Who knew a small island like Aruba could keep someone so busy? You've already been windsurfing, butterfly watching and sunset sailing on Palm Beach, plus you've conquered the Aruban outback on the island's best drive.
It's time to slow down and relax--after all, vacations were made for pampering. If it's Zen-like tranquility you're after, head to the Larimar Spa, easily Aruba's best sanctuary for the mind, body and spirit.
That's Christian Bale at 18 singing about how he needs to leave New York City for warmer climes in "Newsies." If you've followed the weather in NYC recently, we're thinking a lot of people will be joining him.
Remember, Bale's paper boy found love, and you can too--try a special delivery to one of these hot spots.
Ten Thousand Waves -- This Japanese-inspired mountain spa is the perfect place to unwind after that sixteen-hour paper route and meet someone in the tub -- or "meet them again."3451 Hyde Park Rd.
Ark Bookstore -- All that horse-wranglin' and paper-tossin' and union-organizin' leaves a man very little time to develop his mind or his soul. Luckily there's the Ark, a spiritual bookstore with hotties. 133 Romero St.
Tranquility in the big city might sound like an oxymoron, but we decided to suspend our disbelief long enough to check out The Chopra Center & Spa, located in a gold and saffron-hued subterranean space at The Dream Hotel. The primary draw? The facility was co-created by renowned wellness guru and self-help specialist Deepak Chopra, an endorsement that actually gave us some hope we'd be walking away feeling healthier--if not less stressed.
We went for a balancing facial based on the principals of Ayurveda, an ancient Indian science that attempts to harmonize one's mind-body type, or dosha. As our therapist did the assessment of our type, we asked so many questions that she had to gently remind us that Ayurvedic healing is something best experienced--not understood through the mind. So we settled in on the table and completely relinquished control for the next 80 minutes as she steamed, massaged and moisturized our congested skin. We surrendered so much that we actually drifted off.
In addition to facials, the Chopra Center has bodywork treatments and other spa services. Guests can also sign up for yoga classes or join in on complimentary guided meditation sessions. We would have stayed on to explore the pathway to enlightenment, but you know, we had to hightail it back downtown before our dry cleaner closed.
In the days leading up to February 14, do you find yourself spending your commute mentally composing love sonnets--and annoyingly sharing them with anyone who'll listen? Boozing it up with unattached friends and denouncing the holiday for the commercial farce that it is? Collectively cursing St. Valentine, Cupid and Hallmark for forcing you to dream up yet another romantic present? Well, we can't help the besotted or the bitter, but we might be able to do something for the befuddled. And by that we mean, well, guys.
If you're not quite ready to present your sweetie with something small, sparkly and potentially appraisable, you can still look like the hero by giving her a couple's massage, an experiential gift that's also a pretty sweet present for you. Spas throughout New York are actually discounting treatments for the holiday, and since they rarely lower their rates, it's a prime time to take advantage. Snag a gift certificate now and score major points later--no love poem required:
Oasis Day Spa: You can get 15 percent off any purchase you make online, from massage to facials to body wraps. Check out the weekly specials for other deals on services.
Metamorphosis Day Spa: While several therapies, like scrubs and masks are being offered at $10 to $25 off, go for the couple's chocolate oil massage, which includes a 50-minute Swedish rubdown with candles, wine, roses and chocolate kisses.
Shizuka New York: Couples get a 10 percent discount at this Japanese day spa when they come in together, from now through February 17. The services don't have to be identical, just booked at the same time.
Bunya City Spa: This Soho-based facility is offering four Valentine's themed treatments at special prices. We recommend the Steamy Love package--an organic ginger and honey scrub designed to increase circulation and boost the heat between the two of you.
Come Wednesday morning, Mardi Gras will be over, and beads, streamers and beer bottles will be the only reminder of the fun. (Apart from that hangover, of course.) Somewhere in the mix, you were probably pretty naughty.
Luckily, New Orleans has just the cure for guilty partiers: Ash Wednesday! To kick off the Lenten holiday, during which Catholics give up at least one vice, we've got three recommendations for your post-Mardi Gras detox: church, fried food and spa treatments.
First there were organic foods and cosmetics, then energy-efficient cars, and now, even our spa treatments are going green. Willow Stream Spa at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess has just introduced Desert Purification, a bodywork treatment inspired by Native American traditions and culture.
It may sound a little out there, but they certainly don’t oversell the “all natural” thing. The 90-minute treatment begins with an optional “smudging,” or burning of a sage stick to purify the space for healing, then a therapist applies a mask all over your body. Not only are the indigenous ingredients—cornmeal, oats, bentonite and kaolin clays, among others—free from preservatives, artificial colorings and synthetic fragrances, but even the fabric used to exfoliate your skin is made from the biodegradable fibers of a local Ayate cactus plant. (Cacuts?! Sounds prickly, but we promise, it's not so bad.)
Once you’ve been sufficiently smoothed and subsequently showered, you can get what you’ve really come for—a nourishing body massage featuring an aromatic blend of organic juniper, sage and rosemary essential oils. While we’re not sure just how much a getting green treatment reduces our impact on the environment, we love the idea that getting pampered might not be entirely self-indulgent after all.
Of all the services that you could return from a destination spa raving about, mani-pedis usually aren't among them. It's not that getting your hands and feet sandblasted, buffed and shellacked by a stranger isn't incredibly relaxing, but the perfectly polished nails you pay hand over fist for have usually chipped by the time you're back in your own area code.
That's why we were pretty jazzed by the just-introduced Double Happiness Manicure and Pedicure combo we received at the Spa at Camelback Inn. Created by skincare diva June Jacobs exclusively for the resort, the treatment is designed as a facial for the hands and feet. As our chatty, Russian-born therapist Marta got to work on our woefully neglected gams, she informed us that peppermint, the featured ingredient the scrub she was using, has both aromatic and antiseptic properties--and, as we'd soon discover, can also make your toes tingle!
Two hours of intense pampering later, we had to admit that our fingers and toes looked pretty damn good. But we didn't fully grasp how effective the treatment had been until a week or so later, when our skin still felt spa-day smooth and our Espresso Your Style OPI polish still looked freshly painted.
Sure, a full body massage might have been nice--but it was pretty cool reaping the benefits of our spa experience long after returning home.
On our recent trip to Scottsdale to get massages, pedicures and bodywork treatments in the name of, um, travel research, we learned that this desert oasis plays host to more than 40 spas, many of which are located in swank destination resorts. When you're in such close proximity to your five-star competition, you've got to offer something wacky, niche or ultra-luxe to win over guests--your basic Swedish rubdown or hydrating facial just won't cut the epicurean mustard.
Making our appointment at The Revive Spa at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge, we were urged to try The Turquoise Blue Sage Body Ritual, a 3-in-1 combination therapy designed to cleanse and purify our senses. As the name implies, the products used throughout the 80-minute experience feature the area's most recognizable rock, plus fragrant ingredients like sage and organic essential oils.
Guiding us into the treatment room, our spa therapist explained that turquoise possesses a kind of healing energy. We pondered this, more than a bit skeptical, as she began working a mineral-rich salt scrub into our skin. But as she coated us in a desert clay body mask, wrapped us inside a hydrating cocoon and worked us from head to toe in a full-body massage, we started to come around to her way of thinking. By the time the treatment rounded out with an energy ritual designed to cleanse our aura and balance our spirit, we were totally down with the whole desert healing vibe.
The Southwestern zen lingered for hours--at least, until we came inches from stepping on a live rattlesnake during hike in the nearby Sonoran desert. After such a traumatic, near-death event, we felt totally justified in booking another extra-long treatment at Revive.
