Ahhhhh, the spa . . .

As more Americans seek ways to unwind, spas, cruise ships and even adventure tours are adding programs to help travelers heal their bodies and ease their minds.

By JUDI DASH
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 6, 2002

[Photos: Judi Dash] Against a backdrop of the red rock cliffs in Boynton Canyon, near Sedona, Ariz., Madhu Wolvecamp uses warm river stones in a massage technique on Pamela Young.

Call it coincidence, or call it karma.

Just when many Americans might be considering a kinder, gentler vacation that soothes psyches frayed by the traumatic events of 2001, resorts, hotels and adventure-tour operators are introducing programs devoted to nurturing emotions as well as bodies.

In 2002, healing activities and treatments once found mainly at quirky New Age centers will become standard offerings at mainstream places, both pricey and budget oriented.

"People want their vacation to be therapeutic as well as entertaining," said Melissa Scott, editor of Healing Retreats and Spas, a bi-monthly magazine that tracks self-nurturing trends.

"They're looking for experiences that comfort and recharge their battered nerves, so they can come back relaxed and restored," Scott continued.

"Since Sept. 11, especially, there's a more urgent need to be nurtured and healed -- a sense of no longer being able to put off taking care of ourselves."

Still, spas themselves felt the anxiety of the attacks and had a "huge amount of cancellations," said Susie Ellis. Ellis is co-owner of New York-based SpaFinder, the nation's largest reservation service for vacations to spas and resorts with health programs.

She told the Los Angeles Times last month that business is down perhaps by 10-30 percent at destination spas -- facilities that exist almost solely as therapy centers -- and 40-50 percent at resort spas -- those offering recreation activities such as golf.

The spas have responded with some mild price-cutting, whereas, "They weren't doing (discounts) at all last year," said Ellis.

But there has been growth the past few years in the number of facilities offering various therapies and treatments.

"We've seen a spa explosion in the last couple of years," says Lynne Walker McNees, executive director of the International Spa Association, or ISPA.

The organization, based in Lexington, Ky., claims a membership of 1,783 spa facilities and providers in 55 nations. That's 27 percent more than a year ago and nearly triple the number that existed three years ago.

There are about 5,700 spas in the United States, according to a study done last year for ISPA by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

About three-fourths of the nation's spas are free-standing, day-use facilities. But those attached to resorts and hotels are a growing category, composing the next largest group, about 8 percent of the total.

Perhaps just 75 are destination spas -- derisively termed "fat farms" by detractors -- according to the study.

The forerunners of the spa craze, these would include such well-known facilities as Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., and the Golden Door in Escondido, Calif. At these spas, clients typically check in for a week or more of low-fat cuisine, exercise and treatments.

Resorting to relaxation

Destination spas have loyal customers, but it's not a growing category. Too much time commitment, experts say. Instead, the growth is occurring in day spas and hotel-resort spas.

"You almost can't open a hotel without a spa anymore," says Pete Ellis, chief executive and the other co-owner of SpaFinder Co.

The factors behind the growth are many, experts say: aging baby boomers, the fitness movement, high-stress jobs and more male customers. Although the typical spa visitor is a woman 31 to 54, more men are joining in -- about 25 percent more each year for the past two years, McNees of ISPA says.

It's big business: ISPA reports that the industry takes in more than $5-billion a year. That's $2-billion more than the long-established ski resort business.

To stay current, many resorts have recently constructed sprawling spas with beautiful areas to relax before and after treatments -- solariums, pool patios or meditation rooms to sip tea and soak up inspirational vibes. These cozy nooks are to help guests continue the restorative experience for more than the hour or so of the actual therapy.

Many of the new spas are offering treatments that guests might have balked at as too weird a few years ago:

The Boulders, a swank -- and traditional -- golf resort north of Phoenix, has recently opened a branch of California's serenity sanctuary, the Golden Door. This 33,000-square-foot, pueblo-inspired spa offers yoga-for-golfers classes, a large outdoor labyrinth -- silently walking the paths is supposed to help you focus on tranquility -- and watsu, a massage performed in a warm pool; enthusiasts liken this to returning to the womb.

Maneuvering through the high ropes course at Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania is designed to increase the participants’ self-confidence.

Couples can have their massages side by side in special suites with private, whirlpool-equipped, outdoor patios, for cavorting or relaxing posttreatment.

