Word: spas
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Welcome to the U.S. spa, 1980s style. Only a decade ago, the spa's hallmark was pampering and passivity. Fat farms, so they were called, catered to well- fed, well-spread Mrs. Plushbottoms. No longer. Most of today's spas are one- stop fitness shops, sweat-soaked emporiums where guests are run ragged during the day, fed near starvation rations at lunch and dinner, and then hectored on proper nutrition, stress reduction and healthy habits. Coddling facials, pedicures and massages serve as soothing, but temporary respites. "If you want to expose yourself to new things in health and fitness, diet...
...Puerta, Palm-Aire and Canyon Ranch." About 5 million people now sign up each year, says Edward Safdie, a spa developer. That is up phenomenally from 400,000 five years ago, and Safdie projects 30 million guests annually in five to ten years. To handle the growing popularity, spas are sprouting across the U.S. Only five years ago, there were no more than a dozen major establishments. Today there are perhaps 60, and new ones open seemingly every day. Next weekend Winthrop Hill in Watertown, Conn., registers its first clients. And doyennes are sprucing up. La Costa, near San Diego...
...fitness instructor at a California spa, especially likes men's weeks "because they don't bitch and moan the way women do. Couples' week is fun too," she adds, "because the couples are very playful, teasing and pinching each other's love handles." Though they share a basic philosophy, spas vary considerably in style. At the ultraluxe end of the scale are Maine Chance in Phoenix, the haven of Elizabeth Arden loyalists, and the Greenhouse in Arlington, Texas, where ladies dress for dinner and are whisked off to Neiman-Marcus for an afternoon's shopping. At the other extreme...
...Vista also near San Diego, has been open only since January. Its clients, like those of many spas now, often arrive in good shape. "Many people are not coming to lose weight," notes Director Susan Power. "They're coming for maintenance and fine-tuning." And relief from stress. With that in mind, Cal-a-Vie is a pioneer in trying to add a European flavor to its U.S.-style exercise and dietary programs. Europe's spas, which date back to the Roman Empire, still favor mudbaths and water therapy, and Cal-a-Vie offers three Continental treatments that relax...
...countrymen employ their wits and their blat (arm twisting and family connections) to gain entry to beachfront hotels, often located on the former estates of the prerevolutionary Russian aristocracy. Another much sought- after holiday choice for active trade-union members or people suffering from a diagnosed illness are woodsy spas known as sanatoriums. In theory, admission is by permit only, but in practice, anyone who can wangle a place gets in, and last year 60 million people managed...