Destination Spa Vacations with Michelle

Living at the Spa

Imagine living in an environment where everything you do and see enhances your life and well-being. Sounds like utopia, right? Actually, it is the idea behind Residential Spas. Connect the spa -- fitness, healthy cusine, activities, education and body treatments -- to everyday living. Literally, living at the spa and making it part of your daily life. For many people (myself included), this kind of streamlined access to the spa lifestyle is a dream come true.

Several models and versions have emerged in the Residential Spa market over the last couple of years. Some are residential only, while some have a hotel and others offer fractional ownership options. In my opinion, they are all great options. Similar to other types of spas, it's just a matter of which one best meets your needs.

Within the Destination Spa Group, the following Destination Spas have entered the market:

Canyon Ranch  A unique approach, Canyon Ranch is offering residential opportunities (luxury condominimums or homes) in their Canyon Ranch Living communities in Chicago, Miami, and Tucson.  In spectacular locales, buyers can own their dream home plus have access to every amenity, fitness choice and wellness opportunity of Canyon Ranch, the world’s premier health resort. The Canyon Ranch Living communities also include a hotel (Miami, Chicago) or resort (Tucson) for out of town visitors.

I recently had the opportunity to tour the Canyon Ranch Miami facility. I donned a hard hat since the property is still under construction. Thanks to my expert guides, I was able to see the kitchen, dining room, wellness center, spa, fitness rooms, and hotel. I'm pleased to report that everything that Canyon Ranch offers at its Destination Spa properties will be available to the residents and hotel guests at this new location. An extreme amount of detail has gone into this project and from everything that I witnessed, it will exceed expectations. This is very exciting for healthy travelers looking for more options in the Southeast as well as those looking for residential options.

The Hills Health Ranch The Hills is building an entire spa village on property, the first of its kind in Canada. The new community will provide the amenities you would expect in a resort village with the addition of a unique focus on health and well-being, and green & sustainable planning and design. The village will provide the possibility for a rich sense of community, whether among permanent residents or those who develop friendships over years of shared vacations.

In the new community you can choose a lot on which to build your own home - lakeside, adjacent to the lodge or on a view site, or select from a single family chalet, townhouse, or hotel suite. All units will have access to international award winning health, fitness & spa amenities & services of the Hills. Planning is well underway with a proposed construction start in 2008.

Red Mountain Spa The Residences at Red Mountain Spa is your way to own a piece of beautiful Red Mountain. Each Villa is graciously designed for comfort and design and of course value. The uniquely designed ownership program allows you to have access to your Villa year-round plus the piece of mind of Red Mountain Spa management.

Green Valley Spa  The residences will meet the highest standards of the United States Green Building Council rating system for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).  Owners can take pride in a complete ecologically sustainable home in a complete Eco-Village where every home has solar panels, energy-saving lighting and appliances, tankless water heater and the most efficient heating and air conditioning unit on the market.  In addition Green Valley has added many health and safety features to protect your family, including air and water purifier, carbon monoxide and fire alarms, and a fireplace sprinkling system in every room.  Green Valley is proud to offer quality that will help protect your family is immediate well-being but their future by building an environmentally responsible home.

I recently toured the Green Valley residences as well. Check out my October blog entry.

Some day, I hope to live full time in a Residential Spa. Until then, I'll do my best to keep up the healthy lifestyle at home and visiting Destination Spas for a tune-up at twice per year.

iSpa's Conference - so much more than spa products...

Each year, thousands of spa professionals - owners, directors, managers and suppliers - from around the world gather to network and learn cutting edge tips on where the industry is headed at ISPA's (International Spa Association) annual conference.  Unlike most conferences, ISPA's is always filled with excitement, passion, inspiration, pleasure, and a wealth of information. The tradeshow floor allows everyone to see, smell, taste, and experience all things spa and the education sessions are filled with information that can be applied to all parts of business and life. Here are a couple of my takeaways (in addition to all the products) from this year's conference.

Tradeshow - New & Interesting Products (maybe some ideas for holiday shoppers...)

• Bissingers Chocolates - yes, chocolate & spa do go together.  Bissinger's packages 7 chocolates in a box, designed to last a week if one chocolate is enjoyed per day. While deep in discussion with the chocolate master, I tasted several flavors. My favorites: 60% Dark Chocolate (I'm a purist) and Green Tea Truffle.
• Spa Ritual Nail Care - finally, vegan nail care products that are free of dbp, toluene, and formaldehyde. I polished my nails for the first time in many years while at conference.
• Microplane Foot Files - this was definitely one of my favorite finds. The same company that makes the microplanes that are used in the woodshop and kitchen, have taken their product to the spa market. The file exfoliates the feet, leaving them silky smooth. WARNING - I found this to be addictive.
• Lava Shell Massage - similar to a stone massage but with some improved services and benefits to the customer.  I definitely see this as one of the new treatments for 2008, especially for beach side locations.
• ZZZZZmersion - a sleep program commited to helping people reclaim a drug-free, good night's sleep. Both Red Mountain Spa and Rancho La Puerta use a customized ZZZZZmersion program.

Jim Collins, best-selling author of Built to Last and Good to Great

• To succeed you need to make sure that you are surrounded by the right people FIRST. Then, you can decide what you are going to do. Not the other way around.
• Everyone should have a NOT To Do List. Anytime you add something to your To Do List, you need to add to your NOT To Do List.
• Do what you are good at and what you are deeply passionate about!

It's time for me to finally finish this book that I bought and started reading (twice) last year.

