Texas Two Step
Visiting Dallas and Houston this past summer was a study in contrasts. Both towns suffer urban sprawl yet maintain core amenities of big-city living. Dallas focuses on its Arts District, universities, and access to Hill Country ranches. Houston has The Galleria for serious shopping, downtown sports stadiums attracting big league events, plus space rockets and medical centers. Comparisons stop there. Yet, I was intrigued by the comment of a Dallas-based editor at Texas Monthly magazine that he and his wife frequently drive to The Houstonian hotel for an urban escape. Country music fans might call it a Texas Two-Step.
Trellis Spa at The Houstonian
Calling The Houstonian a hotel is like describing the Queen Elizabeth II as a ship. Set in a gated, wooded area, The Houstonian boasts one of the nation’s top fitness centers and, in my opinion, the best new spa in Texas. After a workout, you’re treated to some of the most sophisticated pampering in the Southwest.
Trellis – The Spa at The Houstonian – draws inspiration from nature. The water-themed two-story spa building adjoins the Houstonian Club fitness facility. A tiny river runs through the spa’s ground-floor relaxation lounge, and spacious whirlpools are in each locker room. Trellis features nineteen treatment rooms spread over 17,000-square feet. Over-sized suites custom-designed for couples feature two treatment tables, couples showers, and tubs. You can do lunch in a fluffy cotton robe, or snack on fruit and muffins at one of the complimentary coffee bars.
Enjoying the woodland view as my feet and hands succumbed to a Phytomer seasoak, the city seemed far away. Treatments that incorporate products by Decleor and Phytomer are featured at Trellis. And for the first time in the Southwest, you’ll find the Parisian Carita Maison de Beaute facials.
A special hideaway in the heart of Houston, the 288-room hotel feels like a grand Texas lodge in Hill Country. A favorite of celebrities (George and Barbara Bush had a private pad here during their White House tenure), the property features fifteen racquet courts, a rock-climbing wall, basketball hoops, and outdoor swimming pools. Golfers also receive a discounted green fee at an affiliated country club. And there is a complimentary shuttle to the Galleria for retail therapy.
The Houstonian Club takes workouts to a new level. Arrayed in a vast arena are more than 200 cardiovascular and strength-training units, including some of the newest machines for serious exercise, all of which are surrounded by a jogging track. Personal trainers (thirty are on staff) offer assistance. With more than 10,000 members, classes are offered throughout the day, from yoga to Pilates. Sign up for a session in the boxing ring, or with a nutritionist.
The ultimate pleasure of staying at The Houstonian is dinner in its Mediterranean-themed Olivette restaurant. From the big, open-to-view kitchen comes an array of signature dishes like seared five-spice loin of salmon, roasted quail salad, and lavender honey-glazed veal loin medallions. Executive chef Jesse Llapitan (newly arrived from the St. Regis in Los Angeles) treated us to dessert: black-salted vanilla ice cream with roasted mango, accompanied by Champagne Veuve Cliquot demi sec. Forget the diet; this is what fine food and wine are all about. For more information call (800) 231-2759 or visit www.houstonian.com.
Doing Big D, From A to Z
When Dallas-based Wyndham International acquired The Golden Door several years ago, plans were announced to replicate the California destination spa at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel, Dallas’ largest convention complex. Construction is on hold until possibly next year. So members of ISPA attending the spa industry show and conference at the Anatole in October will workout at the hotel’s spacious Verandah Club. For more information call (212) 748-1200 or visit www.wyndham.com.
The Cooper Aerobics Center focuses on wellness. Colonnaded colonial-style buildings welcome you to the thirty-acre campus twenty minutes from downtown Dallas, where the Cooper Clinic is a central pillar in one of the world’s top centers for preventive medicine. Founded thirty-five years ago by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., the clinic expanded over the years, adding a non-profit research institute, massive fitness center, and community membership. At the Guest Lodge, a sixty-two-room hotel with upscale comfort and healthy food – but no bar – guests have full use of the fitness center. You can check in for a check-up or simply enjoy a workout and spa treatments.
Tucked between the center’s locker rooms and Spinning studio, The Spa at Cooper Center has the antidote for muscular aches and pains: a Texan Sage Body Scrub, followed by a massage.
