The Spa At Terranea
Photo Courtesy of Destination Hotels
For relaxation and rejuvenation, nothing says vacation more than a good spa treatment. Feel the need to feed your inner bliss? Forbes Travel Guide has scoured the globe to help you do just that, starting with these seven seriously stellar packages at some of the world’s finest sanctuaries.
Ho Tram Resort Casino Vietnam
Just two hours away from Ho Chi Minh City in the beach community of Vung Tau, Ho Tram Resort Casino Vietnam beckons with a luxurious casino resort boasting beautifully appointed, ocean-facing rooms, and a Greg Norman-designed golf course, not to mention an opulent Asian-style spa. The à la carte spa menu features massages, body treatments and facials, and even offers Man Space (treatments specifically designed for gents). Now through July 30, visitors can get two treatments for the price of any one 60- or 90-minute service. Locals can also plan a spa staycation with the Resident’s Spa Package, available now through December 17, which includes a 20-percent-off discount, daily international breakfast for two and a 60-minute application from Monday through Thursday.
Cielo Spa’s Reception Area, Photo Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotels Limited
Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires
Maybe you’ve spent the day shopping in the nearby Patio Bullrich or around the trendy Palermo Soho district. When you want to escape the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires, book one of the services at this Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel’s luxurious Cielo Spa. We recommend the Sweet Heaven retreat, a three-step, 80-minute package that starts with a gentle, wave-like massage known as the Lomi Lomi that’s performed using fragrant sweet almond oil. Things get sweeter when your face is treated with an anti-aging, hydrating chocolate-based facial to reveal younger, suppler skin. The final step in your spa retreat involves a brown sugar hand exfoliation set to the soothing tunes of bossa nova and jazz.
Terranea Resort
One would do perfectly well booking one of Four-Star Terranea’s oceanfront rooms and suites, but for a spa-minded private getaway focused on wellness, it’s all about The Bungalows. Each bungalow or two-bedroom suite boasts everything you’d need for a home away from home — kitchenette, washer/dryer and a private balcony/patio — in addition to offering exclusive access to Spa Café for complimentary breakfast and lunch. Moreover, Bungalow guests have free access to the gym and spa facilities, the latter being 50,000 square feet of glistening pools, steam rooms, saunas, whirlpools, fire pits and loungers. Think it can’t get any better? Well, it can. Spa treatments and cabana rentals are discounted 10 percent for the duration of your stay, and you’ll definitely want to take advantage of the deal. The extensive spa menu offers suggestions for morning, early afternoon and evening services. The nighttime Flickering Embers is a detoxifying volcanic ash body wrap that draws out impurities from the skin. Following the wrap, you’ll take a bath in a copper tub steeped with fragranced essential oils and healing magnesium and receive a balancing and restorative massage.
Fairmont Grand Del Mar
Set on the rolling green hills of the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve in San Diego, Fairmont Grand Del Mar’s Mediterranean-style design is the epitome of old-world Southern California luxury. For a quick but tranquil getaway, book the Grand Spa package, which will grant you a fabulous overnight stay that can be upgraded at check-in, along with two 60-minute spa treatments (therapeutic massage, any of the Grand wraps, portrait facial or the Back to Nature exfoliation).
Whiteface Lodge Resort & Spa, Photo Courtesy of Whiteface Lodge Resort & Spa
Whiteface Lodge Resort & Spa
Nestled within the six-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York, Whiteface Lodge Resort & Spa lets its guests get a little closer to the great outdoors. Of course, those who want to fully unwind inside can book the Spa Escape, a promotion designed for couples or friends traveling in twos. The package gets you a beautiful suite with full daily breakfast, two 50-minute Traditional Lodge massages, access to all of the steam, sauna, jacuzzi and fitness areas, as well as invitations to wellness classes. Recreational activities (see: game room, bowling lanes, nightly theater and s’mores by the fire) are also part of the package, completing a getaway that has the inside and out well covered.
Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico
Tucked away in its own exclusive community along Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit, Four Seasons Punta Mita offers oceanside fun in the sun, along with the all the necessary accouterments for a luxury seaside vacation — golf and spa. Case in point, the Golf & Spa package was clearly designed to please the couple who is part golf enthusiast and part spa fanatic. The promotion includes a choice of unlimited golf per day per person, or a 50-minute spa treatment per day per person, meaning one can swing away at the property’s two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses while the other indulges in the signature Punta Mita massage, which incorporates tequila and traditional healing therapies.
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
California dreaming comes to reality when you lay eyes on the pale peach façade of this Sonoma treasure. And when you visit the property’s 40,000-square-foot Willow Stream Spa, you will truly live the fantasy. All of the pools at the facility are fed by a natural geothermal spring, guaranteeing the water is naturally heated and feels like silk to the skin. When you book the Rejuvenation Package, you get an overnight stay, breakfast for two and one 60-minute spa treatment for two people. A good bet is their signature Watsu massage, an underwater experience that will leave your bones and muscles swimming in exhilaration.
