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ADVENTURE SPA | Arizona dietitian wants guests to maintain healthy lifestyle

Lots of spa retreats do a great job getting guests to eat right and exercise while they’re there. But as soon as they get home and unpack, it’s back to nightly dates with Ben & Jerry and other bad habits.

Devon Metz watched this pattern play out repeatedly during her years working at some of the most high-end destination spas in the country.

Ellen McGann (left) and her hiking group take a snack break. There were hikes for beginners as well as advanced trekkers.

PRICE: Devon Hiking Spa vacations cost $2,900 per person, based on double occupancy. Solo travelers tack on $500 for their own room. The price includes five nights at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, all meals, two spa services, airport departure shuttle, backpack, pedometer and other little extras.

DATES: Eight trips are scheduled this year. They are: May 23-28; June 25-30; July 11-16; July 25-30; Nov. 16-21; Nov. 30-Dec. 5; Dec. 7-12; Dec. 14-19

FOR MORE INFO: Call (888) 823-2303

The 31-year-old dietitian and fitness instructor figured there had to be a better way to help guests keep a healthy lifestyle going long after checkout. Late last year, Metz began offering six-day getaways aimed at just that. Held in the sunny, Southwest city of Tucson, Ariz., Devon Hiking Spa vacations focus on nutrition and fitness in a “real world” way, Metz said.

“Most places just put a plate in front of you and you’re not really learning how to eat out and make the right choices,” she said. “We take people out to real restaurants each night and have them navigate the menu. We do a supermarket tour and learn how to really read the ingredient list.

“We try to do the same thing with exercise,” Metz added. “We’ll use a resistance band instead of heavy equipment and give them the band to take home with a list of exercises to do.”

The idea of a week away from the office hiking past saguaro cacti in the Arizona mountains, learning how to have a better diet and enjoying some relaxing massages sounded like the perfect escape to Ellen McGann. This Hinsdale banking executive deserved an escape. The 48-year-old mother had recently wrapped up eight rounds of chemotherapy and 28 radiation treatments after having surgery for breast cancer.

“I viewed it as the ultimate detox,” McGann said. “I’d wanted to do a health spa thing my entire life. I thought, ‘Why not just take a week off work and focus on myself, focus on diet, exercise and healthy living?’ “

McGann was one of 12 who signed up for the inaugural Devon Hiking Spa vacation in December. Most of the guests were women, ranging in age from their late 20s to 50s. And most were like McGann, traveling on their own. Base camp was the swanky Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

A typical day started around 7 a.m. with a half-hour of stretching followed by breakfast in the hotel. Then it was time for an hour-long class that usually revolved around nutrition. After that, everyone laced up their hiking boots and hit the trail, where people had the option of choosing between guided hikes for beginners or advanced trekkers.

Guests who wanted more of a fitness fix could take a post-hike class in pilates, yoga or strength-building resistance bands and then treat their sore muscles to a massage; two spa treatments came with the package.

In the evening, everyone got together for dinner at a local restaurant to practice what was preached.

“Every night before dinner we went over what to order, what questions to ask,” McGann said. “You do things like mindful eating exercises, where you put your fork down between every bite.

“A lot of the stuff I learned I came home and taught my husband,” she added. “We tend to go out to dinner a lot. I’m not afraid anymore to ask the restaurant for something special, like putting the sauce on the side or skipping the breading. My husband’s lost about 15 pounds since I got back.”

During her stint in Tucson, McGann tried Pilates for the first time. She liked it so much, she now does it once a week. She’s also making a weekly visit to a personal trainer.

“I’m still working on the exercise thing,” McGann said. “It’s my worst category.”

About once every three weeks, McGann gets an e-mail from Metz asking how she’s doing and whether she’s meeting her goals.

“I love the follow-up,” said McGann, who plans to show Metz her progress in person when she takes another Devon Hiking Spa vacation later this year.

McGann finished her cancer treatments a year ago this month.

