Luxury Spa Review

This review will cover 3 of the luxury spas that we have had the chance to visit. Since I have been trained as a luxury spa destination specialist, I rate each spa on the overall experience which includes so much more than just the spa treatment itself. A spa experience should truly begin the moment you enter the spa and are greeted by the spa front desk staff. The entire facility should have an environment of peace and tranquility. That to me is what separates a true spa from the store front hair salons that just happen to have a massage therapist on hand. The latter cannot claim to be a spa nor should it.

I am going to give reviews for the spas that are considered to be resort spas which are those either situated within a hotel or somewhere on the grounds of a hotel resort. I hope you find these reviews helpful and feel free to send any questions you have about any spa or the overall spa experience.

1. The Spa at Torrey Pines
This spa is at the top of my list for a variety of reasons. The spa truly engages you as soon as you enter the door. It is situated within the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.

The entire staff are an extension of the therapists themselves. As soon as you check-in, a locker room attendant escorts you to the appropriate areas to change into your robes while they also point out the different areas to relax while waiting for your actual treatment. The men's and women's areas are decorated similarly with rich whites and dark browns and soft leather chairs to sink into in the sitting rooms. I can speak in more detail of the men's side, but my wife assures me that the women's equals the men's. As a male, you have the option of changing and waiting in the men's only lounge which comes with those leather chairs I mentioned along with a large plasma television for watching sports, news or whatever you desire as you sip tea, juice or water and partake of a variety of fresh fruit. If you are with your spouse, you can also join her in the community lounge area. All of these areas have the appropriate spa music playing softly in the background.

After a short, relaxing wait, your therapist will retrieve you from the lounging areas and show you to the most tranquil massage rooms that I have experienced. The rooms are mostly interior rooms that are only given light by the soft overhead recessed lighting and the flicker of candles. My therapist also did not disappoint and gave a wonderful deep tissue massage.

I give this spa my highest rating because once again it delivered the whole spa package and took me away to a place of peace and I felt relaxed and rejuvenated at the end.

2. The Spa at the Ritz Carlton Huntington Hotel and Spa
Once again, this is near the top because of the overall spa environment. While it falls short of the ambiance created at my #1 spa, it still provides an overall great spa experience. The common lounge area was nice and relaxing, but somewhat small feeling when 2 or more are waiting at one time. The mood created by the staff and the environment was exceptional and what you come to expect from a Ritz Carlton.

The spa is located down a short walk-way from the main hotel which is located in Pasadena California.

3. The Spa at the Hilton Sandestin
I am going to give a review of this spa to show how a spa can have great amenities and not create that overall spa experience as the 2 spas above deliver. This spa located on the bottom floor of the hotel had more in the way of spa facilities than most that I have visited here in the U.S. The men's and women's sides have a dry sauna, 2 different steam rooms and a large whirlpool to relax in prior to your treatment. The private lounge areas are comfortable, but lacking the tranquility you expect at a spa. The T.V. was on in the men's lounge and the volume exceeded that of the soft music playing overhead which detracted from a setting of peace and quiet.

The front desk is also located right outside the exercise area which can be noisy. The staff was great and attentive and they get an A+ from me including my therapist. My only wish is that they would monitor the "quiet areas" better to deliver that true spa experience.

The spa and hotel are located in beautiful Destin, Florida.

Hotel Review-The Hilton Sandestin Resort and Spa

Date of travel: August 2007

We took a trip to Florida's emerald coast this past August. We had heard so many great things about Destin Florida and the surrounding area. We were not disappointed once we got there. The gulf in that area is absolutely beautiful and the sand is like white powder, AMAZING! The hotel of choice for this trip was the Hilton Sandestin. It is a very large hotel and one of the first resort hotels built in the Destin area. That being said, the outside of the hotel is showing its age a bit. But the inside is undergoing a major upgrade.

