Hotel Hershey and the Chocolate Spa Review

So.... my first trip to the Hotel Hershey and Chocolate Spa.
September 2008The Hotel (http://www.thehotelhershey.com/)
Not bad, lovely garden and fountain area, good yoga class outside by Raymond, super staff and pretty comfortable bed, bath and room. The valet who greeted me, relayed my name along the way to other staff (love that), who all introduced themselves and offered further service personally if it was needed. Bellman Frank gave lots of advice, directions and help as he led me to my room on the 4th floor. At check in, I opted for the "dark" Hershey's Chocolate Bar as my choice of welcome gift and I munched on this before heading to the spa for the afternoon.

The Chocolate Spa:

The Good:
Check in was good except the girl who was going to show me around forgot to come back, but she did better later on and the next 2 days. The check in desk quickly found her when I asked.
The three lounge areas are quite nice, and the little porch that overlooks the fountains is nice. They have one to suit your tastes - the quiet room with a fireplace, coffee, pastries, view and comfy chairs; one with aromatherapy; one that earns a total BRAVO from me......the Silent Room!! Thank you thank you thank you. I frequently (if you read this blog, you know) find myself wishing for one of these since there are many spa visitors who feel it's ok to talk about your latest frustrations with their blackberries, bosses, or kids.....it's NOT ok and it's NOT ok to talk at full volume. So finally a spa has provided this. Thank you! This lovely room has signs around it asking people to refrain from speaking while inside. It has lovely comfortable furniture and a beautiful cross window and regular window that let light in and give a good view.

Hershey's Kisses (both dark and milk) are available throughout the spa.

First day, I had the Noche Azul water soak - lovely soak in a great Sanijet tub with blue lights. The Noche Azul Scrub - great, gentle scrub. Usually scrubs are so rough that I end up feeling all scraped up afterwards but this was a really nice gentle one, and 3 days after it, my skin is still feeling nice and soft.

The WOW!
The Noche Azul Massage - by Vixen. I don't think she deserves that name at all....not a trouble maker, not wild and crazy. THE softest, most calming touch I have ever felt and you know I've felt quite a few. I'm almost comatose after 50 minutes with her, although I really don't want to be since I'm sitting on the spa porch overlooking the promenade and fountain area. But really, she has tied with Michael at Skana for the best massage I've ever had award. Tied because it was a different type of massage than his. Vixen's was unique in that every time she started to lay her hands on me, it was done really softly and slowly and when her hands were leaving, it was also super slow and gentle.....that painting by Michaelangelo....the hand of God just leaving the tip of Jesus' finger? that's how it felt. And I had no idea it could make such a difference. But it does. I think I've never realized how the start and the end of a touch can make such a difference. Even when you know where the therapists hands are going to go, it can be a little jarring sometimes. But even if it's not jarring, there was something about Vixen's technique that made it really different. Totally relaxing, slowed down, fabulous, well done!!

Good things:
- Silent Room!!!!
- Chocolate muffins
- Staff - the decorum, quietness, professionalism (when they call you to your service, answering questions, getting you what you need)

Needs work:
(I'm going to be extremely nit picky on a couple of things, because it's good.)
- a little more attention to cleaning in the corners
- coffee, a little weak for my taste
- more/better magazines
- facial cleanser and moisturizer needed in the locker room
- foot rests are needed in the Silent Room

Dining
The Circular Restaurant
I had high hopes, ordering 4 appetizers as a sort of "tasting menu" for my meal but sorry to say, not the best. The chef had white chocolate scallops on the menu so I excitedly ordered those (remembering the to-die-for plate I'd had at Wildflowers at Turning Stone) but was disappointed. The scallops were cooked absolutely perfectly but the white chocolate sauce....I think it needed more white chocolate? some other flavorings? not sure but it wasn't that great.
The kobe beef with leeks was nice and the squash soup was good but a bit too much of it since it was so rich. Better to serve people a cup instead of a large bowl. I couldn't eat dessert that night.

Oh and the BEST - the chocolate cherry bread! Fantastic!

