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| Spa
at Mandarin Oriental 66 Knightsbridge London, England Phone: 44-207/838-9888 | True
to its Asian connections (the Mandarin Oriental hotel group is based in Hong Kong),
London's most exotic new spa lets you travel to some fantasy Far East country
without leaving central London. Everything here has a sleek Zen look—from
the tatami-matted reception area to the relaxation room with its Japanese garden
and color-therapy lighting. Even the treatment rooms look out on their own little
gravel gardens. Guests are encouraged
to sign up for a minimum of two hours. The session begins with a cup of herbal
tea and a sensual footbath. After discussing the client's wants and needs, the
therapist suggests the appropriate "rituals." This usually involves
a skin-softening salt scrub, followed by an Ayurvedic aromatherapeutic massage,
with oils chosen to lift or calm the psyche. For ultimate muscle-melting after
your "rituals," indulge in the two soaking areas: the Vitality Pool,
where you lie on a granite bed (or stand on the "volcano") while being
massaged by rotating hydrotherapy jets; and the Crystal Steam Room, where a healing
amethyst stone is said to induce peace. As if you'd need any more. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| The
Refinery 60 Brook St. London, England Phone: 44-207/409-2001 | This new urban retreat, housed in the former Greek consulate, bills itself, quite accurately, as "London's first one-stop grooming and spa experience exclusively for men." Besides a huge menu of massages, facials, scrubs, and rubs, the Refinery offers some advanced spa treatments whose gadgets range from a dry flotation tank, which feels like weightlessness training for the space shuttle, to a Vichy shower bed (a device that can only be described as a human sandwich grill). No high-tech machinery is needed, however, for the wildly popular Synchronous Massage, performed simultaneously by two therapists in perfectly choreographed movements. And the Hair of the Dog, which includes a detox body wrap, clarifying facial, and invigorating aromatherapy massage, can help undo even the ugliest hangover. Guys
on the go take advantage of the Refinery's 15-minute Pit Stop massages, facials,
manicures and pedicures, or even reflexology. Of course, you can also simply get
your hair trimmed, conditioned, and colored in the skylit Cutting Room, designed
by Simon Simpson (who helped do London's Met Bar and Nobu). Most celebrity clients
undergo all of the above in a salon room hidden in the basement, entrusting their
secret grooming needs to hairdresser-client confidentiality. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Adam's
London 12 St. George St. London, England Phone: 44-207/499-9779; | At
first, this wood-paneled salon feels like your basic upscale barbershop. But as
soon as you're ensconced in one of the white leather coiffing chairs—equipped
with flat-screen color monitors that let you watch the BBC or check your e-mail
or portfolio—you quickly realize it's a cut above any snip-and-clip shop
you've ever patronized. The trim is top-notch, done by stylists recruited from
some of the best salons in town; the pre-cut shampoo, with an invigorating scalp
massage, is alone worth a visit. But the pièce de résistance is
the hot Cream Shave: a blissful 30 minutes of massaging, lathering, and moisturizing,
topped off with a final face wrap of steaming towels. If
the mini-massage during your clipping session isn't enough, book time with Shinya,
the resident Japanese masseur. His expert shiatsu or Indian head massages can
last 10 minutes or as long as your schedule permits. The salon also has a shower
room for those who want to freshen up between that grueling day at work and a
big night on the town. Make someone's
spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Agua 50 Berners St. London, England Phone: 44-207/300-1414 | The
spa according to Philippe Starck is appropriately minimal: a soothing world of
billowy white curtains, pale beech floors, artfully designed lighting, and, of
course, therapists who look as though they were airlifted from the runways of
Milan. Secluded on two floors of Ian Schrager's new Sanderson hotel in Soho, Agua
attracts a growing clientele with a full range of treatments, many of which—aromatherapy
facials, cleansing back massage, chest and back waxings—have been created
especially for men. The best
way to experience Agua is by booking one of its daylong men's packages, which
generally include exfoliation, full-body aromatherapy massage, facial, and manicure-pedicure.