We were upgraded upon arrival to the Ambassador's Suite in the 7th floor of the Spa Tower. It was a fantastic room. It had a nice living and eating area with balcony access, terrazzo tiled floors and 2 large window seating areas overlooking the blue waters of the gulf. You then went through the French doors to the bedroom and bath area. The bed had been upgraded to the Hilton's new bedding which included a super soft pillow top and an abundance of large cozy pillows. There as ample closet and storage space along with a comfortable chaise lounge chair for reading or napping. The bathroom was as large as those found in most upscale homes with a whirlpool tub, double vanities, a separate toilet room, and a stand up shower.

The hotel had several restaurants and eating areas. Our room package included breakfast for 2 each morning in their casual restaurant called Sandcastles. We often visited their sandwich and coffee shop for a quick snack or lunch. Barefoot's is their outdoor restaurant overlooking the gulf and it too was very good and the service was great.

The only negative about the hotel was that it is a large hotel which caters to the largest of conventions during the off season which runs from about the end of August until the first of March so plan accordingly for there being lots of people during those times. But we never felt too overcrowded during our stay and there were always chairs by the pool or you could rent chairs and umbrellas down on their private beach for about $30 per day.

This hotel gets an A- from me and I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone looking for a nice get away vacation including families with children. They have an entire program set up during the summer for children.

Hotel Review-The Hilton Torrey Pines

Date of Travel: June 2006

My wife and I spent 5 nights in La Jolla California at the Hilton Torrey Pines. The Hotel is situated next to the Torrey Pine State Park as well as the Torrey Pines Championship Golf Course which has hosted such notable tournaments as the U.S. Amateur Championship and the PGA and US Open Championships. The course is open to the public and guests of the Hilton Torrey Pines receive priority tee times if made in advance.

The hotel is large and should be considered a resort/conference hotel. It has several large meeting and dining rooms which makes it a convention and business conference destination. Due to the proximity to the Golf Course and beautiful grounds, it is also a wedding destination. There was at least one convention and one wedding taking place there during our stay which made it a bit crowded. So I would recommend to have a travel specialist like myself call ahead to find out if nay major events are planned during the times that you are thinking of traveling to the Hotel.

The rooms were very nice and roomy considering we were in a standard room. Our room was on the top floor which afforded us views of the golf course and even a distant view of the Pacific Ocean. The rooms were also very clean and well kept during our stay. The hotel staff left a bit to be desired and we witnessed several front desk screw ups where the solution seemed to always be a coupon for free drinks in their lounge.

The pool area was nice but extremely crowded and chairs were hard to come by. They had a pool side grill that was hardly open at the times advertised.

The restaurant was good, but very overpriced for what you get which seemed to be on par for the whole hotel. It was pricey considering the level of service received. The bright spot was that it was next door to the Torrey Pines Lodge and Spa and guests of the Hilton were able to use the spa and even charge the services to their room and was a short walk from the room to the spa.

We enjoyed La Jolla tremendously and will go back, but probably try one of the other 4 or 5 star hotels instead.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Review

This is a short review of a cruise that we took last December (2006) on RCCL's Radiance of the Seas. The cruise itinerary was a Western Caribbean cruise with port stops at Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Montego Bay. The overall length of the cruise was 6 nights leaving on a Sunday afternoon out of Ft. Lauderdale.

First I want to give a brief review of the ship itself. The Radiance of the Seas (R.O.S.) is a beautiful ship with a passenger capacity of just over 2500. The ship is considered to be in the mega-ship size category due to it's berth capacity along with its gross tonnage being just over 90,090 tons.

The R.O.S. is known for it's abundance of large glass areas allowing uninhibited views of the ocean as you sail from port to port. It is also known for the gorgeous area mid-ship called the Centrum. The Centrum is the first thing you see as you board the ship. It is an open air lobby area spanning 8 decks. A popular picture taking location is on the 12th deck where you can peer down through a glass floor all the way down to deck 4.

The ship appeals to a wide variety of cruiser's due to the various on-board activities such as the Casino Royale, Adventure Ocean, the Solarium, the Library, etc. I will elaborate more on some of these areas in just a moment.