Royal Palms Resort and Alvadora Spa - Spa Review Phoenix AZ

Just back from my trip to the Southwest area. Started in Phoenix.

The Hotel
Stayed 2 nights at the Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix. This place has lovely grounds, palm trees and cactus, and backs up to Camelback Mountain. Nice pool and outdoor cafe area for breakfast and lunch. The pathways on the property, which lead you to your room, make you feel like you're in an exotic place - bouganvilla cover the walls and other flowers are plentiful.
My room (and it appeared that all the rooms have) a little area in front, with table and chairs, where you could enjoy the garden and the room seemed like it's own little home, very spacious (although mine was quite dark.....could have used more lighting since not much comes in from the outside). Very nice Illy coffee is provided in room, and the room service meal I got was quite nice. Toilet problem was taken care of very quickly after I called. Turn down service was nice (chocolates and a card with a philosophical thought on it were left).

Alvadora Spa
You get there after you walk down a path surrounded by beautiful flowers and fountains.
The WOW - Reflexology by "xxx" (sorry I forgot his name!) Gorgeous beautiful tiled room with palm trees outside. The attendant knelt before me with a bowl of flowers and washed my feet. Then led me to a bed where I had absolute bliss for 50 minutes while he did perfect reflexology and a neck massage.

Good Things:
Moor Mud Wrap

Super waiting areas in this place. One outdoors on a patio with a fireplace, trees and flowers. When I felt my blood sugar going a little low, I asked and was brought some juice. Other areas were lovely wood paneled rooms with nuts and fruits and beverages.

Yoga class was great, held in a tower patio above the pool on a gorgeous day with nice soft music.

Dining:
Alone, I was placed at a corner table, which I usually don't like but here it was good because I had a great view of the whole place and the friendly guitar player, who came by and asked how I was enjoying my stay.

Mandarin Oriental - Washington DC - Spa Review

Visited in 2006.

The Mandarin Oriental is at a very nice, although a bit out of the way location in Washington DC.

Beautiful hotel near the water and the Cherry Blossoms. I didn't stay there (since it's home) but it definitely would be a nice place to live for a few days from the looks of it.

The spa is very expensive (somehow I'd gotten a $50 off coupon, and haven't been back since).

You get an Asian foot bath upon arrival, beautiful teak floors and walls, great locker room/relaxation area, super jacuzzi. They have the full "spa experience" with rain showers and steam room. Nice relaxation area with lounges and curtains between each person (thanks for that bit of privacy).

The Wow!
Sorry, none.

Good things:
Facial was pretty good, with the lady explaining everything she was doing.

Needs work:
The pedicure was bad! I was taken to a room set up with footbaths and my feet were placed in a wood bowl with orchids in it....nice touch but no bubbles or massage tub? and the seat was uncomfortable. Basically a wood bench with a pillow on it. I was totally alone in this room with the pedicurist so it was rather strange. She seemed uninterested in what she was doing, there was no music so I just sat quietly and waited for her to get through it. Strange, not pleasant experience.

Overall, this place didn't seem worth the price. It wasn't a fantastic experience but it WAS a lot of money.

I'd like to go again and try something else but maybe need to win the lottery first!

Sugar House, Fountains, Jouvence, Lansdowne - spa reviews Washington DC

Local spas! 2007
Sugar House Day Spa on N. Alfred in Old Town Alexandria. This place is in a beautiful old house and it's all purple and white inside.
Good things:
I discovered my NEW favorite pedicure - the Sugar House Pedicure. Kathy and I sat next to each other in big massage chairs in a nice room with a window while we got great pedicures. Very nice....and a nice shop too!

Fountains on Washington Street in Old Town also.
I'm addicted....well not really, just "a regular" at Fountains. This place is in a really tiny yellow and white town house but beautiful inside (especially after the remodel, they now have a fountain in the lobby to go with their name!)

Good things:
There is a great massage by Jenny who has done really good work. I went because when I changed jobs, the stress was making my neck and arm seize up. She stopped this in its tracks after two visits. And I've returned about every 6 weeks since for very nice times.

