Question: Where can I find a 30-day boot-camp weight loss spa? I'm a 44-year-old retired Fortune 500 executive who is 70 pounds overweight and motivated to change. --Steve B., via e-mail

Answer: I have to laugh at how much you remind me of so many of the men I've worked with over the years--taking a bottom-line, get-it-done, business approach to your health and weight loss goals for a spa visit. The good news is that this kind of determination and spa-assisted effort gets results, but the realist in me has to point out that you may not find the quick fix you're looking for. Seventy pounds is quite a bit to lose, so I suggest you begin your journey at a spa with a medical staff that can give you a comprehensive evaluation, including a stress test. The Canyon Ranch Health Resorts in Massachusetts and Arizona, Cooper Wellness Program in Texas, Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Florida, and Structure House in North Carolina are all good choices. Consider splitting your monthlong visit between two such places. You'll benefit from the education at each, and the change in routine will help keep you motivated. After your spa visits, stay on track with a personal trainer. You'll be on your way to a healthy--and enviably long--retirement!

Question: Sometimes I wonder if I should pay attention to the best way to combine services. Is there a proper order for taking spa treatments? --Sally, via e-mail

Answer: For most treatments it comes down to personal preference. For example, some people like the relaxation of having a massage after a facial, but I try to schedule a facial after a massage. I just don't like putting my nicely cleaned face into the face cradle. However, in terms of benefits, there's little advantage either way. In some cases, though, practical considerations dictate the order: You should schedule pampering and relaxing spa treatments after exercise, exfoliating body scrubs before massages, a limited number of heat treatments in a row, and no treatment at all after a hair service.

Question: During my last wax at a pretty reputable day spa, I saw the aesthetician double-dip the spreader into the wax pot. Doesn't that spread germs from one client to the next? --Name withheld

Answer: Double-dipping is a no-no. A clean spatula should be used each time wax is retrieved from the main pot--and not just between clients but with each dip.

Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder, Inc., is the editor of our quarterly newsletter, the Spa Enthusiast. She has spent more than 25 years in the spa industry, including many years at the Golden Door. An MBA (from UCLA), she has been the director of the Greenhouse Spa at Mar-a-Lago and has served on the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports.

I've just visited...
SAmas at the Park Hotel Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland

What I loved: Walking from my antique-filled suite at this 19th-century country estate into the new, contemporary Asian-inspired Sámas spa. The glass-enclosed relaxation room overlooking woodlands and the Bay of Kenmare is stunning, and the indoor-outdoor vitality pool with eight hydrotherapy stations is the best I've ever seen.

What's unique: Booking time instead of a spa treatment. My two-hour session became a combination of services that my therapist and I decided were best for me that day. It was the first time I'd seen this method work as it should. Incidentally, my therapist, Veronica Tangney, was fabulous!

What I didn't love: The Moonlight, Starlight Medita-tion class, because the instructor had the moonlight-starlight view while we faced a wall.

Make sure you: Get to know GM John Brennan, whose Irish hospitality and sense of humor add so much character to the hotel. You'll see him stoking the lobby fire early in the morning and chatting with guests long into the night.

205-348 euros ($252-$428).
011-353-064-41200 or www.parkkenmare.com