thai

Koh Samui, Thailand casts a spell on visitors, providing a nice mix of luxury and reasonably priced vacation spots to accommodate budgets of all sizes. It’s also home to some of Thailand’s finest spas.

We recently shared some fab, feel-good advice with our Wellness Week™ Pledge, and the tips just keep on coming! These 10 easy-to-follow wellness tips from Thailand’s legendary Chiva-Som can make a significant impact on living your best life!

When we saw Travel + Leisure’s list of America’s Best Cities for Hipsters, we couldn’t help but think of the spas in these cities. So we took its top three, plus New York City and Los Angeles, two spa metropolises, and uncovered the best spas for hipsters.

Simply sniffing pleasant food aromas such as garlic, onions and bread, as well as aromatherapy oils such as ginger, basil, coriander and black pepper, can kick start the digestive process, increasing and improving the metabolism.

Not only are squash oddly delightful to admire by sight, they’re also satisfyingly buttery and sweet to the palate, in addition to being nutritious sources of beta-carotenes and other vital nutrients.

One recent afternoon I was slated to receive Sacred Spaces’ signature treatment, a 90-minute, stress-loosening Thai yoga massage session, which uses a combination of stretches and rhythmic palm presses to induce a deep state of relaxation. And no treatment is complete without therapeutic oils, which, in this case, have been customized by NYC’s only clinical aromatherapist Eva Levin.

Good for digestion

Inspired by the living foods tradition, COMO Shambhala Estate‘s cuisine keeps it simple and healthy, attempting to minimize cooking methods in order to help maintain all that nutritional goodness of the original ingredients. This allows guests to benefit from the ‘life force’ of specific foods, which in their raw state are rich with enzymes, essential […]

Contrary to the mysterious nickname for Thai black rice – Forbidden Rice, this phytonutrient-rich food should never be forbidden from anyone’s diet. A sort of superman of super foods, black rice offers an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. With plenty of health-promoting phytonutrients, this Forbidden Rice Salad recipe from Active Center for Health & […]

While you may have missed National Yoga Month, you can still continue on your journey to find inner peace with a yoga-centric getaway. Here are some ideal resort and spas offering special yoga retreats, so you can practice those sun salutations while enjoying the beautiful surroundings. Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos At Parrot Cay, the […]

According to the International Spa Association, the number one reason people go to spas is to reduce or relieve stress, and the number one treatment continues to be the Swedish massage. Why not branch out and try something new with Deal Days right around the corner?

The Lodge at Woodloch’s Tree Restaurant is provides guests with scenic views of lovely Hawley, Pennsylvania through its floor to ceiling windows and nightly entertainment. But you can enjoy their delicious, organic, gourmet cuisine in the comfort of your own home. Try their recipe for fresh and spicy Vegetable Thai Green Curry at your house and get a little taste of the awesome culinary experience that you could enjoy during a trip to The Lodge at Woodloch!

Six Senses Spa believes that the food that they serve at their spa should be enjoyable, balanced cuisine. So as opposed to the overly lean, often unsatisfying diet food that is sometimes served to health conscious spa-goers Six Senses Spa focuses on the important dietary needs. This delicious salad is a perfect balance of satiating and healthy and includes lightly seared scallops (which are high in omega-3 and vitamin B-12) and loads of raw veggies. The summer is a perfect time for enjoying lovely seafood and crisp, raw vegetables since the longer vegetables are cooked the more nutrients deplete. So pick up some fresh ingredients and balance body and mind!

Last week my husband and I took a long-overdue little vacation. It was time to decompress, so we decided to go to the Banyan Tree Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico. I must confess that it’s hard not to go to a spa anytime, let alone when I’m on vacation, so I talked my husband into doing a couple’s treatment. We selected the Thai Classic massage. Our experience began in the tranquil spa reception area with a delicious drink of what I think was hibiscus (or some other flower) juice. Our therapists, Aida and Jaye, greeted us and then brought us to our spa villa. Since Banyan Tree is an Asian-owned company (this is its very first property in North America), all of the therapists come from Thailand

A Massage and Facial at Thai Privilege Spa in New York Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider It was my privilege to be invited to a spa located in the Soho area of Manhattan called Thai Privilege. I noticed it on several “top 10” lists. Since Manhattan has many hundreds of spas, making a top 10 list […]

Spa & Resort Expo & Conference LA: Keeping Up With Spa Trendsby Susie Ellis The Spa & Resort Expo & Conference and the Medical Aesthetics Conference is happening tomorrow, February 23-25 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I will be driving in from Palm Springs and attending all three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. One […]

Spa Highs and Spa Lows for the New Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa by Susie Ellis I visited the renovated Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Desert a few days ago. I remember when it was built (20 years ago I believe) – it was really quite a sensation. There […]

What great timing! I am in the middle of a book by Douglas Peter Mackaman called, Leisure Settings, Bourgeois Culture, Medicine, and the Spa in Modern France where I just finished reading the chapter on Vichy and Aix-les-Bains. These were two of the largest and most important spas in France during the 19th century. The […]

Spa Blog Results in Matrimonyby Susie Ellis This put a smile on my face. I received a happy email a few weeks ago from Anthony Lawrence who is the group director of marketing for Jumeirah. He credited my blog for having introduced him to his future wife. I was puzzled but went back through all […]

I’m currently at Evason Hideaway in Hua Hin Thailand, one of the magical Six Senses Spa properties. Spent a few days at Michael Loh’s Spa Asia conference and a few days in meetings with spa industry professionals who look at global spa trends. It is always inspiring to exchange ideas and be with others who […]