September 08th, 2010

Top 7 Unique Spa Treatments

By Susan Gray Blue

Managing Editor


So you've had your chocolate pedicure, your pomegranate scrub, your lomi lomi massage and your buttermilk-almond soak and you're ready for something even more unique? Spas all over the country are ready to oblige.

1. When in Rome …
Qua Baths & Spa, Las Vegas

There's no topping ancient Rome when it comes to decadence, so why not recreate the original? This new spa at Caesar's Palace has a Roman bath area that's both therapeutic and social in nature – three pools of different temperatures soothe and invigorate your body. You can also try the crystal room for customized body decorations, the men's and women's tea lounges (with tea sommeliers) and the "Arctic ice room," where you can refresh your lungs in the 55-degree room (with ice chips and heated floors).

2. Feeling Very Blue
Golden Door Spa, Carefree, Arizona

The turquoise wrap here is based on the Native American belief that the bright hue lends protection and creates positive vibes. The treatment includes exfoliation with Hopi blue cornmeal, a turquoise clay wrap, a full-body honey mask … and a healing rainstick ritual.

3. Over the Moon
The Standard, Miami

This modern and innovative spa offers treatments that are based on phases of the moon, which are said to influence our bodies. Between the rising and full moons, you can schedule facials and body treatments to regenerate and repair; between the waning and new moons, the treatments are all about detoxifying and cleansing.

4. Step Away From the E-Mail
Hyatt Stillwater Spa, Toronto, Canada

We see them everywhere … people who seem to be so chained to their BlackBerrys and Treos that their bodies have frozen into a pose of clutched hands and slumped shoulders (not to mention the furtive glances). Any hand-held e-mail device addict would welcome some relief for sore thumbs and wrists: This massage is just for them.

5. Out of the Nightingale
Ten Thousand Waves, Santa Fe, New Mexico

This spa has a Zen-like vibe and world-class massage therapists. And they also have something called a Japanese nightingale facial, consisting of imported, processed nightingale droppings (yes, that kind of droppings … sanitized with ultraviolet light). The substance has been used for centuries by geisha in Japan to brighten and smooth their skin.

6. Singing in the Rain
Ritz Carlton, South Beach

This "raindrop technique" treatment isn't like getting caught in any other kind of storm: Your massage therapist will drop 11 essential oils like gentle rain onto your spine. The oils are worked into your muscles, and then hot compresses are applied. The benefits – detoxification, spinal alignment and immune boosting – are said to remain with you for several days.

7. Colors in the Mist
Mayflower Inn - Washington, Connecticut

The "thermal sanctuary experience" at this woodsy retreat includes a warming room that generates a series of colors. The combination of blue (clarity), gold (energy) and green (balance) all create a healing environment – enhanced by music and a scented mist, which varies by season. Paired up with a massage, the warming room creates a memorable spa visit.

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