Hotel guests have access to Sanderson's gleaming new gym and the privilege of
ordering healthy dishes, such as shrimp salad with steamed asparagus, from Spoon,
the hotel's Alain Ducasse restaurant. Lunch can be taken either in the relaxation
room on one of Starck's white faux—Louis XV chairs by a gurgling fountain,
or on a chaise in your personal white-curtained pod, equipped with a tiny TV and
headset with a choice of music. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
Shambhalaa
at Parrot Cay | At
Parrot Cay, a private-island resort owned by Christina Ong—the force behind
London's groovy Metropolitan hotel—the healing is global. Ong hand-picked
every therapist at the resort's newly opened spa, Shambhala (Sanskrit for "utopia").
One of them is Song, a former Buddhist monk who administers mind-altering Indian
head massages. Peemai, from Chiang Mai, is a master of Thai massage. Sydney-born
yoga instructor Julie Veloskey teaches in a pavilion above an isolated mangrove
inlet. Design enlightenment comes in the form of Japanese cedar soaking tubs,
airy treatment rooms overlooking the North Caicos channel, and bougainvillea blossoms
floating in a coconut shell under your massage table. | ||||||||||||
Golden
Door Spa at Las Casitas Village | Those
who have been to the original Golden Door may have skewed expectations of this
spin-off, located in a villa-only retreat that is part of a 900-room mega-resort
on Puerto Rico's northeast coast. The Asian aesthetic that permeates the venerable
California spa is absent. (No paper fans! No kimonos! No golden doors!) But the
staff has been trained to the same exacting standard, and signature treatments—a
Pineapple Polish scrub and Ambrosia facial—employ GD products. | ||||||||||||
Aveda
Concept Spa at Strawberry Hill | If
the ascent up narrow switchbacks from Kingston makes you dizzy, regain your equilibrium
on Strawberry Hill's spa deck, with its lofty view of the coffee estates in Jamaica's
Blue Mountains. A tranquil bamboo-shaded courtyard leads to the spare, white spa
rooms. The coolness of the soft upland mist will send you snuggling under your
cottage's down comforter after a series of calming Aveda essential-oil treatments.
Boost your energy level with a marvelous Himalayan Rejuvenation steam and massage,
a drenching Body Elixir Vichy shower—or a jolt of the famous island brew.
Then get psyched for trail hikes among torch ginger and wild orchids. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Ritz-Carlton
Rose Hall St. James, Jamaica Phone: (800) 241-3333 |
Scarlett O'Hara goes to the tropics at this new Ritz-Carlton resort, which plays
up the plantation mistress theme on the grounds of a historic sugarcane estate
outside Montego Bay. One actual lady of Rose Hall had the unnerving habit of poisoning
her husbands, but you can expect gracious hospitality. The yellow, blue, coral-pink,
and lime-green spa taps Jamaica's natural resources in a creamy sugarcane scrub,
special relaxing blends taken tubside, and an allspice essential-oil wrap. While
there isn't much Caribbean flavor to the décor, it's a mellow place where
first-time spa-goers are put at ease. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Bunty's
Cottage at Round Hill Montego Bay, Jamaica Phone: (800) 972-2159 |
A former manager's residence was recently converted into a three-room spa and
Wellness Center with all the classic treatments that Round Hill's pampered guests—a
mix of titled Euros and entitled Easterners—are accustomed to back home.
The Decleor facial perfectly matches one you can have in Paris or London, but
the real draw here is Professor Efrain Bernal, a Cuban-born reflexology whiz who
targets your aches and pains with astonishing accuracy. (He'll even show you a
nifty wrinkle-reducing trick using pressure-point massage on the face.) Make time
for Carolyn Jobson's Kripalu yoga class on the beach, or the body wrap with papaya-scented
honey from bees raised by a local chiropractor.
Make someone's spa wish come
true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Roaring
Pavilion Villa & Spa St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica Phone: (800) 387-2726 | At
this lavish four-bedroom villa for rent outside Ocho Rios, a therapist is at your
beck and call. With the Roaring River drowning out worldly distractions, this
may be the Caribbean's most personal spa experience, and that's what celebs such
as Celine Dion, Tom Cruise, and Nicole Kidman crave when they hide out here. On
a teak deck screened by night-blooming jasmine and banana trees, the therapist
applies lime and basil essential oils she extracts on the spot in a copper distiller.
