Online - January 08, 2005

License to Chill

2005 Spa Guide

You may feel like you always deserve the royal treatment. You just can’t always get it. These spas will spoil you with almost anything you could want. (Except for the palanquin to tote you around.)

Virgin Territory
Does it get more private than a spa on the private beach of a private island? Treatments at Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands are all derived from indigenous ingredients: Locally farmed sea salt is the star of the scrubs, while sand helps out in a beachside massage. And one look at the massive treatment buffet will make you wish you could be stranded here forever.

The Sixth Sense
A good soak is a must at Ana Mandara’s new Evason Hideaway and Six Senses Spa in Vietnam. Pick a bath, any bath: There’s the Jacuzzi, a traditional Japanese soak, or a Vichy shower. The hardest choice you’ll have to face? Which massage or facial to get. (Oh, just get the mini day-spa escape package.)

Penny from Heaven
Ditch London’s posh life for an even posher spell at Pennyhill Park. The spa is at the center of a 120-acre park 45 minutes from the city. Get the Dreaming treatment, which engages all the senses, from scalp to toe. Newly opened on the premises: the U.K. outpost of hair guru John Masters’ Organics salon.

Bali High
Located on a dramatic river gorge, The Source at Begawan Giri Estate in Bali offers breathtaking views and a spa surrounding a mountain spring. The catch? You have to climb 350 steps to get there. The Javanese Mandi Lulur treatment features a turmeric, jasmine, and rice-flour body mask followed by a flower-petal soak. Or pull a Cleopatra and get the Mandi Susu, which combines the eternal-youth recipe — soaking in milk — with a foot massage and hair therapy.

Te Amo
Take a colonial country house in a private-island rainforest, let Brit design guru Nina Campbell loose on it, and you get The Spa at Villa Nova in Barbados. Book now for the summer 2005 opening. Eight temple-like huts overlook a valley with multiple waterfalls (because one is never enough). World kickboxing champ Cengiz Dervis oversees the fitness program, as well as the beauty and medical treatments. No-nonsense visitors should opt for the bootcamp retreat (lots of sweating, interrupted only by lunch).

Just Desert
Can’t make it across the globe to decompress? The spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, in Phoenix, may only be a short flight away, but the desert spa is long on relaxation. Start the day with a hike. (Echo Canyon trail on nearby Camelback Mountain is a gorgeous killer; the views from Pinnacle Peak Park are worth the drive.) Reward yourself in the afternoon with a juniper-cypress friction massage (or — bliss — any massage with Rafael). Ponder the vastness of the valley from the infinity pool; then do some quality stargazing from the outdoor tub in your chic casita. Out-of-this-world relaxation. No passport necessary.