She said that when you’re in the midst of battling something as formidable as cancer, “you don’t feel like you’re ever going to get on the other side . . . focusing on myself and my health during that week helped push me to the other side.”

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Find A Spa or Search the right Pennsylvania spa just for you

A 350-room indoor destination resort with a 60,000 square foot water park and family entertainment sphere was announced Monday by Bridgeville USA LLC. The company plans to build the facility, which anticipates employing 250 full- and part-time people, on 18 acres off Rt. 17 exit 107 in Bridgeville, PA.

The project has been dubbed Sandstone Resort at Hudson Valley.

“Indoor water parks are becoming very common in many areas of the country. Their popularity is largely based on the family-friendly getaways that can be had relatively close to home every day of the year in a beautiful 84-degree setting,” Richard Coleman of American Resort Management, the company chosen to operate the facility.

The resort will also include a spa featuring anti-age treatments and advanced DNA testing, a high definition 4-D theater, expanded resort amenities, acidities, shopping and several “interactive dining options.”

The company hopes to break ground this fall and open in the summer of 2009. Coleman said they are about to start seeking the local planning approvals for the project.

 

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South Carolina golf vacation hotspots Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Hilton Head know a spa visit is an essential part of a golf trip for women golf travelers. With that in mind, we pair up golf courses women love with nearby spas.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - It’s obvious since the first gutta percha golf ball was struck - a bad slice, by the way - that men and women view the game of golf very differently.

For men, it’s all about out-driving your buddies for bragging rights, humiliating your opponents and maybe winning some money along the way. For women, it’s all about the outfits.

Just kidding. But it is true that women often consider factors different from men when choosing a golf course. For the most part, women don’t like beastly long courses or forced carries.

The same is true for post-round pursuits. Women want to refresh and rejuvenate. Men want to drink and make excuses.

This story is for the women and many of the men who are getting into spa treatments. Here are some of the best combinations of golf/spas in South Carolina:

Myrtle Beach

Women-friendly courses

• Willbrook Plantation on Pawleys Island.

• King’s North at Myrtle Beach National.

• Willard Byrd Golf Course at Sea Trail Resort & Golf Links in Sunset Beach.

Spas

• Mystic Garden Day Spa (5903 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, tel. (843) 449-2247) gets good reviews from women who have experienced it. The spa offers shiatsu, which is rhythmic pressure three to 10 seconds on specific points along the body’s “meridians.” They also have synchronized massage, co-ed therapists, foot reflexology and paraffin treatments.

• VanEpps Rejuvenation (417 79th Avenue North, Myrtle Beach, tel. (843) 497-9699) was started by a retired physician who wanted to combine traditional spa amenities with a professional medical practice. That became known as “aesthetic medicine.”

It’s a “non-surgical, medical approach to beauty and anti-aging.” That includes “threadlifts,” non-surgical facelifts, mesotherapy, injections for fat dissolution and skin rejuvenation as well as more traditional spa techniques like massage, manicures and pedicures and waxing.

Charleston and Kiawah Island

• Osprey Point Golf Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

• Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms.

Spas

The Spa at Charleston Place• The Spa at Charleston Place (205 Meeting St., Charleston, tel. (843) 722-4900) in downtown Charleston - you don’t have to stay at the hotel to go to the spa. Guests get to use the health club, with its indoor/outdoor pool, Jacuzzi and steam room.

The spa has massage, manicures and pedicures, facials and other customized treatments.

Plus, when you’re through, you have all of those great, downtown Charleston shops.

• The Earthling Day Spa (245 East Bay St., tel. (843) 722-4737), located on Ansonborough Square in Charleston’s historic, newly renovated east side, has pilates, which for those of you who aren’t hip to new spa trends, involves exercise designed for long, lean muscles while enhancing strength, agility, tone and flexibility.

The Earthling has the usual array of massage techniques, like therapeutic, aromatherapy and hot stone, as well as an “Eco Venus sugar glow” and “milk and honey envelopment.”

