Imagine scented oils poured on thirsty skin while skilled hands pulse over tired muscles. Hot stones strategically placed along your back, penetrating like licks of fire. You may opt for aromatic bath water warmed to body temperature that envelops you or indulge in a facial or reflexology session. This is the ultimate — the pursuit of sensory pleasure. We’ve rounded up some of the best spa treatments around. Discover your own private sanctuary.
The Polished Gem Package at Sunstone: The Spa (www.hotwatercasino.com), at Agua Caliente Casino • Resort • Spa, offers a full-body scrub made from a blend of raw sugar, clay, and rose petals that smoothes the skin and prepares the body for a back, neck, and shoulder massage. Customize your experience by selecting one of three gemstone energy oils.
Champagne, grapes, sugar cane, citrus, and pumpkin come together in Champagne Body Sublime, a hydrating wrap that refines your skin, available at Agua Serena Spa (www.indianwells.hyatt.com) at Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa. Antioxidant rich with active emollients and exfoliants, the treatment leaves skin soft and radiant.
The Sacred Stones of Riviera Palm Springs’ SpaTerre (www.psriviera.com) uses heated volcanic river stones that provide healing warmth deep into your muscles. Once under the stones’ spell, you’ll soar to a new dimension of relaxation.
The Shirodhara treatment at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa’s Spa Desert Springs (www.spa.desertspringsresort.com) begins with warm oil poured over the center of your forehead (the “third eye”), followed by herbal-infused oils worked into the scalp that condition hair follicles. Facial therapy gently cleanses and moisturizes. Finish with a meditative hand and foot therapy.
At The Well Spa (www.miramonteresort.com) at Miramonte Resort & Spa, float in a pool of water heated to body temperature during the Agua Well treatment. In this womb-like weightlessness, muscles and joints rhythmically sway as innovative massage and stretching leads to full-body euphoria.
Enjoy hours of bliss at The Spring Resort & Spa (www.the-spring.com). The Morning Glory offers an Epicuren enzyme facial, followed by a detoxifying clay and sandalwood wrap and a half-hour aromatherapy massage. This treatment promises to brighten your day and leave you silken from head to toe.
Played too much golf or tennis? Sports massage therapy at La Quinta Healing Arts (www.laquintahealingarts.com) features compression and kneading techniques that work muscles and promote flexibility.
Therapeutic baths soak away aches and pains at Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa’s Spa Las Palmas (www.rancholaspalmas.com). Choose from a variety of soaks, including desert wildflower to soothe muscles and joints and chamomile to cool and pacify.
Some days call for simple things, like a classic Swedish massage at Spa Esmeralda (www.renaissanceesmeralda.com), located at Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa. Long rhythmic strokes and kneading of the superficial layers of muscles improve circulation, relieve muscle pain and tension, and enhance flexibility and relaxation.
Favorite Hollywood Haunt Resurrected
Movie producers Steve Markoff and Donald Kushner, along with Hollywood entrepreneur Elie Samaha and real estate investor Gidi Cohen, acquired the celebrity-studded Two Bunch Palms Resort & Spa (www.twobunchpalms.com) last spring, promising a multimillion-dollar renovation. This exclusive resort in Desert Hot Springs features a rock-wall compound with 52 private bungalows, natural hot springs, mud baths, and grottos. The naturally flowing thermal waters in the area are known for their purity and rich concentration of lithium, often considered nature’s mood stabilizer.
Clay Bake at Feel Good Spa
Ace Hotel & Swim Club
Spa Crawl
Within a half-mile of one another are two of the hottest spas in Palm Springs: The Saguaro Spa at the brightly hued The Saguaro Palm Springs resort and Ace Hotel & Swim Club’s trendy Feel Good Spa (www.acehotel.com/palmsprings/spa). Both ultra-hip resorts present an impressive menu of services, from specialty massages to scrubs, wraps, facials, and more. Add a little fun and festivity to your day by indulging in Feel Good Spa’s Clay Bake, a down and dirty mud party. Grab your closest friends and lather up in the wet warmth of healing dark earth. Down the street, The Saguaro Spa (www.thesaguaropalmsprings.com) entices with its Desert Essence Poultice Massage, offering pressure-point therapy enhanced by the moist heat of a wild-crafted compress of desert herbs.