Mexico spa offers value getaway

Tag : female jeans
By JANE WOOLDRIDGE McClatchy Newspapers
IXTAPAN DE LA SAL, Mexico -- I've been oiled, salted, kneaded, toned, perfumed, prodded in theintimate reaches of my metatarsal pressure points. My thighs havejounced and bounced; my Third Eye and First Chakra have been priedapart.
In this land of exquisite torture, I've even been denied chocolate.And I'm feeling pretty great about it all.
For a child of Depression Era parents - Calvinists to boot - theidea of tossing hundreds of dollars on a day at a spa is anall-too-fleeting extravagance that never seemed worth it. Springingfor the occasional massage at the end of a particularly wretchedweek was pricy enough.
But when my Miamian-turned-New Yorker friend, Phyllis Stoller,suggested meeting at a spa in Mexico, I plunked down the creditcard. Between a dying parent, fast-paced workplace, one of those"zero" birthdays and The Husband's midnight emergency appendectomy,I needed a break. And the price was oh-so-right: $830 for afour-night package including single room, all meals, workoutclasses and multiple spa treatments - about the price of a "day" ata top spa here in Miami.
The added benefit: Girlfriending, that peculiar female ritual inwhich you never run out of things to say, and what you do say nevercomes back to haunt you.
And so I found myself whisked from Mexico City's sprawling airportand daunting traffic on a two-hour ride through the mountains toIxtapan de la Sal, a friendly mountain town where the main streetis lined with gardens and white-washed tree trunks. Just past thestately village fountain, the hotel rises from a hillside garden ofbougainvillea and poinciana trees.
Hotel Ixtapan isn't a luxury resort, but the open-air lobby, twinswimming pools, spacious, cheery rooms (sans AC, but in themountains, cool enough even in summer) were more than comfortable.A constant refrain of tweets whistled from the tree tops shelteringthe 13-acre park of fountains and lawns. The tennis club, golfcourse and a children's play area offered diversions for guests whoweren't sweating it out in the gym or soaking up the spa.
Phyllis - founder of one of the first big women's travel companies,who has since sold her firm - understands the importance ofgirlfriend getaways. "The women you read about are bragging aboutbackpacking around the world. But most women aren't like that," shesays. She doesn't like traveling alone, and her job-focused husbandwouldn't have enjoyed this trip. "You travel with your spouse, it'swork, I don't care who your spouse is."
Like the pal she is, Phyllis waited in the lobby for my arrival,then whisked me to lunch and let me know about the aromatherapymassage she'd booked for me that afternoon. What more could agirlfriend ask?
For the next four days, we would pursue our common goals: Exercise,health-conscious meals, pampering and the deepening of friendship.
We certainly weren't alone. Groups of women from Oregon, New Jerseyand Texas aerobocized, yoga-ed and hoisted margaritaselbow-to-elbow, and we even saw the occasional woman travelingsolo. Most were 50-plus - a big part of his clientele, says ownerRoberto San Roman, whose grandfather first developed the resort inthe 1940s. About 33,000 American women came here for spa retreatslast year.
Some come for the health benefits, some to relax among fellowX-chromosomers. Like most of the other guests we met, MarilynDeaton of Medford, Ore., was a veteran, I learned one morning ataerobics class.
"The first time I came I did all the exercise with the diet and Ididn't lose a single pound. There's a man who's come here everyyear for the past 21 years; he says you have to stay at least 10days to two weeks to actually lose weight." Deaton and her gangonly stay a week. But she keeps coming back; this was visit No. 6.
Rosemary Owens of Dallas, who was lounging by the pool, has beenvisiting here since the mid-1990s with a crowd of fellow airlineemployees. "It's lovely. It's affordable. They have beautifulservice and food. You get a whole lot of bang for the buck. And thetreatments are really good; each year they've improved."
Owens said she didn't expect to lose weight - this visit would lastonly four days - but she was hoping to get back on a healthy track.Phyllis and I were hoping for the same; each of us was carryingmore pounds than we'd like.
