SPA AT MACARTHUR PLACE
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA
The bounty of Sonoma County’s rich agriculture is in full effect at MacArthur Place, a homey, luxurious hotel in the City of Sonoma. Naturally, the hotel’s restaurant and café make wonderful use of the local produce, and so does the spa. So much so, the MacArthur Place spa’s bodywork is billed as “farm to table massage.” This fresh notion comes from harvesting plants and flowers from the hotel garden and local farmers for signature treatments like the Citrus and Kale Masque (50 min/$140), which blends antioxidant-rich citrus with leafy-green nutrients to even skin tone and promote radiance. Men can find temptation in the male-specific Adam (100 min/$235), an energizing body treatment featuring the spa’s eucalyptus body scrub, a peppermint bath, and rosemary massage. You can immerse yourself in wine country with the Red Red Wine treatment (100 min/$235), comprised of red wine grapeseed bath, body polish, and essential-oil massage. Other fragrances and herbs on the treatment menu read like a farmer’s market roster: Sonoma olive oil, rose petal, lavender, bergamot, and vineyard wildflower. The spa spaces are pleasantly cozy, and feature a lounge, locker rooms, and co-ed steam room, plus a lovely hotel pool. There’s also the Garden Shop to browse locally made products so you can bring home Sonoma souvenirs that will spark sunny memories of your California dreaming. www.macarthurplace.com/spa
—Kelsy Chauvin
EDGEWOOD SPA
STATELINE, NEVADA
Venture up to the second floor of this chic, modern Lake Tahoe resort. The first thing you’ll experience is a sense of space; at 8500 square feet, the spa here is spacious and relaxing. Enter into a world of wood, stone, and other earth-inspired touches. Surrounded by natural beauty, the spa can’t help but reflect its setting. Try the Earth Connection Ritual (110 min/$350), a dry brush exfoliation heightened by essential oils like ginger, clove, cardamom, sandalwood, among others, followed by a basal stone massage. Not enough for you? It’s topped off (literally) with a peppermint/wild lime scalp treatment. The Sierra Stone Facial (80 min/$245) uses warm and cool stones from the lake for an invigorating treatment, while a Crystal Gemstone Massage (75 min/$260) incorporates quartz and amethyst, along with lemongrass, peppermint, and holy basil, into your massage. A Mountain Man Facial (50min/$160, 80min/$235) will leave your skin feeling young again, even if you’re really just a city slicker on vacation. As you relax after your treatment on the deck surrounded by pines, the Sierras peeking through in the distance, you’ll see where they get their inspiration. “It takes in the whole essence of what nature is,” says the young man who guides me around the spa, and his words couldn’t be more appropriate. www.edgewoodtahoe.com/spa
—Rich Rubin
Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho Spa
PRINCE GALLERY TOKYO KIOICHO SPA
TOKYO, JAPAN
Overlooking palaces where the Japanese prince and Emperor live, the treatments at the Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho spa take you above and beyond royalty. Check in first at the hotel (part of SPG’s Luxury Collection) on the 36th-floor, where the elevator doors open to a DJ spinning tunes in a sky lobby with 360-degree views of Tokyo separated by glass and fire elements. Arrive early for your treatment to take advantage of the spa’s two pools (one hot, one cold) and a dry sauna. As is common in Japanese spas, no swimsuits are allowed, and tattoos must be covered by seals that the spa provides. The cars 140 meters below look so tiny through the wall-to-ceiling windows that the bumper-to-bumper traffic snakes by meditatively. A signature and subtle hinoki scent tingles your senses and relaxes your mind throughout the spa. Hinoki extracts are also used for its antioxidant effects in the Kokutan Detox Treatment (60 min/$165), which adopts traditional Japanese techniques using an ebony cane as a massage tool to relieve muscle tension. The Men’s Skin Cleanse Facial (70 min/$240) uses top-of-the-line products from Swiss Perfection. I recommend adding a spa suite room ($55 per person) to any treatment for a post-treatment tea service and for extra moments of privacy (alone or as a couple). While local ordinances prohibit men and women entering the same bath in the spa suite room, cis gay and lesbian couples may enjoy the entire luxurious spa experience together. www.princehotels.com/en/kioicho/spa
