Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008 - (Page 36)

As luck would have it, your clients who haven’t visited Esperanza before are in for a treat: The spa was just expanded and features 14 rooms including a VIP suite with private access. While the Esperanza massage is the most requested treatment (Connie Ruiz is the must-book), the spa’s signature treatment is the Corona Beer Face Lift—no joke. The 75-minute procedure refines the pores while simultaneously tightening and lifting the skin. Past recipients of the procedure jest you don’t even have to show ID. Esperanza has also just launched the sensual Pasión de la Noche program, romantic couple treatments that promote relaxation and reconnection. After, couples return to their candle-lit casita met by a plate of goodies, a Damiana nightcap and specially blended massage oils. Spa treatments should be booked ahead of arrival to the resort. Luxury travel adviCOUPLES TREATMENTS at Esperanza (above) make the perfect outdoor connection. LOMA DEL MAR (shown here) boasts a 68-foot outdoor thalasso pool. sors should funnel all questions toward Spa Director José Ramon Garcia (jrg@esperanza resort.com.mx; 011-52-624-145-6472). He can clue you in on the spa’s line of Arcona products and its famous Aqua Frescas, made from indigenous Mexican fruits, vegetables and desert plants. Below the Baja on the southeast coast of Mexico’s mainland is the Loma del Mar Resort (www.lomadelmar.com), one of Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s newer members, in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo. Your A-list spa seekers will be excited to know that the property has just unveiled the Thalasso Spa and Wellness Center, which, it says, is the largest and most extensive such facility in North America. The centerpiece is a 68-foot outdoor thalasso (therapeutic saltwater) swimming pool/spa, which includes hydro-air-massage chairs, four hydro-massage beds, volcanichydro-massage systems for both feet and legs, overhead water spouts for neck, shoulder and back therapy and even a controlled water current for aerobic in-place swimming—this is a water wonderland come true. A separate spa center houses massage and treatment rooms, sauna, steam and a soothing flotation chamber that has therapeutic benefits comparable to those extracted from the Dead Sea. Past guests vie for the delicate touch of Spa Therapist Patricia Hernandez and the Baño de la Reina Cleopatra (Queen Cleopatra Bath) with special donkey milk solutions. In addition to the thalasso pool is a 100foot infinity-edge swimming pool featuring two overhead fluvial duckbill spouts and two jet spouts for neck and shoulder hydro massage. Need a break from the aqua assault? The end of the pool features a swim-up bar with submerged bar stools. While the spa facilities are the focal point of the Loma del Mar stay, the property’s accommodations are on a comparable luxury level. The property itself is intimate and not overbearing, with only 16 1,500-square-foot luxury suites and penthouses spread among four buildings that are nestled amid palm trees, lakes and tropical flora and offer vistas of the surrounding hills. The top accommodation at the resort is the Presidential Suite, which boasts a private Jacuzzi on the terrace. 36 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | October 2008 http://www.lomadelmar.com

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Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008 Contents Publisher's Letter Editor's Letter Glasgow Greece & Cyprus Private Islands Park Hotel Weggis Mexico Private Yachts MS Europa Coastline Travel Awards of Excellence The Pulse Just Back Luxury Travel Expo Sightings Source List

Luxury Travel Advisor - October 2008

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