Travel Agent - June 23, 2008 - (Page XII) SPA JOURNEYS Royal Hideaway Playacar, Riviera Maya (top); Half Moon, Jamaica (bottom left); and La Source, Grenada (bottom right) are just a few of the many resort spa options available in the Caribbean. enhance vacation experiences with SPECIALTY SPA TREATMENTS pa treatments create the pampered memories that put clients in the mood to book their next vacation with you. Following is a sampling of spa options in the Caribbean. Some spas pay commissions on pre-booked treatments. Clients who want to incorporate the spa experience into their vacation around the clock will enjoy the Half Moon resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Six new beachfront spa suites have a personal treatment room built into overnight accommodations. Nearby is the new 68,000-squarefoot Fern Tree Spa, highlighted by pools and waterfalls. A Spa Elder offers consultations on indigenous herbal therapy. Jake’s, an Island Outpost property in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, opened the Driftwood Spa in February, incorporating natural elements into the distinctive architecture. Hip treatments include Stoned Love (hot stone massage), Mocha Cocktail Rum Wrap and Treasure Beach Melon Drench. Also opened in February, the Health and Relaxation Center at Cobblers Cove in Barbados features a Bajan Chattel House design with fountains in the treatment rooms. The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas doubled the size of its spa, adding open-air cabanas S and a seafront terrace. Over-the-top treatments feature Prada Beauty products; the ultimate is the three-and-a-half hour Prada Beauty in Paradise package. For a jungle spa experience, send your clients to The Lodge at Chaa Creek on Belize’s Macal River. Birdsong enhances a massage in the thatch-roof rainforest cabana; body wraps use locally produced botanicals. Rainforest Medicine Trail walks explain the indigenous uses of native plants. A romantic couples massage at the Beachfront Sky Palapas at El Dorado Seaside Suites on the Riviera Maya includes mimosas served during sunrise massages and champagne with moonlight massages. Nearby, Azul Beach Hotel has a thatched massage palapa floating in the sea, reached by a long dock. Here, a flower foot soak precedes the fourhanded massage with chocolate body oil, enhanced by the sound of lapping waves. Mayan traditions are showcased at the newly opened El Cocay Spa at Hotel Marina El Cid Riviera Maya in Mexico. There are Mayan mud wraps, the Tuunich Sacred Stones Massage and the Temazcal Ritual, an herbal steam ceremony guided by a shaman. In Playa del Carmen, the Spa at Royal Hideaway Playacar features a golden clay body massage and a couples massage that is synchronized to the rhythm of Caribbean music. For clients who want super skin treatments, the Clarins Spa at Hotel PREFACE I Guanahani on St. Barthelemy incorporates active plant extracts in its products used in treatments like the Age Defying Facial, Radiance Facial and the Body Redefining Treatment. Indulge is an apt name for the new spa at Galley Bay in Antigua. It’s built on stilts over a peaceful lagoon in a bird sanctuary. Suggest the Caribbean Herbal Wrap and Coconut Oil Massage, or Sundowner for Two at sunset. Your male spa clients will love the barbershop and services geared for men at the new Maxim Bungalows in Cofresi, Dominican Republic. They can get a hot towel shave, scalp massage, gentleman’s facial or sports massage, then soak in the outdoor hot tub. At the recently reopened LaSource on Pink Gin Beach in Grenada, the Oasis Spa now features 17 treatment rooms and an extensive spa menu. This all-inclusive resort includes one complimentary spa treatment daily after arrival for guests over age 16. I —Kathleen M. Mangan XII
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