These are also blended with papaya, yogurt, pink clay, sea salt, and sterilized
sand in masks and body scrubs. On the private beach—where Ursula Andress
swam ashore in Dr. No—take an exhilarating dip in the sea. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
Self
Centre at Caneel Bay Cruz
Bay, St. John |
If Laurance Rockefeller can get hooked on meditation in his eighties, then it's
likely that Self Centre founder Jan Kinder will help you do the same. A registered
nurse who studied with the Dalai Lama and is a licensed instructor of Deepak Chopra's
teachings, Kinder distracts hyper guests with low-impact yoga, stress management,
and visualization techniques (think contemplative sandcastle building). After
a session in "structural integration body techniques," you'll approach
nirvana at the speed of light. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Cotton
House Spa Mustique Phone: (877) 240-9945 | When
high season kicks in, the appointment book at the Cotton House Spa looks like
the A-list for a royal reception. On the small porch of the spa, in a sweet West
Indies cottage, chill in a deck chair and bone up on Brit lingo with a copy of
Hello! magazine. (It's a handy primer for the hotel's weekly cocktail party, open
to everyone on the island.) The sound of waves lapping on Endeavor Bay beach augments
reflexology sessions and vigorous scalp rubs in the all-white treatment rooms.
Make someone's spa wish come
true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Cuisinart
Resort & Spa Rendezvous Bay, Anguilla Phone: (800) 937-9356 | Let's
start with the lecherous terra-cotta heads silently whistling at a nude frieze
in the stairwell of CuisinArt's Venus Spa. Okay, so the message lacks subtlety—but
this place is all about the pursuit of the beauty goddess. Recharge with a cooling
Repêchage seaweed body mask and hydrating hand-and-foot treatment, or get
physical with hunky fitness instructor Peter Vasilis's power hike on Rendezvous
Bay's incomparable mile-long beach. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Eden
Rock Spa St. Jean, St. Bart's Phone: (888) 576-6677 | When
the fabulous excess of St. Bart's nightlife catches up with you, sip on a diététique
veggie drink, then take the cure in Eden Rock's new seawater thalassotherapy pools,
carved from the rock face that juts into Baie de St. Jean. Massive teak doors,
topped by marine navigation lights, point the way to this grotto where physiotherapist
Nicolas Wormser guides you through detox with a series of jet showers, plunges,
and massages. But who really needs treatments? From this vantage, the sea view
alone is a terrific pick-me-up. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Espace
Beaute at the Guanahani Grand Cul de Sac, St. Bart's Phone: (800) 223-6800 | If
you book a massage in your gingerbread bungalow with a private plunge pool, Pernilla,
the six-foot blond Swedish therapist (guess her specialty), will untwist knotted
muscles with a cold-pressed avocado massage oil. Look sleek in that new Hermès
beach sarong with a perfect Parisian pedicure from the Guanahani's Clarins specialists.
Make someone's spa wish come
true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Maya
Tulum Tulum, Mexico Phone: (888) 515-4580 | Founded
20 years ago, Maya Tulum is a bare-bones, down-to-Mother-Earth spa next door to
the Sian Ka'an biosphere on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Prepare to go barefoot,
sleep under mosquito netting, and suffer frozen-margarita blackouts (eco-friendly
electricity shortages equal blender rationing). In exchange, you get an awe-inspiring
juxtaposition of white sand and blue Caribbean sea, dirt-cheap yoga sessions,
and up-to-date treatments. Try the papaya and algae facial or a nitty-gritty clay
body mask: a therapist slathers you with mud, lets you bake under the sun, and
then washes it off in the ocean. Let Daniel, a local Mayan healer, work his intuitive
magic on your meridians. Make
someone's spa wish come true...Spa
Wish Gift Certificates | ||||||||||||
| Check
out our list of the best spas in your favorite cities:-
Click
here for more information on Spa Wish Gift Certificates...welcomed at day spas
nationwide!
To have your spa listed in our Spa Guide, please Click here. | |||||||||||||