The ship at the time of our cruise was in great shape. It had some areas that showed more wear and tear than others such as the pool side chairs and high traffic areas around the staircases and elevators, but overall the ship was in very good shape.

Our room was a deluxe stateroom with a balcony on the 9th deck. Due to the location of our stateroom being right off the elevators, we had an over sized balcony which made it an excellent viewing area as we pulled into each port. The stateroom was in good condition and came with a nice sized couch and sitting area. The bathroom was small, but kept clean. The only negative about the room (which applies to all of the rooms) was that the sewage water tended to have some minor backup problems that maybe lasted a few hours, but caused an odor to be present until it was fixed. Our stateroom was always cleaned and kept in order by our invisible stateroom attendant. He always knew when we were gone and the room was always promptly made up when we arrived back from breakfast each morning.

Now on to the food. We had heard some positive and negative reviews about the food before we set sail on the R.O.S. We found the the food to be adequate and average on the breakfast and lunch buffets and above average in the dining room and specialty restaurants for dinner. We ate breakfast most every morning in the Windjammer which is their large buffet restaurant on deck 11. The food selection did not change from the first day and considered to be average quality. The service would also be called average. Sometimes we had to wave down a sever to come clear the dishes on our table. The best thing about the Windjammer is that it has a large outdoor, but covered eating area in the aft part of the ship which made it a great place to sit and eat and gaze out into the blue waters of the Caribbean.

When we didn't eat in port, we also ate lunch in the Windjammer and found it also adequate, but not stellar. They do have the best fries at sea however. It is also a great lunch spot for the days where you plan on spending most of the time by the large pool adjacent to it on deck 11. One of us would go get a quick plate of food while the other held feverishly to our pool chairs.

We ate every dinner in the main dining room (The Cascades) except for our anniversary dinner in Portofino's which is their Italian specialty restaurant. The staff in the main dining room was excellent, at least at our table. They were attentive and knew what we wanted in the way of beverages after the very first sitting. They also paid very close attention to one of our table mate's dietary needs and went above and beyond to make sure she had a selection of food items to choose from. They were awesome! The food was good to a little above average. Presentation was good, but one of the steaks was not cooked correctly and came out a bit tough.

Dinner in Portofino's was excellent. The food was well above average and the service was impeccable. It was a great experience and worth the extra fees. I highly recommend budgeting for a night in either Portofino's or Chop's.

Now to the different public areas of the ship. If you want peace and quiet, head to the Solarium. It is a covered, adult's only pool area on deck 11. The chairs are actually wooden and come with padding instead of just the cheap plastic pool chairs that are around the main pool. They have the area decorated like a tropical rain forest with nature sounds playing softly overhead. It was the place to go and relax and read a book. Here is a tip though, on sea days, get there early because it gets rather crowded quickly.

The other quiet area that tended to be overlooked was the Library. It was a place we went to get the daily Sudoku puzzle and take a breather from the crowds. It is situated on deck 9.

The shops were crowded and were not laid out very well for the large crowds that congregated there every night for yet another "special" buying opportunity. The ship did a lot of merchandise promoting which became a little annoying by the end of the cruise. Unless you are just a shop-a-holic, avoid the area if you can.

The 3 story Aurora Theatre was a treat. It was very picturesque and a great place to end a wonderful day. The productions were good, but seemed a little over the top even for Vegas standards. By that I mean, the costumes seemed to be too gaudy even for a Vegas style production and didn't really fit the song or dance production. But it was a still an enjoyable thing to do after a nice dinner. There were some seating areas to avoid due to some large floor to ceiling columns, but the theatre was never at full capacity so you can easily find a good seat.

The spa and fitness areas were great. I had 3 different spa treatments and enjoyed just going and relaxing in the thermal suite. The spa is managed by Elemis which is top notch when it comes to spas and spa products. This is a must do on board. But make your appointments as soon as you board the first day because they fill up quick.