I also had a good facial here. It was gentle and introduced me to Guinot products (which I now like and buy). The lady alerted me to an area on my forehead which had a strange appearance (perhaps a precancerous lesion?) and suggested I get it checked by a dermatologist (am going for that in a couple of weeks).

Also have had the rose mud wrap which was really fragrant and left my skin really soft.


So all around, Fountains has to be my favorite locally. It's next to a bakery (tarts and crossiants after spa!), is very clean, has very pleasant and client oriented staff, beautiful decorating. Just don't try and get there on a Friday afternoon....traffic is awful at this location. I'm a little leary about writing anything good about them. Don't want to let the secret out and make them REALLY popular and too busy for me to get in! but my blog doesn't have that many readers so.....

Jouvence Aveda at Pentagon Row
Good things:
Super pedicures given by Rosa. She give great foot massages, even with the basic pedicure which, at around $40, is more reasonable than the usual $60 ones elsewhere.

Alexandre de Paris
Good things:
Strange as this may seem, the best local massage of 2008 came at Alexandre de Paris out at Fair Oaks. A therapist named Kim did a really nice job, asked questions along the way, made it a very peaceful and relaxing experience. You are taken into a back room area where the spa treatments are given which gets you out of the busy hair salon atmosphere of the rest of the place.

Needs work:
Pedicure was not that great. Attendant was kind of rough and the salon setting of the pedicure area did not make for a relaxing experience.

Circe
Good/mediocre:
I've tried Circe in Old Town several times (2006-2007), since I always remember one of the best massages ever (the lady left and they won't tell me where she went! @#*%&@#) and in general, they're pretty good. Manicure, pedicure, massages....all not bad. Nothing that exciting to say but not bad at all.

[I'm revising this one as of 5/30/07.....I did not have a good manicure.....lady cut into the cuticles too much, started to bleed, she seemed unconcerned!) They are always overrun with people in the salon and the spa area is too small to relax much in.]

Lansdowne's Spa Minerale - 2006 visit
The resort is beautiful, as everyone knows and the spa area is also pretty nice looking, nice locker area, large jacuzzi, rain showers, sauna etc.

Needs work:
The relaxation waiting area sucks.
It was fairly small and arranged so that you were very close to other people. It was one of those rooms where when you shut the door, it feels like the air is sucked out so every movement, sound etc. is felt by everyone in the room. Some ladies had eaten lunch in there (perfectly appropriate) but the finished dirty dishes were laying around during my whole 20 minute stay. These ladies were chatting (also perfectly appropriate) but some people have no self-awareness so the fact that the rest of us had to suffer through their stories (inappropriate to be sharing in public) and the hiyena laughter of one of them, all being hightened by the fact that this room was very close in, was quite unpleasant.

Also, every 2 minutes one of the doors at either end of the room would open and a therapist would say someone's name (also appropriate but in this weird room, very distracting). This was the least relaxing room I was in during my 2 hours there. A hint, open up both doors so the room isn't closed off. A little ambient noise would help, have the therapist only come in through one door, clean up the dishes as soon as they're done!

Sorry, now onto the massage, also not good. I think once, maybe twice before I've had a massage like this and it's not enjoyable. The woman therapist didn't ask many questions (thus she didn't give me the aromatherapy massage I had signed up for and I later disputed this on the bill) and proceeded to give me this "quick handed" massage. Strokes were short, quick and unrelaxing. I realize that this may be a specific massage "technique" but if you are a normal person and haven't requested this "technique," you should be warned.

Good things:
The surroundings and the spa area (except for "the room") are nice.

So it's been 3 years since I've been there and was so disappointed! Might be time to update this review.

Natural Body Spa has a weird location, in Ballston mall and an energetic little host guy who hangs out in the large, open product sales area.

Needs work:
The massage I had here was another weird one, that fast, quick-handed style and in this bizarre room - I'd guess 500 square feet with 20 foot ceilings, bright full-on lights, and strange pointed shape. I felt like I was in a section of high school gymnasium.....