Hilton Head Island

• Golden Bear Club at Indigo Run.

• Palmetto Dunes, Robert Trent Jones Oceanfront Course.

• Okatie Creek at Sun City Hilton Head.

Spas

The Heavenly Spa• The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa (2 Grasslawn Ave., Hilton Head Island, tel. (843) 681-4000) has the Heavenly Spa, set amidst gardens, fountains and lagoons.

The Heavenly Spa “celebrates the revitalizing benefits of the region’s herbs, minerals and customs.” It has nine treatment rooms, a couple’s suite with whirlpool, including a women-only, beauty salon, locker room with steam and sauna, and men’s, women’s and co-ed relaxation rooms.

• The European Spa has an oceanside massage at Marriott’s Surf Watch resort (5 Grasslawn Ave., tel. (843) 682-3915), close to the beach at the Barony Beach Resort.Experience distinctive decors, imaginative dining, and attentive service at Renaissance Hotels & Resorts.

The spa has the usual assortment of massage, plus “balancing bliss,” a deep massage for face, scalp and body with visualization and relaxation techniques. It also has the “medi-spa” massage, which is unique to the European Spa, and is designed for people who are suffering from chronic or acute muscle or joint pain, inflammation, stiffness swelling or other injuries.

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A ninety-nine per cent organically-sustainable luxury adventure eco spa and resort is due to open in May in the Yukon Territory of Canada.

The Eco Spa & Resort has been masterminded by Perfect Earth Tours company and will be located in the Whitehorse region.

The resort will have no permanent structures – it will be dismantled at the end of each season in September and only minimal fossil fuel-related items will be used.

The emphasis will instead be placed on alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal and river power. The spa will be located in two teepees, which will include treatment beds, a fireplace, supplies and a dressing area.

There will also be a separate sweat lodge. Saje natural products will be used as well as Anna Sova organic linen. Some of the ecological guidelines the spa will follow include the support of local organic businesses and running vehicles on bio-diesel.

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What better way to escape the chill of winter than winding down at a spa, with TripAdvisor, the online travel site, coming up with a list of the top 10 world spas according to its readers. All four- or five-star properties, these spas offer relaxing and opulent settings where travellers can unwind, detoxify and invigorate their minds, bodies and spirits. The USA has taken four of the Top Ten Spa positions.

This list was compiled by TripAdvisor and is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, Ojai, Calif.: About 65 kilometres south of Santa Barbara, the mission-style Ojai Valley Inn and Spa features a 31,000-square-foot spa village. Engage in about a dozen varieties of massage treatments and indulge in the spa’s signature Kuyam mud treatment.

2. Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Interlaken, Switzerland:

3. The Lodge At Woodloch, Hawley, Pennsylvania: Surrounded by forest in Pennsylvania’s lake region, just 150 kilometres from New York City, The Lodge at Woodloch embraces nature, with sweeping windows and whirlpools with woodland views.

4. Les Sources de Caudalie, Aquitaine, France:

5. Como Shambhala, Bali, Indonesia:.

6. Canyon Ranch Lenox, Lenox, Massachusetts: Set in the New England Berkshires, Canyon Ranch boasts a beautiful spa complex around a grandiose Italianate mansion. For the nature lover, spa aficionado, relaxation or health seeker, this spa has numerous outdoor activities, healthy gourmet dining and personalized programs.

7. Casa Palmero at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach, Calif.: Located in the Del Monte forest, Casa Palmero at Pebble Beach is a Mediterranean-style, two-story villa with trickling fountains and a neighbouring exquisite spa. Get off to a rocky start by indulging in the Pebble Massage, where smooth stones are used to relax and release tension.

8. Lausanne Palace & Spa, Vaud, Switzerland:

9. Hotel Le Mirador Kempinski Genfer See, Vaud, Switzerland

10. Schlosshotel Buehlerhoehe, Buhl, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany:

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