SWEET…
The Spa at the Hotel Hershey
Pennsylvania, U.S.
Indulge in chocolate — without gaining a single pound. The Spa at the Hotel Hershey
lives up to its namesake with an assortment of decadent, chocolate-infused treatments. Built in the 1930s,
the hotel is perched on a hill overlooking the town of Hershey, Pa., known as “The Sweetest Place on
Earth.”
If that’s the case, then the spa is its mecca. Treatments include the Whipped Cocoa Bath
to soothe and soften skin, the Chocolate Bean Polish offering gentle exfoliation with cocoa bean husks, and
the Cocoa Massage, which gives the classic Swedish massage a chocolaty twist. To mark its 10th anniversary in
2011, the spa is also offering a Chocolate & Roses Decadence Body Treatment with nutrient-rich organic
roses, herbs and, of course, chocolate. With stained-glass windows and stunning views of the hotel’s gardens,
the spa is as sweet to the eyes as it is to the rest of the senses.
» chocolatespa.com
SALTY…
Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa Galway, Ireland
Located in the fast-growing Irish city of Galway,
the newly opened Salt Spa at the Radisson Blu is an otherworldly, cave-like space built from blocks of
natural salt from Poland and the Dead Sea. Soft music and amber lighting permeate the space, which features
salt waterfalls, stalactites, salt-covered walls and a thick layer of rock salt
underfoot.
In a type of treatment known as halotherapy, the
setting simulates the microclimate of a natural salt cave with the help of a dry saline diffuser. It creates
bacteriologically clean and germ-free air containing iodine, negative ions and natural salts. The resulting
environment is said to have healing properties, especially for those with such ailments as asthma, hay fever,
bronchitis, sleep disorders and eczema.
The spa can accommodate up to 10 people at a time
in reclining chairs for 45-minute sessions. Many choose to sleep or meditate, but there is also a library for
perusal and even a children’s play area.
» radissonhotelgalway.com
UNDERWATER…
Huvafen Fushi Resort, Maldives
Captain Nemo
could only dream of digs this grand. The Lime Spa at the Maldivian island resort of Huvafen Fushi is touted
as the world’s first underwater spa, and like Jules Verne’s intrepid mariner guests will feel as though
they’ve entered a subterranean world of hidden treasures and mythical
creatures.
Renowned for
its 43 land and overwater bungalows, Huvafen Fushi kicks the sea experience up another notch with the spa’s
two underwater treatment rooms. Accessible via a staircase, the rooms offer treatments such as “Escape,” in
which a self-heating mineral mud is applied to the back, neck and shoulders, and “Pulp Friction,” a
stimulating full-body exfoliation using botanical oil and mineral sea salts. All the while, guests are privy
to the enchanting sight of clown fish, stingrays, eels, nurse sharks and an assortment of other sea life
swimming by. Aside from the two underwater rooms, the Lime Spa also has six overwater treatment rooms with
glass-bottomed floors, a sauna, ice room and yoga pavilion. The ocean setting is mirrored indoors in the
spa’s decor, which evokes coral and sea sponges.
» huvafenfushi.peraquum.com
COLD…
Cryotherapy Centre
Aquacity, Poprad, Slovakia
Think Canadian
winters are cold? They’re no match for the bone-chilling temperatures that adventurous spa-goers will
encounter in Slovakia’s AquaCity, a geothermal waterpark and hotel complex located at the foot of the High
Tatras mountains. Opened in 2006, the resort’s CryoTherapy Centre is one of the world’s largest centres
offering cryotherapy, which aims to harness extreme cold conditions to encourage the body’s natural
production of enzymes and hormones, thereby stimulating the healing and regeneration
process.
The medically
supervised procedure begins with guests donning moisture-free clothing and a mask for the nose and mouth.
They then spend up to 30 seconds in an antechamber, which is set at a frosty –60 C. But that’s just the
warm-up (pardon the pun): The guest next enters through an inner door into the main chamber, which stands at
a positively polar –120 C. Shivering participants are instructed to move around the sauna-like space slowly
for a carefully regulated two to three minutes. After exiting, guests engage in an intense 20-minute workout
to bring up their skin and body temperature.
» aquacityresort.com•
Photo Courtesy: Hershey Entertainment and Resorts
