best spas
Sometimes I make lists to remember. I’ll write a list of to do items to check off. I’ll write goals for the week, 6 months, year or the next five years. Places I’ve been, or places I want to go. Past lovers. Hopes for the world. Things I’m thankful for. Friends I want to think about or reconnect with. Dreams that I want to write down and find later again and again, reminding me to manifest. Favorite moments. This list below is just a list of spas. I have enjoyed more than my fair share of spas. After breaking my back in a car accident when I was 17, my back just hurt when I traveled. So, at most of these places I just had massages while on the road. But, spas provided me with moments of health, and sometimes my best lists have been written after relaxing and recuperating at a spa.
I wrote a few insider tips from some of my favorite spa memories, plus recommendations for natural and organic treatments and products.
Buttermilk Falls Spa – Milton, NY
Best natural products and healthy treatment options. Amazing farm property on the Hudson River. Adorable alpacas.
Try: Millstone Farm Facial – utilizing house made ingredients grown at the farm right on their property.
More: ButtermilkFallsInn/Spa
Madrona Manor – Healdsburg, CA
Best balcony over-looking vineyards massage. This estate is beautiful. And, the food I have ever tried, with fresh-picked garden ingredients transformed into unique five star delights. I stopped to film here during the Sustainable Food Tour with Discovery and NPR.
Try: Seriously, enjoy a massage on the balcony and then eat lots of delicious food.
More: MadronaManor
Watercolor Resort Spa – Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Best location for post massage relaxation right on the white sand beach and emerald sea. A favorite place – love the rare coastal dune lakes.
Try: Deep Tissue massage – using deeper and more direct pressure – it hurts so good.
More: WaterColorResort/Spa
Grove Park Inn Spa – Asheville, NC
Best indoor pools – say yes to floating, staring up at the stars on the stone ceilings, and listening to the under-water music. All day.
Try: Maple Essentials Facial – infused with Bio-Maple Compound derived from the sap of the maple tree.
More: OmniGroveParkInn/Spa
Deluxe birthday facial at the Grove Park Inn spa #asheville @omnigrovepark #spa #travel
A photo posted by Dayna (@daynareggero) on
Green Valley Ranch Spa – Las Vegas, NV
Best spot to just feel fancy.
Try: Sugar Body Scrub – with seasonally-scented sugar scrub.
More: GreenValleyRanch/Spa
Woodhouse Day Spa – Denver, CO
Best educational experience – I learned a lot about self care during my time with the technicians here.
Try: Deep Sleep Massage – the only one of its kind massage, using warmed organic aromatherapy oils specifically designed for limitless relaxation.
More: WoodhouseDaySpas
Elaia Spa – Seattle, WA
Best eco-friendly location – inside Olive 8, Seattle’s first certified LEED hotel.
Try: Pacific Seaweed nourishing wrap packed with essential vitamins and minerals that promote detoxification.
More: HyattOlive8/Spa
Relais Bagni Masino Terme & Spa – Bagni di Masino, Italy
I don’t know if this place is still open because I couldn’t find details, but it is a favorite. Amazing hot spring pool and spa in the Italian Alps.