Turning Stone Resort - SKANA Spa Review

Visited in January 2008

I am seriously screwed up.....I returned from Turning Stone and Skana to Washington.....on purpose! But....I really don't think I'd be functional if I had waited any longer to return. So maybe it's good.
Must remember to tell financial planner that we need to add a yearly trip to this place to my plan.

The Hotel

Absolutely amazing hotel. I stayed in a suite with a gigantic fluffy feather bed, huge gorgeous bathroom and a separate living room, beautifully decorated. Breakfast views in the spa cafe:

Dining

In the spa cafe, the fruit platter (one came with star fruit the first day) and my egg white, sprouts and boursin omelette was great. Oh, and a whole grain crossiant!














Great restaurant staff.
Some of the food - scallops with melted white chocolate, brioche (great!), donut soup (awesome idea), tableside Caesar salad, black cherry compote, french fries (also awesome).














Kobe beef prime rib
The very best though, was the appetizer of scallops with white chocolate sauce and microgreens. Fantastic!!

Activity options are good - yoga classes (mine were private since there were very few people there), snow shoe treks, hiking, golf, pool, oh and the attached casino. The view from the yoga studio:

The hallway to the spa (Skana, means peace)Skana Spa

Good things:

Great spa staff - Wendy, Robin, Amy, Michael

My first treatment was called Leaves and Flowers... ---This unique treatment begins with an invigorating mineral salt and essential oil exfoliation, after which the body is immersed in a floral and herbal mineral bath to soothe the body and mind. A luxurious aromatherapy massage application of your chosen essential oils follows the bath. --- the huge suite for this was gorgeous, candles, nice music, heated massage bed. The adjoining bathroom that I was led to for the bath was beautifully strewn with tons of rose petals (in the water too) and cool water to drink and in wash cloths to put on your forehead.

The next day I could barely move after the Dandelion and Mint foot cure (reflexology extrodinare). The day after that the facial was good and the last day, the Harmony Massage by Michael was amazing. Going through Christmas and having a "big" birthday the week before this trip, I nearly cried during the massage because it was so good and perfect. Perfect pressure, long strokes, perfect communication by Michael, complete harmony achieved.

Interspersed through all treatments I could go into the coed mineral pool and the ladies jacuzzi, both had the rotating light cycles under water. And I'd sit (for several hours) and read at either the mineral pool or in the lounge with the fireplace on a great lounge chair with bunches of strawberries and other fruit and nuts, and either tea or Fuji water.

There were really fantastic fireplaces throughout the lodge - in the great room, entrance to the spa, outside at the entrance to the hotel. They were mostly huge fire pit type fireplaces so very dramatic.

Needs work:
- I burned myself with my curling iron one evening and went back to the spa in search of some aloe. The desk clerk gave me a funny look and said I could check in the product area but she didn't think they had any. I never succeeded in finding any...Hmmmm......

The WOW!
- Michael and the Harmony Massage
- Leaves and Flowers treatment is a great mix of a little bit of several treatments

A note:

I have an idea for a new business: spa flight concierge or some title like that. This is greatly needed because the travel TO and FROM a spa vacation is sometimes very tough going and you don't want to lose what you gain at the spa. So....for instance, when you are taken by limo to the airport and your 7:30 flight gets delayed 20 mins (then 30, then 1 hour), a spa flight concierge would arrive at the first delay and bring you to a quiet area, unpack their folding recliner, serve you some Fiji water (I drank 2 liters a day in the spa....free!) and put some nice Native American music on the head phones. Then when your flight was delayed an hour, they would give you a nice neck massage, away from the dozens of people on their cell phones freaking out when they realized they are missing their connections.

Of course there wouldn't be anything the spa flight concierge could do when the lady with the 2 and 4 year old has given all her luggage and strollers to the luggage guy, has sat down in her seats and arranged the screaming kids, and THEN gets a cell phone call that tells her she won't make her connections in DC so she requests that they LET HER OFF and GET HER STROLLER from the luggage compartment! delaying the flight still longer. Thank you, nice gentleman who carried those kids off the plane for her (you saved us a good 15 mins I'm sure!) Doesn't this sound like a good idea? spa flight concierge.....