—Allister Chang
TAVAI SPA
LE TAHA’A ISLAND RESORT & SPA
TAHA’A, FRENCH POLYNESIA
Most spas promise to take you away to a private oasis, but the Tavia Spa truly delivers, and in luscious Polynesian style. Comprised of a few simple bamboo huts that open to a tropical garden, the facility makes you feel like you’ve been cast away on a dreamy deserted island—and with no modern electronics, shelves of brand names, or even other guests in sight, you can lose yourself in the magic of your surroundings. The After-Sun Treatment (50 min/$150) relies on Tamanu Oil, a cooling salve made from the round green fruits you see in trees all around the resort, and a home remedy attested to by every local you ask. The Facial Treatment (50 min/$135) features a black pearl face mask, a nod to the coveted, lustrous gems pulled from the waters nearby, and your choice of moisturizing, age-defying and purifying elements. It’s easy to give in to the moment as the ointment is gently worked around your eyes. For pure pleasure, it would be hard to top the Polynesian Relaxing Massage (50 min/$140). The massage medium is local Monoï oil combined with one of four signature additives, though a clear winner is the creamy sweetness of vanilla. Called “black gold” on the island, vanilla is the prized export of Taha’a and, when used on your skin, it is touted for its hydrating and anti-aging properties. Strokes alternate between invigorating, muscle shakes, and luxuriant, head-to-toe sweeps up and down your entire body. As you hear birds calling and water lapping, a silky breeze off the lagoon brushes across you. It soon becomes clear, it is not just the masseuse, but the island itself is gently caressing your skin. www.letahaa.com/en-gb/spa
—Thomas Mizer
SPA BY JW, PARQ VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER, CANADA
Opened in 2017, the sleek, sprawling Parq Vancouver casino complex is home to not only a beautiful, crisp 329-room JW Marriott, but also its namesake spa. Situated on the 17th floor, officially designated the “wellness level,” it boasts a heated outdoor hydrotherapy tub, yoga areas, and chaise lounges. The Spa by JW is a bright, sunny affair that overlooks False Creek, BC Place stadium, and the globe-shaped Science World. There are steam rooms, lounges, and five treatment rooms decked out in creamy, soothing neutral tones, while the spa menu is divided into four categories: Calm, Indulge, Invigorate and Renew. Vancouver is pretty calm, and I’m itching to experience something that incorporates BC’s fresh natural wonders, so I opt for a 105-minute “Indulge” body treatment, the Douglas Wrap ($238). Vancouver’s Douglas fir tree, beloved for their pine-like scent, is infused with several elements used in the treatment: with bamboo and corn for exfoliation, and oils, gels and lotions. A mud wrap followed the exfoliation, and then a shiatsu foot massage for more relaxation (somewhere around here I nodded off). After the treatment, a heated pad was placed on my neck and back, and once in the relaxation room, taking in the gorgeous floor to ceiling views and bright Vancouver skies, heated pads were offered for my feet as well. I was tempted to make a day of it with the Invigorate section’s Jet Lag Cure massage (50 min/$119, 80 min/$176); the Men’s Facial (50 min/$119, 80min/ $176); and Calm’s ginger and black pepper oil Stress Relief massage (50 min/$119, 80min/$176), but a bike ride around False Creek and Stanley Park awaited! Lest I forget, adjacent salon The Glamoury offers a full menu of manicures, pedicures, makeup, blow drying/styling, and gentleman’s styling services ideal when prepping for a same-sex wedding, romantic dinner, or a night on the town. www.parqvancouver.com/wellness/spa-by-jw
—Lawrence Ferber
