Treats for Two

By Judith Lazarus

This Valentine’s Day treat your sweetie to a day or night of spa decadence.

A spa is the perfect place for couples to escape their everyday lives, to let go of stress and move forward in their relationships. Below are some couple’s treatments sure to rekindle romance. To receive the optimum benefit, allow at least an hour before your scheduled treatments to soften yourselves up with the pools, steam rooms, saunas, and other facilities that spas generally provide free of charge with a treatment.

GET WHAT YOU WISH FOR

Toss your magic coin into the Well of Desires at the Tuscan-inspired Spa Gaucin at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, California, and wish for a relaxing, romantic interlude, it will come true with Aromance. Before your Swedish massage, share a big tub for two next to the fireplace in your cozy deluxe spa suite. Spa Gaucin’s treatments, which utilize such fresh ingredients as organic honey, oranges, raw sugar crystals, and lavender, are custom blended, and guests get to select their flavor from the Custom Bath Buffet.

For more information call (800) 722-1543 or visit www.stregismonarchbeach.com.

OM OM GOOD

Stretch your bodies and minds in a private couple’s yoga session at Splash Spa in the Four Seasons Miami’s Sports Club LA. Whether you are experienced practitioners or beginners, you’ll take turns supporting each other’s yoga poses and work collectively to create new yoga postures. Then it’s into a couple’s suite, where you will lie side-by-side while you each receive a hot stone massage.

For more information call (800) 332-3442 or visit www.fourseasons.com/miami.

USE YOUR INTUITION

Get in touch with each other through an Intuitive Touch session at El Monte Sagrado Living Spa. Reiki Master Christina Voss personalizes energy work for couples and employs Reiki touch, intuitive readings, Sutra meditation, and guided visualizations that are ‘guided by spirit’. The experience just might give you fresh insight into your soul’s progress, as well as your soulmate’s. A spiritual medium and intuitive empath, Voss is said to leave clients with a “comforted heart, enlivened spirit, and awakened soul.”

For more information call (800) 828-TAOS or visit www.elmontesagrado.com.

BEACHY KEEN

It’s romantic just to be by the ocean, and you can enhance the mood with a guided morning beach walk at Gurney’s Inn & Spa. It’s the only place in the continental U.S. where you can experience genuine thalassotherapy. Share the Marine Kur Therapy, which includes a loofah scrub for exfoliation, a thalasso soak in filtered seawater for muscle relaxation, and a seaweed wrap for toning. After a Swiss shower, revitalize with a soothing spritz of marine lotion.

For more information call (631) 668-2345 or visit www.gurneysinn.com.

MOUNTAIN HIGH

Against the backdrop of the snow-covered North Cascades, Washington’s Sun Mountain Lodge offers couples the aptly named Double Decadence treatment. In a room filled with soft music and candlelight, play footsies in an herbal foot bath while you indulge in chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne. You may think you’re relaxed, but just wait until you’ve finished with the 90-minute full-body massage.

For more information call (800) 572-0493 or visit www.sunmountainlodge.com.

FOR VINO LOVERS

Nestled high above the legendary Napa Valley, Auberge du Soleil caters to your every need in their acclaimed Spa du Soleil. Book the Melisse Suite for either three or four hours of secluded bliss. The three-hour package includes a one-hour spa treatment for each person. One option, the Vineyard Head to Toe, which includes a full-body grapeseed oil massage, a grapeseed foot scrub, and a grapeseed oil hair and scalp treatment, is simply divine. After your massages, enjoy the private use of the Melisse Suite which features a hot tub and outdoor shower, as well as a Chef’s tasting plate and a half bottle of sparkling wine.

For more information call (866) 228-2490 or visit www.aubergedusoleil.com.

Do try this at home

Access your highest chakra by relaxing in the colorful and aromatic Lavender Fields Day Spa in Washington’s San Juan Islands. Or enjoy the following at-home treatment inspired by the adjacent fragrant fields of the Pelindaba Lavender Farm. Set the stage by covering your bed with lavender-colored sheets or towels. Light some lavender-scented candles in your bedroom and bathroom. Use lavender bath salts or bubble bath if your tub is large enough for two, or lavender gel or oil in the show-er. After your water treatment, use lavender body lotion or oil and take turns giving each other a massage. You may also wish to creatively employ lavender eye and neck pillows, lavender mist, as well as lavender tea and honey. But be sure to use laven-der products made with essential oils, rather than synthetic products. You can also add some romance to your be room the next time you do laundry. Essencia recently introduced lavender dryer bags that infuse your sheets with the soft scent of lavender.

For more information visit www.lavenderfields-dayspa.com.

For more information on Essencia call (318) 797-1075 or visit www.essenciaonline.com