VA2007 - Spas - Soul Food

Medi- and Dental Spas

One-stop medi-spas let you have your Botox and perhaps drink a healthy smoothie too. Dermatological treatments like medicalgrade chemical peels, Restylane injections and photofacials are the norm at these facilities, while a new generation of “life balancing” programs include medical laboratory tests for glucose levels and kidney, liver and metabolic function. Over the past two years the medical spa segment has been the fastest growing part of the Canadian industry. Find it at Santé Spa at the Bear Mountain Resort outside Victoria, santespa.com. Similarly a trip to the dentist can be an almost-pleasant experience with the advent of massagecapable dental chairs, stress-relieving music and new, less painful ways of delivering anesthesia. Find it at Vancouver Dental Spa, 805 W. Broadway, 604-879-7366; and West Coast Smile, 1-1874 W. 1st Ave., 604-737-1023.

Colour Therapy

Eastern belief holds that the body’s energy field contains seven chakras, each with an associated colour, emotional and spiritual aspect. Hands-on treatments use a therapist’s intuition and touch to sense subtle chakra vibrations, balancing them with the appropriate coloured lights and even private colour therapy jet tubs. For instance, if your root chakra is out of whack, stability in your finances could suffer. The solution? Bathe it in a red light. It’s kind of like a massage, psychology session and disco party all rolled into one. Find chromatherapy tubs at Phresh Spa, 1160 Davie St., 604-662-4462.

Mini and Maxi

Spa treatments are both beefing up and slimming down — from spiritual ashram retreats to 15-minute express manicures and oxygen shot pick-me-ups. One extreme helps you find yourself; the other helps you find five minutes to relax and breathe. Maxi programs can include weeks of highly structured regimens incorporating physical activity and healthy meals, plus pampering, relaxation and stretching. Mini treatments can be small but mighty, like preflight leg massages that may help prevent deep vein thrombosis. Find the "Mini" at Absolute Spa at YVR, 604-273-4772 (domestic gate), 604-270-4227 (U.S. gate); and the "Maxi" at Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat and Health Spa outside of Nelson, B.C., 250-229-5636, hiking.

Indigenous Ingredients

Think global, spa local with indigenous ingredients like vinotherapy in wine country, maple syrup scrubs in Vermont and rare moor mud masks in bog country. A spa’s surroundings can also be part of its amenities: imagine lying on a clifftop massage table overlooking the ocean. As spas pop up all over the world, each is striving to differentiate itself—and going native makes for unique experiences, no matter where you are. Find it at Eccotique, 1838 W. 1st Ave., 604-738-9200.

Communal Treatments

Prewedding hot-lather shaves for the groomsmen, mother and daughter manibonding, side-by-side lovebird mud baths: the public has spoken and we don’t want to spa alone anymore. Ways to visit spas en masse include “taking the waters” in hot springs, booking a movie room with girlfriends for a mani- or pedi-party, or steaming, scrubbing and mudding each other up with an old-school gommage treatment in a new-school hammam. Find it at Miraj Hammam Spa, 1495 W. 6th Ave., 604-733- 5151,(gommage); or Perfect Health Spa, 2525 Arbutus St., 604-736-2111, (movie spa).

Unisex Spas

Today’s freshest spas feature design choices like outdoorsy cedar and stone, spicy Thai influences or modern Milano vibes. With men now making up close to half of all spa-goers, silk roses and teapots are being replaced by earthy paint tones and leather couches in mixed-gender lounges; gender-neutral treatments use fragrancefree product lines instead of ones with floral scents. Find it at Skoah, 1011 Hamilton St., 604-642-0200; and Eveline Charles, 1495 W. 11th Ave., 604-678-5666.

