SPA

Las Vegas – Sin City Sanctuaries

By Genevieve Paiement

Vegas may not seem like the obvious choice for a health and wellness vacation. But look beyond the sea of gaming tables at any of the city’s top resorts, and you’ll likely find a sprawling state-of-the-art spa. Here are (lucky number) seven sanctuaries that hit the spot.

1. Good Luck Club

A colourful, opulent aesthetic permeates the Wynn, and the spa here is very much the place to relax in style, with its fireplace-dotted lounge area and circular whirlpool room decorated with bright green ceramic plates. I sign on for a Good Luck Ritual massage that includes a hand and foot scrub and a scalp treatment, meant to call in the five feng shui elements: health, wealth, prosperity, happiness and harmony. Later that night, I win $14 at the slots. Coincidence? I think not.

2. Water World

The JW Marriot Las Vegas Resort Spa & Golf is a plush Mediterranean-style retreat a dice throw from breathtaking Red Rock Canyon. Its Aquae Sulis Spa takes a cue from European-style hydrotherapy spas. I do the rounds, dipping into hot and cold plunge pools, then wade through the outdoor hydro-circuit pool before my Turkish eucalyptus and salt scrub and out-of-this-world sampler massage (a customized deep tissue/hot stones combo).

3. Five-Star Serenity

If entering The Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas feels like coming in from the storm (this is the only casino-free hotel on the Strip), hitting the spa feels like being enveloped in a yummy-smelling protective cocoon. During my Tropical Escape, I’m sanded down with a vanilla-ginger sugar scrub before being kneaded with luscious body butter as its scent conjures fuzzy memories of beach vacations past.

4. When in Rome…

The star of the show at Qua spa in Caesars Palace is the dimly lit Roman Baths Room, with its multiple burbling pools of varying temperatures. After my Raindrop Therapy treatment – nine detoxifying essential oils are dripped on my spine in sequence and massaged in – I go for a soak, then alternate between steam room and Arctic Ice Room, complete with fake snow, where I get a rush from rubbing my overheated limbs with crushed ice.

5. Boutique Breathing Space

You’ll think you’ve ended up at a Manhattan boutique hotel when you see the slate walls and minimalist look of Bathhouse Spa in THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. But the waterfall features, impossibly high ceilings and maze of plunge pools are pure Vegas. Before my Scents of You treatment, I’m given a mini-questionnaire about my mood and personality, then massaged with a custom blend of essential oils. I leave with a small bottle of this personal elixir in my purse.

6. Kind of Blue

If pirates liked to be pampered, Wet Spa in the Treasure Island resort would surely be a favourite hangout; the blue oceanic theme here would put any seafarer at ease. I drop anchor for the Wet Signature Massage, a beguiling blend of aromatherapy massage, scalp massage and paraffin wax foot treatment. Afterward, my therapist, Frankie, gives me a hug and tells me I’m a sweetie. I thank her for making my feet feel like silk pillows.

7. Body and Soul

Tucked away from the gondola-crowded canal at the Venetian resort is the 69,000-square-foot Canyon Ranch SpaClub. I enter the cavitosonic chamber (a dark room with a saltwater mist fountain) for some good Vibrational Therapy. Gemstones are placed along my chakras and frankincense is rubbed in my hair while the crystal sound bowls are played. I tingle from head to toe. Then my therapist claps her hands to “close up the aura” and, suddenly, I’m back on the bustling Strip, with my energy field cleansed, ready to face this wild world again.

(Genevieve Paiement is a Montreal-based writer who’s lived and worked in France and Australia. Her work has appeared in places like Time Out Paris, The Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian.co.uk and enRoute. Her last article for onAir was about shopping in London.)

TOP PHOTO: JW MARRIOTT LAS VEGAS RESORT & SPA
QUA: HARRAH'S
BATHHOUSE SPA: MGM MIRAGE