Spa Vacations & Spa Experiences

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Spa Experiences . . . . . .
The Spa Experience can contribute greatly to a healthier lifestyle, indulging your senses and enhancing your health by helping you relax, de-stress and have fun.

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LaurieLee A. Rosser
Independent Professional
Travel Consultant - Calgary
403-509-9337
laurielee@travelmasters.ca

The word SPA has a wonderful exhilarating sound to it, as if someone invented it to describe health and energy! Lately, it's probably the most misused word in leisure and tourism today, and is being used to describe everything from hair salons to nail care emporiums.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary will inform you that it is "a place where there is a curative mineral spring". However, The British Spas Federation recognizes that today the word has to encompass many different elements, although the main criteria is the use of water.

In fact SPA is the name of a Belgian town amidst the Ardennes mountains which boasts several natural mineral springs which have been popular for their beneficial effect for thousands of years. There are many different types of "Spa", Day Spas, Destination Spas, and Hotel Spas - but the word should really be used to describe places that offer professional water-based treatments, and provide an environment of peace and calm.

SPA entered the language as the description for most natural springs, as well as for health resorts offering water therapy. A complete Spa Experience is far more than just a whirlpool bath, it is one that, through the use of water, imparts a feeling of well-being and cares for the mind and body. The word derives from the Latin "Sanitas per aquas" which means, simply, health through water.

Certainly both the Greeks and Romans understood the value of bathing in natural waters. The word used to describe therapeutic treatments using water is Hydrotherapy.

Beyond Wrapture was the first Day Spa to open in Kelowna and will continue to introduce unique, ancient arts to the Kelowna market place. Typically these types of services have only been available in busy hair salons or clinical massage

Visit Manteo Resort

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Spas in Mexico

Located on the sugar-white beaches of the Caribbean's Riviera Maya, Paraiso de la Bonita is a 14-acre oasis, carved from the tropical selva, and combining the elegance of traditional Mexican achitecture with the great Mayan culture that is a hallmark of this region.

For those guests seeking a sanctuary for the senses, The Spa at Secrets Capri offers the first and only of its kind in the Mayan Riviera, Mexico

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Avandaro Golf & Spa Resort
Situated in a lush natural environment amid a forest in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Guests stay in Junior Suites with fireplaces and terraces that over look nearly 300 acres of landscaped gardens and the fairways of an 18-hole championship golf course.

Hosteria Las Quintas Resort & Spa
Splendid 5-star resort and spa located within the heart of colonial Cuernavaca, long known as the "City of Eternal Springs". This elegant walled estate with its magnificent gardens, trees, fountains and sculptures offers the perfect ambiance for your mind and body to be in harmony with nature.

laurielee@travelmasters.ca

Hotel Hacienda Cocoyoc
A 16th Century sugar plantation restored to accommodate a luxurious modern resort with old-world charm and traditions. From the moment you walk through the fortress-like entrance you experience a sense of history complimented by luscious gardens, fountains, and bordered walkways.

Hotel Villa Bejar & Spa Tequesquitengo
A Moorish style hotel situated on a serene hillside on the shore of Lake Tequesquitengo. Spa guests stay in deluxe rooms with private balconies overlooking the lake.This unique spa is a first class full service facility offering diverse treatment programs devoted to nurturing the body, relaxing the mind and rejuvenating the spirit.

Mision Del Sol Resort & Spa
A special category hotel created to develop human consciousness and the process of self-awareness. This new age resort is an ecological paradise constructed with 100% recyclable materials. Its unique architecture style is handcrafted with all natural materials such as adobe, wood and stone. The resort features beautiful gardens, quiet ponds, an outdoor swimming pool, tennis, fully equiped gym, library, an oratory and a Temazcal (Prehispanic steam bath).

Spa Glossary of Terms

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