Euro-Style Therapeutics

After emerging from the putrid yet therapeutic sulfur pools of their “wellness hotels” and “health spas,” Europeans are routinely wrapped in starched hospital sheets, not cosy Frette towels. North Americans are finally catching on to the restorative health potential of spas, but we don’t want to lose any of the luxury. So while serious spa sojourns can address smoking cessation, addiction rehabilitation, weight loss and detox, we still want to heal without too much zeal — and with lots of body scrubs and gourmet spa cuisine. Find it at Eternal Spa, 4940 No. 3 Rd., Richmond, 604-821-6688.

Spa Suites

Spas are good; spa suites are better. These vast, residential-style rooms within hotels feature everything from personal attendants who fill your infinity-edged soaking tub to outsized showers and, often, wonderful views. Instead of changing rooms for different treatments, the treatments come to you. A growing spa suite trend is to plan a block of “time rituals,” highly personalized treatments customized for a set price and amount of time (instead of purchased as à la carte treatments from a spa menu). Trust me: time spent in a spa suite feels like winning the lottery. Find it at Spa Utopia at the Pan Pacific, 999 Canada Pl., 604-641-1351.

Spa Lifestyle

Some people love spas so much they never want to leave. Now you can actually move into a new wave of residential spa communities. Real estate developers have taken the golf community concept and put an aromatherapy body polish on it, creating a lifestyle centred on full-service spas, wellness and fitness activities surrounding your mansion or condo (purchased through fractional ownership, as part of a residence club or as a “co-tel” condo in a hotel). Even deluxe RV resorts now have tennis pros and massage therapists; the trailer park will never be the same. Find it at Poet’s Cove Resort & Spa on Pender Island, 888-512-7638.

Fusion Treatments

Most spas blend the relaxing with the therapeutic and the East with the West. But some take fusion a step further by marrying two winning elements: water + shiatsu = watsu (a therapist supports you while your body is stretched and manipulated in warm, waist-deep water); Thai massage + stretching = Thai yoga massage. Find it at Solarice Spa,  4230 Gateway Dr., Whistler, 604-935-1222.

Pregnancy Treatments

Try the concept of spa treatments devoted to pregnant women, with special products and treatments for pre-, post- and during. Find it at Spa Ethos, 2200 W. 4th Ave., 604-733-5007.

Adventure Spas

Hiking meets hamstring massages; a mud therapy package can involve both exhilarating off-roading and a facial. Adventure spas combine outdoor activities with spa services and great food and accommodations. Try hiking and horseback riding, mountain biking along decommissioned logging roads and fishing for steelhead and rainbow trout; a steamy hot tub will be waiting for you when you get back to the resort. Find it at Clayoquot Wilderness Resorts & Spa near Tofino, B.C., wildretreat.com.

Sleep Therapy

Going to the spa is meant to be calming, but a new breed of snooze salons take quiet comfort to the next level. Book a private sleep chamber and drift away as a therapist gives you a hand or foot reflexology massage. Or visit a sleep specialist at the growing number of spas offering physician-led sleep programs. Private rest chambers at Absolute Spa at YVR, 604-273-4772 (domestic), 604-270-4227 (U.S.), absolutespa.com.

Editor’s Choice: Say Om

To many Vancouverites, regular yoga practice is as common as sporting their Lululemon Boogie pants. If you want to go with the flow too, many hotels offer their own yoga programs (Pacific Palisades, for example, offers an in-room yoga kit, including a mat to borrow and 24-hour yoga programming on the TV) — so check with your concierge. In the downtown area, yoga studios are possibly outnumbered only by coffee shops, and most offer drop-in rates. A few of the best are Flow Yoga, which offers yoga with a view of the mountains and Coal Harbour (1409 Pender St., 604-682-3569); Harbour Dance, where you can also explore other forms of physical activity, like hip hop and tap dancing (927 Granville St., 604-684-9542); and Semperviva (1333 Johnstone St., in the Pier 32 Building on Granville Island, 604-739-2009), whose Granville Island studio overlooking False Creek provides a beautiful backdrop to your breathing exercises.