Of course, if you want a round of golf, a room and a massage, you will have to ante up $500 a night per person.

Which makes it a relative bargain, at $585, to spend a full week at the Tennessee Fitness Spa, about two hours south of Nashville. Guests get three health-conscious meals a day, guided hiking, lectures on stress reduction and, for an $85 splurge, an hour-long chamomile tea wrap, which is supposed to calm you from the outside in.

Nemacolin, a Pennsylvania resort 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh -- which already offered golf, horseback riding and skiing -- recently redesigned its enormous Woodlands Spa along the principles of feng shui. This is the Chinese concept of balance and harmony of objects and spaces.

In addition to offering treatments that combine Native American, Asian and Indian healing techniques, the resort has constructed a 50-foot climbing wall and a ropes course, to increase guests' self-awareness through physical challenge.

One of the most ambitious resort undertakings is the new 24,000-square-foot Mii Amo Spa at Enchantment Resort, set amid the mystical red-rock canyons of Sedona, Ariz.

Guests staying at one of Enchantment's 222 rooms or the spa's own 16 in-house guest quarters can meditate in a grotto, guided by a Native American spiritual counselor. Massages are performed using warm river stones -- believed to harness the energy of earth, water and fire.

During the 60-minute Mii Amo Spirit Therapy, the therapist places crystals at strategic "energy points" on the body, burns fragrant herbs and chants a soothing blessing to promote balance and harmony.

The food's on you

Some of the therapies are even more eyebrow-raising, including a whole segment touting food used on the outside of the body.

Pennsylvania's Hotel Hershey has decided that external application of chocolate is the key to bliss. Guests bake in real chocolate fondue wraps, soak in whipped cocoa baths and get cocoa butter scrubs.

Dallas' posh Hotel Crescent Court gets a little spicier with its honey barbecue wrap, which is believed to be antibacterial.

Patrons who belly up to the spa at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and order a Cocktail Body Scrub will get doused with peach daiquiris, Kahlua, pina coladas or margaritas for exfoliation and detoxification, then will be released to the casino to retox.

Other innovative resort programs include laughter-as-therapy workshops at the Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas; an art studio where guests are encouraged to paint their way to wellness, at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, in Ojai, Calif.; and a traditional Native American sweat lodge, for releasing emotional as well as physical toxins, at the Vista Clara Ranch Resort in Galisteo, N.M..

Adults are not getting all the attention. The Greenhouse, a women-only spa near Dallas, runs Baby and Me weeks, where mothers and their infants get massages, participate in emotional bonding sessions and attend exercise classes that are designed so Mom can cradle Junior while working out.

At the Ojai Valley Inn's Kids' Camp, 3- to 12-year-olds meet in a teepee-like Chumash Indian hut to learn about ancient Native American legends and spirituality.

Debbie Stout and Phil Mitchell walk through the Labyrinth of the Golden Door Spa at the Boulders Resort, in Carefree, Ariz. This exercise is supposed to help participants meditate on tranquility.

One-upping wellness

Not to be squeezed out, health resorts that long have focused on mind-body matters are venturing into even more soulful realms.

The relatively inexpensive New Age Health Spa in New York's Catskill mountains (rates begin at $900 per week) offers Spirit Quest weekends, using Native American shaman practices to "reconnect with what is of true value in life." Guests join in a "healing drum and rattle circle," take a sacred hike and attend a fire ceremony.

In Big Sur, Calif., the renowned Esalen Institute -- long known for its touchy-feely consciousness-raising programs -- runs Wilderness Experience weekends. Hikes around the region's redwood canyons and wild coast include meditation, inspirational readings and silent contemplation along the routes.

African drumming rituals and free-flow dance sessions have been added to the roster of activities at Canyon Ranch in Tucson and Lenox, Mass. During a five-day program called "Sex: Body and Soul," couples try to deepen their spiritual and sensual connection through "soul gazing" (looking into each other's eyes while matching each other's breathing), mutual massage and some intimate homework assignments.

Adventure outfitters are offering "spa-faris," which incorporate spa treatments, yoga sessions and other opportunities for spiritual growth into hiking, cycling or canoeing itineraries. For instance:

Global Fitness Adventures, an outfitter that travels with its own chef, provides yoga, meditation and therapeutic massage -- but steers clear of sugar, caffeine and alcohol -- on its Ski 'n' Spa trips to Aspen/Snowmass, Colo., and on hiking excursions around Santa Barbara, Calif., and Sedona, Ariz. The company also runs Ageless Active Adventures for Seniors (60 and over) to the same destinations.