Often called the father of aerobics, Dr. Cooper authored the first study on aerobic exercise, published in 1968, at which point the young Air Force physician and former track star in his native Oklahoma started a worldwide fitness revolution. At seventy-two, he puts in a long day meeting patients and corporate sponsors, jogs regularly on campus, and lectures worldwide. “Did you know,” he asked, “that in Brazil running is called ‘coopering’ or ‘doing the cooper’?” Keeping preventive medicine in the family, his son Tyler joins the Cooper Clinic next year. (See related interview, page 46.)
Beyond The Greenhouse
For ladies who lunch, going to The Greenhouse is a rite of passage. Mothers bring daughters, harried young professionals mix with senior citizens. “Privacy is primary,” says Lee Katzoff, president of The Greenhouse, so we can’t mention names of celebrities who come to dry out and shed a few pounds. But elite spa-goers know this is the place for total pampering.
Founded by Stanley Marcus, head of Neiman Marcus in 1965, The Greenhouse defined a new style of Texan well-being. Your personal program is planned in consultation with a resident exercise physiologist, nurse, and esthetician. With no more than thirty-nine guests in residence, activities are always creative. Aerobics and tai chi are offered in the movement studio, and aquatics in the atrium pool. After a recent makeover, this elegant hideaway is better than ever. For more information call (817) 640-4000.
“Day spas in Dallas are seen by many women as an affordable alternative to vacations,” says Cerrie Segal, Dallas-based hostess of an ABC-Radio travel show. Cerrie escapes to Grand Spa International in Village on the Parkway Shopping Center. The relaxed atmosphere – especially the pre- and post-treatment lounge with TV, oversized couches, chairs and divans, each with several comfy pillows and a seafoam green fleece blanket to snuggle under – appeals to the busy broadcaster. A three-tiered plate with apples to nibble, and staff members offering you tea, coffee, water, and plenty of magazines, make for a really inviting sanctuary.
Choice of monthly specials at Grand Spa is creative – a Bahama package includes skin bronzing, a stress relieving massage, a specially priced bikini wax, and a 10 percent discount on home care products to maintain your Bahama tan. For more information call (972) 392-9393 or visit www.grandspa.com.
Caroline Rose Hunt, founder of Rosewood Hotels, is at home in Dallas, so you’re right to expect The Spa at The Crescent – A Rosewood Property – to be world-class. Resembling a French chateau, Rosewood’s upscale hotel dominates the Arts District skyline. The spa also features Lady Primrose, a new private skincare brand exclusive to Rosewood properties, The Lanesborough in London, and St Regis hotels.
Golfers enjoy the best of both worlds at the Four Seasons Resort & Club in suburban Irving. Opened in 1986, the Las Colinas Spa entrance is stunning with stone arbors draped in wisteria and hibiscus. Candlelight soothes you in hydrotherapy baths scented by neroli oil and linden blossoms. Signature treatments include Cactus Contouring Body Glaze, Blue Corn Body Polish, and a Pumpkin Enzyme Facial. Their large membership enjoys scheduled aerobics and water exercise sessions, and rooftop lunch service. The club features a twenty-five-foot indoor lap pool, indoor tennis and squash, plus outdoor pools. Scheduled next year: a multi-million-dollar makeover. For more information call (800) 332-3442 or visit www.fourseasons.com/dallas.
Dallas gets a bad rap from hipsters. Downtown is dead at night, they say. Not at the new Hotel ZaZa. Packed on a Friday evening, it’s Morocco gone shag-a-delic with naughty Helmut Newton photos in the halls, and carved, painted masks on bedroom doors. Amid thirteen themed suites, stay in the Zen room or Out of Africa, steps from the spa. Enjoying skyline views, the smallest spa in Texas has just two treatment rooms and a hydrotherapy tub. Spa manager John Jenkins says they’re the first outside Los Angeles to offer treatments with Ole Henriksen skincare products. Celebrity chef Stephan Pyles is behind the hotel’s daring Dragonfly restaurant, a mix of Mediterranean cuisine with Asian accents, served with theatrical flair in a Bedouin tent straight out of Hollywood. Minutes from museums and architecturally stunning Myerson Symphony Hall, ZaZa is a real urban escape. For more information call (800) 597-8399 or visit www.hotelzaza.com.
September/October 2003
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