travel

It’s rare to hit a home run the first time at bat, but that’s what happened at our first Aspen Spa Day. The plan was to add on an extra day to the Aspen Center for Integral Health’s (ACIH) Healthy Gourmet Food Festival in which we have participated for the past two years. This extra […]

Continuing on with our theme regarding health care… You might want to check out this morning’s article in the New York Times entitled, “Surgeon General Sees 4-Year Term as Compromised”. Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona spoke to a Congressional panel, stating that during his four year term he had felt pressure to suppress public health […]

I had the privilege of flying down to Greenville, South Carolina on a private plane Friday with the guys from Cliffs Communities. They have been wanting Peter and me to see their wellness communities ever since we all first met. I think it was about two years ago when I was in my office working […]

I just received a follow-up email from Dr. Swati, the Indian born doctor in Ayurveda, Natural Medicine, and Yoga Therapy who I met at Parrot Cay. Dr. Swati just joined the staff at Como Shambhala, and I must say she is a very impressive addition. She gave a presentation to our group, which was the […]

I am 3 for 3. Three scheduled spa services and three great services! And even more amazing, my husband, Peter, was 3 for 3 as well. After taking in all of the optics – setting, views, decor, materials used, etc. – the core part of the spa experience is when the therapist puts their hands […]

Flew directly from New York to Turks and Caicos on Friday – 3 1/2 hours. Nice to have this direct flight. Since I have lived most of my adult life on the West Coast, where we vacation in Hawaii, the Caribbean is still somewhat new to me. The chance to experience Parrot Cay while training […]

Early this week I attended the New York Spa Promotion Alliance Inc. (NYSPA) meeting held at the Mohonk Mountain Resort. Professor Mary Tabacchi, from Cornell, organizes the yearly gathering for NYSPA and puts a lot of energy and enthusiasm into getting spa industry professionals from all over the state of New York together. I thought […]

On our last morning in Shanghai before heading to the airport, Nicholas was up for one more spa experience as was I, so we decided to visit one of the large foot reflexology places which Geraldine Howard (Aromatherapy Associates) had recommended, telling us that we have to have an authentic Chinese pedicure where they”wield knives”. […]

A visit to the Evian Spa at Three on the Bund was on my list of “must do’s” while I was in Shanghai. Not only did its opening several years ago cause quite a splash, but Alexa Brue reviewed it in the May/June issue of Luxury Spa Finder Magazine, giving it a mixed review which […]

The flight to China…14 hours from New York to Seoul, Korea, a five hour lay-over and a one-and-a-half hour flight to Shanghai. I am traveling with my step son, Nicholas who is 28 years old and loves to have “experiences” rather than “things”. So thought this trip would be a good birthday gift for him […]

Attended the Leading Spas of Canada conference in Toronto. Since I don’t know Canada well, I enjoyed learning about not only the spa scene but also the country itself and its tourism market. Some tidbits that caught my attention: The Canadian Tourism Commission recently performed a “Brand Canada” study including a survey of the top […]

Flew to Toronto this morning with our associate publisher, Stacey McLoughlin. After visiting several spas in Canada we will be attending the Leading Spas of Canada conference in Toronto next week. I am really excited to learn more about the Canadian spa scene. The Hillcrest, A Valenova Inn & Spa, was first on our itinerary. […]

I’m in Santa Monica, California. Today was the day of the Spa Finder media breakfast, which we do each year. It is a chance for me to present the top Spa Trends that we predict for 2007. This year we held the breakfast at the new Exhale Spa. I had a chance to tour the […]

Where is the world’s largest golf club? If someone had asked me that question, I would not have guessed China. But that is the correct answer. Mission Hills, located about 30 minutes outside of Hong Kong, has been accredited by the Guinness World Records as the World’s Largest Golf Club. It has twelve 18-hole golf […]

Other highlights of my trip to the Caribbean Spa and Wellness Conference: Spending time with Nime La Fauci, our account rep for the Caribbean, and finding out that she can really make friends on the phone. Everywhere we went, people just couldn’t wait to meet her – and embraced her like a long-lost friend – […]

Even if you have never been to Brenner’s Park Hotel and Spa in Baden-Baden, Germany, you may have seen this famous photo of their pool, which overlooks a glorious park. We were lucky enough to be there on a crisp sunny fall day where the leaves were turning, and I had to wear a scarf […]

We spent our morning at the special Kaiser-Friedrich-Therme here in Wiesbaden. It is a marvelous, refurbished ancient bathing establishment. This one has an outstanding circuit of water and heat treatments. I think the Germans are probably the best in the world in understanding the physiology of contrast therapy (hot and cold) and its health benefits. […]

We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany this morning. Peter and I are attending and speaking at the Wellness Summit in Wiesbaden. “Baden” means bathing in German, so we assumed there would be natural thermal water. That assumption proved to be correct, though we were pleasantly surprised that in addition to the traditional German mineral baths for […]

Shortly before leaving Bangkok on Sunday (at midnight), I visited S Medical Spa, which I had been hearing about. Not only has this spa gotten some good PR, but much to my surprise, I have also noticed people from all over the world (the U.K., Asia, U.S.A., etc.) contacting S Medical Spa through Spafinder.com asking […]

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 […]