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Most clients flock to Canyon Ranch Health Resort (www.canyonranch.com) to empower themselves with tools for a healthier lifestyle. Owners Enid and Mel Zuckerman chose Bellefontaine—an architectural gem on a 216-acre Lenox, MA, estate—for their destination spa in the Berkshires. Its centerpiece, a neoclassical replica of Le Petit Trianon at Versailles, elegantly houses the dining room, library and the Health and Healing Services department. The mansion, an amazing 100,000-square-foot spa and fitness facility (with indoor pool, running track and tennis, squash and basketball courts), and the recently redecorated guest-room wings are connected by a quarter-mile-long, glass-enclosed, climate-controlled
walkway. “The Ranch” lures more men than most spas, with

45 daily activities, an array of medical, diagnostic and behavioral opportunities, generous portions of delicious, heart-healthy food (but no alcoholic drinks), spa services and relevant educational programs. Travel agents book directly with Patricia Burridge Ackner ([email protected]; 413-637-4100) and arrange appointments (two weeks in advance is recommended) or request pre-arrival, overnight lodging, in-room massages, private cooking classes or one-on-one hikes, fitness classes or beauty demonstrations. Sandie Pompi, guest services manager (413-637-4100), handles visitor excursions into Lenox (for antiques, museums, music and dance performances and dinners at Wheatleigh, Blantyre or Zinc), and transfers between airports (Hartford, CT, or Albany, NY, or, for private jets, Pittsfield) and the train station (Albany/Renssalaer).

Rates for all-inclusive three-night/four-day per person double occupancy packages are $1,780 (standard) or $2,170 (suite with two bathrooms and a washer/dryer), and include an allowance for some spa and sports services and health and healing sessions; additional services are à la carte.

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Greg Guiteras of Lorraine Travel, a Virtuoso member, in Coral Gables, FL, sends clients to Canyon Ranch. He notes that, “Lorraine Travel keeps abreast of each guest’s upcoming stay, checking in with the Reservations Staff and on-site program coordinators to ensure their clients’ upgrades are secured in advance and to pre-schedule treatments and classes. And, the folks at Canyon Ranch keep in friendly contact with Lorraine Travel to ensure each and every stay goes off without a hitch.”
The CuisinArt Resort & Spa (www.cuisinartresort.com) on Anguilla is inspired by Grecian architecture with cerulean domes, stark-white villas and a curvilinear spa. It’s the only Caribbean spa with fresh-from-the-garden produce harvested from its half-acre, state-of-the-art hydroponic farm, organic garden and orchard. Three-star (New York Times) chef Daniel Orr ([email protected]) conducts a weekly Master Class, supervises Spa Grill luncheons, hands-on luncheons and demonstration dinners at the Kitchen Stadium. Insider tip: With advance notice, he’ll create individualized cooking classes or guest menus.

At the three-story, 8,000-square-foot Venus Spa, outdoor massages are a favorite on the terraces of three treatment rooms and on the rooftop terrace or under beach canopies. (Request Nicky, the Anguillan masseur, and masseuses Michelle, Melva and Tracy.) Spa Director Kathy Eggleston caters to VIP guests ([email protected]). There are daily scheduled fitness classes and a personal trainer for private, partner or small group sessions.

Owner and General Manager Rabin Ortiz (264-498-2000) notes that Villas 1 through 4 are closest to the spa; all villas feature satellite TV and high-speed Internet and face the powdery beach and the hillsides on French St. Martin. VIPs favor third-floor, one-bedroom suites ($1,155 double occupancy with breakfast), and accommodations can be booked over the GDS, or via Travel Agent’s Sales Representatives Colleen Schimmenti or Christy Connolly (212-972-0880).

Concierge Ena Hodge ([email protected]) arranges reservations at and transportation to the haute restaurants at Malliouhana and Blanchard's, or at Mangos, where guests sit waterside, and to the ferry for a trip to Marigot on French St. Martin to shop for designer fashions and lunch at La Vie en Rose.

Private jets land on the runway at Wallblake International Airport, about 30 minutes from the resort.
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On the Riviera Maya, the art-filled Paraiso de la Bonita Resort  and Thalassotherapy Spa (www.paraisodelabonita.com), a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, introduces American spa goers to the European destination spa experience. Señora Elisa Gosselin oversees the 22,000-square-foot spa, the first in Mexico and only the second in Latin America to offer Thalassotherapy. These therapeutic treatments use heated seawater to release toxins from the body, seaweed-based Thalgo products to restore beneficial minerals, and balneotherapy and afusion rain showers to aid circulation.

Agents: Book treatments with Spa Operations Manager Duval Loissel ([email protected]), whose nurturing watsu-like “Janzu” massages in the warm seawater pool are very much in demand. Along with an oceanfront fitness room, pampering spa services, complimentary fitness activities and a multitude of healthful choices from the French chef’s menu (alcoholic drinks are served), there’s a unique Mayan sweat-lodge opportunity in the Temazcal.

Would your clients care to helicopter to a Mayan ruin? Travel to Cuba on a 50-foot Catamaran? Request personal menus? Call Chef Concierge Lucio Aleman (872 83 00, ext. 8028). Ground-floor oceanfront rooms have private plunge pools, and the Bali “Presidential” Suite has an open-air shower. Private jets also land at Cancún International Airport, from which transfers are in a Lincoln Navigator (helicopter service is available). For a taste of authentic Mexico, dine and shop in Playa del Carmen, go to the show at the water park in Ixcaret, or club the night away in Cancún. One caveat: This is an adults-only resort; no children under 15 years old.

For the client who favors a truly personalized spa experience over camp-like camaraderie, The Fisher Island Hotel & Resort (www.fisherisland.com), a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, offers completely individualized spa packages. Only hotel guests, club members and residents gain access to this extremely exclusive and private residential Floridian island resort, which is accessibly only by ferry and
helicopter.

Sally Morales, acting spa director (305-535-6030), oversees programming for the 14-room Spa Internazionale, a 22,000-square-foot facility with both indoor and outdoor pools, where there are daily fitness classes (mostly attended by club members), and pampering spa services and cuisine. “The Custom Castaway Retreat” ($7,800) is an all-inclusive, goal-oriented, six-night/seven-day package with a generous array of personal services and nutrition, meditation and fitness sessions. Book a week in advance for private sessions with a trainer, dermatologist or registered dietician, or to secure appointments with masseur Eduardo Decamillis and masseuse Marta Diaz.

Insider Tip: When Junior Suites (for spa packages) are unavailable, guests are upgraded to Courtyard Suites, which have terraces and whirlpools.

Travel agents can contact General Manager Heiko Dobrikow at 305-535-6026 to discuss à la carte accommodations in Rosemary’s cottage, a restored, three-bedroom Vanderbilt cottage, or in the oceanview rental apartment units.
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Just off the McArthur Causeway/I-395 in Miami Beach, the spa, golf, tennis and beach resort is convenient to South Beach, the shops at Bal Harbour, and Miami International Airport.

Chef Concierge Hans Foster (305-535-6006) arranges helicopter transfers from the airport (a week’s notice is required to secure landing rights), butler service and wildlife excursions, as well as limousine, yacht and fishing charters. He’ll even arrange for a fireworks display on a special occasion.