Mya Angelou - poet, author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director

Dr. Angelou captivated the audience as she accepted the 2007 Alex Szekely Humanitarian Award. She shared several life stories, joked around, and chatted as if she had joined us for a cup of coffee or a camp fire gathering. The entire room was focused on her and her words, laughing and crying throughout the hour. Her message - remember to laugh and smile! To illustrate her message, she read "The Health Food Diner" - a poem which she wrote to remind herself of this same point. As a dietitian, this is one of her poems I've always enjoyed so this was extra special to hear it directly from Mya. My absolute favorite Maya Angelou poem that I'd like to share with everyone is Phenomenal Woman.

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
   
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelous is indeed a phenomenal woman and one of the highlights of this year's conference. 

NYC Spa Experience

If you are going to be in New York City this week, you need to check this out. Beginning October 31, SpaFinder will stage "The Spa Experience 2007", the largest spa event of its kind, free to the public, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. For four exciting days,Grand Central's Vanderbilt Hall will become the backdrop for an international gathering of the world's leading luxury spas, treatments, and products.

The Spa Experience 2007 will give you a taste of the spa lifestyle and the opportunity to book your dream spa vacation after talking to representatives from the world's leading spas. You may also be eligible to win one of several spa vacations raffled throughout the show. If you live anywhere near New York or will be traveling there this week, plan to attend and sample mini-treatments, taste spa cuisine, and make a reservation for your next spa getaway.

Four Destination Spa Group® members will be there, so be sure to visit them!

• Red Mountain Spa: Count Chocula hand and arm mask
• Rancho La Puerta: The art and science of myofascial release
• Spa Eastman (as part of Tourism Quebec)
• Hosteria Las Quintas (as part of Mexico Tourism)

For more information, visit www.spafinder.com/thespaexperience.

Green Valley Spa - New Hotel Residences

I've just returned from visiting the Destination Spa "mecca" of the United States - St. George, Utah. You may be saying Utah and just where is St. George? Yes. And St. George is located in the very Southwest corner of Utah, about 1.5 hourse NE of Las Vegas. Remarkably, there are three Destination Spas located in the St. George area which boasts a city population of 65,000 - Green Valley Spa, Red Mountain Spa, and Fitness Ridge Resort & Spa.

I managed to find three girlfriends, who have now coined themselves "The Spa Dames", to join me for this spa getaway. Christy & Angela visited The Heartland Spa last year and wanted to try another Destination Spa and Sarah was a "spa newbie", excited to share the experience. We all flew into Las Vegas on Wednesday night and departed for St. George early Thursday morning.

First stop - Green Valley Spa, a beautiful family owned & operated Destination Spa that has welcomed guests since 1985. Led by owner Alan Coombs, we toured the 4-Diamond (AAA) property in its entirety. I've toured the property numerous times so I was excited to see the changes. The highlight was a sneak peak at the new 3,500 sq ft Hotel Residences. They are exceptional in every aspect, built with guests and the environment in mind.

The suites have a comfortable modern appeal to them. Fireplaces, lush furnishings, the latest in high technology, endless amenities and a smart layout make you feel right at home and ready to relax. The interior includes a full kitchen, 2 master bedrooms (finally someone has figured this out), dining room, great room, washer/dryer and a fully equipped exercise studio (Cybex bike, free weights, infrared sauna, and massage table). And outside, each Residence has a private 1000 sq ft private courtyard with a 6-person jetted spa, BBQ grill, dining table, and a 30' x 60' community swimming pool. Truly unlike any hotel room...

As a self professed "environmental girl", I was ecstatic to see the efforts that Green Valley has taken to minimize the carbon footprint of the new suites. Green Valley has really gone green:

• Member of the US Green Building Council of America and an Energy Star Partner.
• All of the Hotel Residences are powered by solar collectors.
• All lighting and appliances are Energy Star rated to lower green house gas emmisions.
• Air conditioning & heating supplied by a 17 seer, 90% efficient gas furnace & refrigeration unit.
• Hot water is supplied by a gas tankless water heater, which is 50% more energy efficient thatn the traditional gallon water tank.
• All bathrooms are equipped with dual flush toilets which use 50% less water than standard toilets.

The Hotel Residences will allow guests to own a vacation residence (entire or one week fractional interest) at Green Valley through their ownership programs. If you are a regular spa goer - this is a very appealing offer. Contact Green Valley for more information.

After the thorough tour, we moved to the Horizon Dining Room to enjoy a leisurely spa luncheon. Green Valley has recently expanded their dining options to provide guests more flexibility and variety, so I was excited to see and taste the changes first hand. Since there were four of us, we each ordered something different. I enjoyed the soup du jour and salmon salad, both of which were excellently prepared and beautifully presented. We all agreed Christy's Mediterranean Vegetable Wrap was the best choice - absolutely delicious! I'm happy to report that Green Valley's new menu continues to offer the delicious healthy spa cuisine that Destination Spa goers enjoy and now there are even more options to choose from.

I'm always amazed by the attention to detail at Green Valley - the color of the day, pre-treatment spa ritual, private line of products, interior decorating & design, etc.. so I was anxious to see how The Spa Dames would react. As expected, they were excited about the unique spa treatment rooms, gorgeous decor, indigenous Green Valley Spa product line, and expansive amount of offerings (tennis, life coaching, golf, hiking, spinning, rock climbing, aura & chakra analysis, Pilates Reformers, etc.). Perhaps the Spa Dames will be visiting Green Valley for their next Destination Spa vacation.

For this trip, we move on to Red Mountain Spa...