocktails on the jetty, or indulge you in skin and body rituals in the two-story spa, which includes a dry float room and open-air tepidarium. Olive-based anti-oxidant facials, stone exfoliations and anti-cellulite massages are but a few of the ancient practices which infuse modern touches. Dining under the olive trees as well as sailing the crystal clear Agean waters enriches the visitor’s sensory pleasures.
Samas, located in County Kerry, is Ireland’s first deluxe destination spa where guests enjoy the atmosphere of the Victorian-era. Located atop a wooded knoll, the stainless-steel and glass spa has created great interest with its underground lap pool. Rituals are enhanced by work outs that include Pilates and yoga and hot-stoned therapies, body polishes, and acupressure massages. Treatment suites offer lanconium heat chamber, sauna and steam room. A unique offering at this location are moonlight meditation walks, golf on the adjoining 18-hold course, and whiskey tasking during the evening conversation ritual.
The hip clientele flock to Huvafen Fushi Resort and Spa in the Maldives. This island resort features the world’s first underwater spa. Lime spa has two treatment rooms and a relaxation area set below the water line as well as six glass-floored treatment rooms above water. As spa-goers watch marine creatures glide past outside, they can choose from dozens of body and beauty therapies influenced by the aquatic environment and using nutritious sea plants and minerals. Guests retire to one of 43 bungalows, each with its own pool; listen to jazz in a subterranean wine cellar; dine beneath the stars; or go snorkeling.
Tucson, Arizona, hosts the all-inclusive Canyon Ranch with its lavish approach to wellness and beauty and where advisors maximize the guests visit. Services at the Spa Complex include anti-aging facials as well as candlelit massages and meditation. More than 50 fitness classes and activities are available, such as lessons at the Golf Performance Center, cross-training in an Aquatic Center pool, neuromuscular therapy and cooking demonstrations. Following an invigorating day hiking through the surrounding Sonoran Desert or over pine-topped mountains, guests will retire to one of 165 single stories, adobe-style cottages.
Treat yourself, your family members or share with your friends an experience that will enrich you, relax you and educate you. The gift of a well cared for mind and body falls into the category of personal wellness. Don’t forget to consider a Spa trip before the rush of the holiday season, or include in your 2012 travel schedule. If you are celebrating a special birthday or anniversary, this is the perfect shared gift!