Earth Island Expeditions runs five-day canoeing and meditation trips in New York's Adirondack Mountains. It also has weekend retreats that integrate painting, yoga and nature meditations around northwest Vermont's Lake Champlain region.

Guests relax in the goo of the mud baths at Calistoga, Calif. Minerals in the mud are believed to detoxify the skin.

Inward Bound Global Adventures includes an aerobic-cum-spiritual workout called neuro-muscular integrative action on its two- to nine-day hiking trips around Santa Fe, the Canadian Rockies and West Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The combination of yoga, African dance, tai chi and other martial arts is designed to integrate mind, body and spirit.

Navajo guides lead Sierra Club explorations of sacred Native American sites and spiritual traditions on journeys -- some specifically for families -- to Arizona's Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

Prefer your epiphanies afloat?

You can find Pathways to Yoga classes and "chakra-balancing, soul-soothing" well-being massages on mass-market Carnival's ships.

The snazzier, pricier Crystal Harmony and Crystal Symphony offer "Inner Harmony" fitness classes on all sailings. During the year the cruise line will run a series of yoga, health and fitness theme cruises on Alaska/Canada and Panama Canal itineraries.

If you go

To find a healing escape mentioned here, contact the following; all 1-800 numbers are toll-free:

Boulders Resort/Golden Door Spa, Carefree, AZ; 1-800-553-1717; the Web site is www.wyndham.com.

Canyon Ranch; Lenox, Mass., or Tucson, Ariz; 1-800-742-9000; www.canyonranch.com.

Hotel Crescent Court; Dallas, Texas; 1-800-654-6541; www.crescentcourt.com.

Enchantment Resort/Mii Amo Spa, Sedona, AZ; 1-800-826-4180; www.enchantmentresort.com.

Esalen Institute, Big Sur, Calif.; (831) 667-3005; www.esalen.com.

The Greenhouse, Arlington Texas; (817) 640-4000; www.thegreenhousespa.com.

Hotel Hershey, Hershey, Penn.; 1-800-437-7439.

Lake Austin Spa Resort; 1-800-847-5637; www.lakeaustin.com.

MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV; 1-800-929-1111; www.mgmgrand.com.

Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa; Farmington, PA.; 1-800-422-2736; www.nemacolin.com.

New Age Health Spa, Neversink, N.Y.; 1-800-682-4348; www.newagehealthspa.com.

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa; Ojai, CA; www.spaojai.com; 1-800-422-6524.

The Palms, Palm Springs, CA; 1-800-753-7256; www.palms.com.

Tennessee Fitness Spa; 1-800-235-8365; www.tfspa.com.

Vista Clara Ranch Resort, Galisteo, NM; toll-free 1-888-663-9772; www.vistaclara.com.

Earth Island Expeditions; 1-800-793-4770; www.earthislandexpeditions.org.

Global Fitness Adventures; 1-800-488-8747; www.globalfitnessadventures.com.

Inward Bound Global Adventures; 1-800-760-5099; www.yogatrip.com.

Sierra Club Outings; (415) 977-5588; www.sierraclub.org/outings.

Carnival Cruise Lines; toll-free 1-888-227-6482; www.carnival.com.

Crystal Cruises; 1-800-446-6620; www.crystalcruises.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Check these resources:

Healing Retreats & Spas Magazine; (805) 745-5413; www.healingretreats.com; $19.95 for six issues/year.

Spa Magazine: Healthy Living, Travel & Renewal; toll-free 1-877-745-7195, www.spamagazine.com; $19 for six issues/year.

Fodor's Healthy Escapes (Fodor's Travel Publications; $20).

Healing Centers & Retreats, by Jenifer Miller (John Muir Publications; $16.95).

100 Best Spas of the World, by Bernard Burt and Pamela Price Lechtman (Globe Pequot, $19.95).

Spa Finder; 1-800-255-7727; www.spafinder.com. Largest spa booking agency in U.S.

Destination Spa Group; toll-free 1-888-772-4363; www.destinationspas.com. Large listing on member spas.

Spa Genie; www.modlife.com. Helpful Web site for choosing a health and healing vacation.

- Judi Dash is a freelance writer living in Beachwood, Ohio; information from the Los Angeles Times was included in this report.

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