After 2020 who doesn’t need to exhale, regroup and recharge. Start planning now your getaway retreat for next year. You deserve it. While maybe you want to go abroad to revive yourself, there are plenty of places on the East Coast to restore your soul. Here’s a peek at some of them.
PURE Spa at Pelican Grand Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale Make your way to the 11th floor rooftop to indulge yourself at PURE. This beachfront boutique resort’s spa is Scandinavian inspired. You’ll love the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the Atlantic Ocean which is visible everywhere––from treatment rooms to the locker room. It’s all about you. No two treatments are alike as the therapist and you will work together to personalize the service performed––whether it be a massage, body scrub or facial. Signature services include everything from the hydra therapy treatments generally found in doctors’ offices to the Royal Bathing Ritual––incorporating a unique MicroSilk® technology that cleanses, exfoliates and moisturizes the skin with an oxygen-rich blanket of micro bubbles upon submersion––Maria’s Mystical Dark Chocolate Indulgence, Papaya Body Dream, Vitamin C Boosting Facial and Slow Beauty Signature Pedicure. The spa also offers roof-top yoga.
The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Boston
This is the only Forbes Five-Star awarded spa in Massachusetts. The 16,000 square foot spa is a standout for its unique treatments like Synergistic Healing, a holistic treatment that combines Foot Reflexology and Polarity Therapy. These two techniques work in synergy to provide a deeply relaxing and meditative experience, helping to alleviate muscle pain, mental and emotional stress and provide an improved sense of well-being. If you’re a millennial you’ll want to pamper yourself with Millennial Posture Therapy, a specific upper body massage that combines deep tissue work, trigger point therapy, heat application and stretching that is designed to help alleviate symptoms and address postural issues brought on by the heavy use of electronic devices.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, Pennsylvania
Nemacolin, snug in the countryside, is about decompressing. The Holistic Healing Center and Woodlands Spa are destinations in themselves. Hot-stone massages, virtual reality, energy-balancing crystals, CBD massage and services like the Ritual Facial, a five-phase session, where full body balance is achieved by embracing and incorporating the five earth elements. Treatment begins with a ceremonial herbal smudging, a relaxing back exfoliation and bronze Kansa-wand massage treatment on back and face. An enzyme facial exfoliation is followed by the application of a gemstone infused gold masque to firm and restore suppleness. The finishing touch to this experience is an invigorating scalp massage.
The Spa at Primland, Meadows of Dan, Virginia
The scenery sets the stage for scenery. Primland is a boutique resort set on 12,000 acres of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia. The spa honors the Native American people who used to live on the land with ceremonial and healing traditions, incorporating the four directions and four elements (earth, wind, fire, and water). Feathers are used for clearing in the Primland Signature Massage. A turquoise stone, specific oils, and massage movements related to the Medicine Wheel––a sacred ring of stones used by Native tribes for ritual and healing purposes––are all incorporated. Take your pick of staying in a treehouse, mountain home, cottage or the uber luxe lodge. Beyond the spa refresh your spirit with nature walks, the fitness workout trail, fly fishing, yoga and stargazing.
Tierra Santa Healing House at Faena Hotel, Miami Beach
This is not your run of the mill spa. A visit to Miami’s first South American-influenced spa starts with hand-cut Tierra Santa soap and a therapist-guided ritual through powerful, rejuvenating showers. Spread across 22,000 square feet, the spa takes up the entire third floor of the hotel. It has the largest double-height hammam in Miami, an herbal steam room, and a tepidarium with heated stone beds. When you want to get a workout in, try the spa’s state-of-art gym, 1,000-square-foot movement studio, or daily outdoor fitness classes. The spa’s own product line, made with ingredients from the Amazonian rainforest, is an added perk. Treat yourself to the spa’s healing arts that include shaman-inspired therapies and Pranic healing.
The Lodge at Woodloch, Hawley, Pennsylvania
How fast can you say relax? The innovative treatments here will do just that. Take for example Float Therapy, a hydrotherapy experience that provides a profound sense of relaxation and weightlessness with immediate healing qualities for the body, mind and soul. The float cabin can be used as a sensory deprivation experience, as the water and solitude removes sound, light, and outside stimulants to allow for a unique meditative state. You can also stimulate the senses by adjusting the lighting and music. How can you go wrong with the Blues Be Gone massage ritual? The Swedish massage incorporates ginger root oil and acupressure techniques that ease muscular stiffness and unwinds emotional tension. Consider too, Vibrational Sound Therapy that combines powerful vibration and sound to induce an immediate relaxed state. You’ll experience sound waves by direct placement of therapeutic singing bowls on your body. The gentle vibration and soothing ambient tones encourage a deep meditative state.