So each morning we started with a workout or aerobics or yogaclass, followed by breakfast in the resort's spa restaurant offresh fruit, cereals, fresh juices - including a cactus diureticthat looked like pond scum but tasted OK - and eggs cooked toorder. No croissants or butter here; that was across the grounds inthe "regular" restaurant. Eat reasonably, and you can consume lessthan 1,000 calories per day if you take all three meals in the sparestaurant - though portion control is up to you.
Invariably, Phyllis and I were the last to leave, as we caught upon business and friends and books and shared the usually-secretjoys and woes of family. "Sometimes when you're away from home,you're willing talk about things you'd never discuss with peopleyou see regularly," she says. So true.
We by-passed possible excursions - Taxco for silver shopping,Cuenavaca for gardens - in favor of a slow pace. By mid-morning, wewere ready for shopping in the sweet town, scooping up silverjewelry and locally made face creams and clay piggy banks paintedby the artist as we watched. Then it was lunch, reading - one day agolf lesson - and visits to the spa.
I was hesitant about the spa treatments, having had more than a fewwimpy massages in my travels. But each - some included in mypackage, some involving an extra fee - rated very good toexcellent. Firming facials, reflexology, deep massage, loofah,mani- and pedi-cure, scalp massage, and my favorites, a Thaimassage and an aromatherapy - left me feeling beautified andsoothed. Many took place in the resort's new Holistic Spa, a serenespace of high light ceilings and trickling pools that opened lastDecember.
By evening, we dined - though I admit, not always in the sparestaurant, and yes, we had the occasional margarita. But we'd beengood all day, and that, we figured, should be good enough.
The four-day spa visit may not have cured all my woes, but by thetime I headed back to reality, I was at least less savage. I can'tsay that I lost the first ounce or dramatically shifted mylifestyle. But months later, I'm still eating healthier than I wasand getting more exercise than before my visit. My jeans are alittle looser. And while I don't talk to Phyllis every day, or evenevery week, I know that the minute I call, we'll be right backwhere we were - at least friendship-wise - in Mexico.
IF YOU GO:
VISITING IXTAPAN SPA
Most flights arrive in Mexico City, a two-hour drive from IxtapanResort & Spa. Hotel transport costs $360 roundtrip for up to fourpeople. Alternatively, you can fly into the nearby airport atToluca.
Inclusive packages for four, seven or 28 days include all meals andmany spa services and sports packages; four-night spa packagesstart at $830 single; $735 double occupancy. www.spamexico.com;800-638-7950.
Facilities include men's and women's spas, gym, golf course, tenniscourts, children's play area, two pools (one noisier, one quieter),outdoor bar, indoor bar. Meals at the two restaurants - one withspa cuisine, the other with Mexican and international dishes - areincluded in packages.
MORE MEXICO SPAS
Thanks to their strong value, Mexico spas rank among the currentdarlings of the pamper-and-wellness world, says trend watcher MaryBemis, editor of Organic Spa, an online magazine(www.organicspa.com).
"Most of the environments outside of Cancun lend themselvesnaturally to a spa. You find water and sand and all those moretactile elements you'd hope for," she says.
Because of the healing tradition of the Maya culture, Mexico is atop choice for indigenous treatments made from local ingredients."Even a so-so spa will have something that plays on the history andthe herbs," says Bemis. And well-known companies like MandarinOriental and St. Regis are due to open.
She recommends:
FAVORITE
-Rancho la Puerta, an hour from San Diego, a true destination spanot outrageously expensive; www.rancholapuerta.com.
LUXURY
-Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas, www.esperanzaresort.com.
-Las Ventanas, Cabo San Lucas, www.lasventanas.com.
OTHER CHOICES
-Ceiba del Mar, Puerto Morales (near Cancun): Slightly funky, butwith wonderful holistic treatments; www.ceibadelmar.com.
-Paraiso de la Bonita, also near Cancun: More of a medicalorientation; www.paraisodelabonita.com.
Jane Wooldridge: jwooldridge@MiamiHerald.com