Now on to the port reviews. Our first stop was Key West. It is a great place to get off and take some pictures, but we find it to be too much oriented around the tourist which means you can spend a lot of money for their tours and cheap shows and probably regret it when you get back on board. We did our own self tour off the beaten path and took several pictures of the great architecture and lush landscape and then boarded the ship early to take advantage of the quietness on board and indulged in a spa treatment.

The next stop was Cozumel Mexico. It is amazing how blue the sea can actually be. Cozumel's blue waters are something someone has to see at least once in their lifetime. The port itself was a different story. They were still rebuilding from Hurricane Wilma and we had to tender in which made it an adventure in itself. This was the most unorganized port experience on our entire cruise. Part of that is the Mexican Port Authorities fault and part of it was Royal Caribbean's fault. The tendering and chaos associated it with it was all due to poor planning and lack of a sense of urgency. The Mexican Port Authorities just didn't seem to care that there were a few thousand folks that wanted to actually see their port. They were slow and very disorganized and acted as if they had no idea ships were coming their way that day.

We had booked an all-day excursion at what they call "Passion Island." It included a day on a beautiful private island with lunch and beverages and hammocks etc. Well...once we finally got into port, Royal Caribbean had changed the group size at the last minute for our excursion. The change sent our guide into a tizzy because he did not have enough transportation reserved for the much larger group size. This delayed things for at least an hour which was cutting into our excursion time. Our Guide, Alex, was visibly shaken by the change, but kept his humor and politeness about it to his credit. After he commandeered a taxis to go along with the previously reserved bus, we started on our 30-45 minute bus ride. To make things more interesting, the bus driver pulled out and hit another taxis driver. You had to laugh at this point. A few Spanish words were traded between our driver the taxis driver and the police officer and we were waved on our way as the taxis driver looked in dismay at his dangling rear view mirror. I wish I understood more Spanish to know what was said, but by this time we are all laughing and just hoping to get to see a little of the Island before we have to head back to the ship.

Once we got to the boat that was to take us to the Island, we all got on board and headed for another 15 minute transfer trip to our final destination. We all started to look at one another as the water we were in was a gross dingy brown. The guide saw we were getting a little concerned and reassured us by letting us know we were in a lagoon and it would get better once we got to the Island. He was right. It was beautiful! The water was clear and blue on the Caribbean side of the Island and the sand was white and soft. Chairs and hammocks were plentiful and the food was great. We might give this excursion a second chance and see if it can get off to a better start.

Next stop, the Cayman Islands. Once again more beautiful blue Caribbean water and white sand beaches. This stop had some of the prettiest white sand beaches we have ever seen. We also tendered in here but it went very smooth and was well-organized. We did a self tour of the port and shopped a bit. The most popular excursion here is swimming with the sting rays. Everyone says that it is a chance of a lifetime. We were watching our budget for each port and chose to do planned excursions in 2 of our 4 ports so we will have to wait to come back and try the sting ray experience on another cruise.

Our last port of call was Montego Bay, Jamaica. We were docked here which made it a breeze to get off and on the ship similar to Key West. We did a "planned" excursion while in this port. I had researched the area for a spa that my wife and I could spend our anniversary at. I had read about a place call "Round Hill Resort and Spa." We arranged to be picked up at the pier through the help of the staff at Round Hill. Our driver, Perry, was a treat. He was waiting for us at the pier and had a nice car waiting to whisk us away to the resort. After entering through a private gate we were driven through some of the most plush and gorgeous scenery we have ever scene. We were told that Ralph Lauren has a private home somewhere on the grounds and we can understand why. It was something you just have to see to appreciate. We were awe struck at the beauty of the area. My words will not do it justice. Just picture greens and reds and all shades of blue in the water with the stark white architecture standing out among the various colors. If you want to do a non-cruise arranged excursion, I would highly recommend this one. The spa staff was great and treated us like royalty. We had lunch on the grounds overlooking the Caribbean. It was something out of a dream.

In summary, the cruise as great. The ship was wonderful and the staff was always helpful and courteous. I give Royal Caribbean and "A" and highly recommend them for your next vacation option.

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