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Spas in paradise: from heaven-sent pampering to fat-blasting fitness, these six oceanfront retreats answer all your weight-loss prayers - Venture Out

Shape, April, 2003

Any spa resort with a massage table can be paradise. The following six, however, are in a league of their own, offering such luxurious lodging, plush pampering and spectacular scenery, you may have to pinch yourself to believe they're real. So go ahead and splurge. These places are as close to heaven as you're likely to get--at least in this lifetime. All prices are in U.S. dollars per night, double occupancy.

1. Hotel Hana-Maui, Hawaii

Wedged between flowering rain forests and the surf-pounded coastline, the town of Hana on Maui, Hawaii, is accessible by plane (it has a small airport) and the beautiful Hana Highway, which threads in hairpin curves up between the jungle and sea cliffs. On arriving in "heavenly Hana" you may wonder if you've ascended to the real deal or just a very close approximation.

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The 67-acre, newly restored Hawaiian plantation-style resort, which offers breathtaking views of the ocean, surrounding mountains and the 3,300-acre Hana Ranch, has a couple of restaurants, a boutique, two pools, an ocean-view whirlpool, a fitness center and an art gallery. You'll stay in luxury Sea Ranch Cottages or bungalow-style garden suites with ceiling fans and spacious lanais or patios.

With several on-site ecoclimates, there's plenty of scenic and recreational variety. Enjoy complimentary daily yoga and aqua-exercise classes, tennis, snorkeling, cycling, guided rain-forest treks and a three-hole practice golf course. Or enjoy kayaking at nearby Hana Bay.

For a real workout, take The Waimoku Challenge, a rugged four-mile trek, up through quiet jungles and bamboo forests, that dead-ends at a thundering 400-foot cascade of water. Back down at the resort, the luxurious little spa is waiting to say aloha with heaven-sent treatments that soothe away all your sins (well, almost). The Polynesian Body Glow combines local sea salt, red clay, aloe vera and kukui-nut oil, while the Hot Stone Massage uses stones from the slumbering volcano that hovers high above Hana. Sssshhh! You wouldn't want to wake her. From $295, packages available (800-321-4262, hotel-hana corn). --Carole Jacobs

2. Spa Palazzo, Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Fla.

Ever dreamt of being a princess? You can't get much closer than at the 50,000-square-foot Spa Palazzo at Boca Raton Resort & Club on Florida's Gold Coast. Modeled after a Spanish palace, the spa boasts as its jewels a pair of candlelit, marble wet rooms (one for men, one for women), each with nine private mineral baths, a whirlpool, waterfall showers and Swiss showers, sauna and steam room. Before a relaxing soak, get pampered with a Honey Coco Mango Scrub or the Florida C Facial, Or enjoy a light spa lunch while lounging on one of two sun decks or on your own private terrace. Outside the spa (if you ever leave!) the royal treatment continues: The resort features three fitness centers, a private beach, water sports, six pools, a number of unique restaurants, tennis, golf and children's activities. From $225 through April (888-495-BOCA, bocaresort.com).

Beth Janes

3. Ocean Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Talk about paradise: After a day spent strolling pearly beaches and lounging oceanside, you return to your room and find two giant chocolate-dipped strawberries plus a card from the butler informing you that your champagne is waiting.

This is just one of the small surprises awaiting guests of the Ocean Club, making this quiet, exclusive oasis a very big deal. An even bigger deal is the spa, among the worlds most luxurious, housed in eight ultraprivate, Balinese-style villas with open-air gardens, canopied day beds, two-person whirlpool baths, side-by-side massage tables for couples and waterfall showers. Exotic treatments incorporate Asian, Balinese and Bahamian influences and include The Elemis Sun Glow Ritual, You start with a lime-and-ginger salt rub and deep tissue massage, move to a day bed for a ceremonial Asian tea service, then settle into a whirlpool sprinkled with essential oils. Ding! A soft chime signals the end of all treatments.

The Pool Terrace Cafe offers fruit smoothies and light lunches. In midafternoon the resort's signature pink lemonade and sorbet are served on the beach or by the pool. Overheated? Attendants provide an Evian mist and chilled lavender-scented towels.

A fitness center, tennis courts and activities like snorkeling and yoga help build appetites for Dune, a gourmet restaurant serving Asian-French fare such as Snapper With Carrot Confit in Orange Juice, Cumin and Olive Oil.

Before slipping into your room's deep, marble bathtub or between the 300-thread-count sheets, sip a pina colada on the main building's back porch, gaze at the moonlit ocean and try to remind yourself it's not a mirage. Four-night stays, from $2,780 May 1-26, from $1,800 May 27-31. Mention you're a Shape reader and the fifth night is free for stays in May (800-321-3000; oceanclub.com).

4. Willow Stream Spa, Fairmont Southampton, Bermuda

Bucking the Bermuda shorts, knee socks and 21-mile-per-hour speed limits that make this 20-square-mile former British colony the portrait of gentility, the new Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Southampton ushers the new age onto the island. Located 640 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., Bermuda is less than a two-hour flight from New York City, Boston or Philadelphia. The sun-kissed resort perches on a pretty pink-sand cove lapped by the Atlantic Enjoy snorkeling along one of Bermuda's loveliest beaches; hike or cycle the 18-mile Bermuda Railway past pastel cottages; enjoy yoga on the beach, golf or tennis. Then relax at the new 23,000-squarefoot spa. Surrounded by flowering gardens, it has a private pool fed by three waterfalls of varying heights, plus pulsations for the ultimate water massage, as well as hot tubs, sauna, steam, and private ocean-view treatment rooms for couples. Luxury treatments include a chamomile-laced bath, rose-hip-oil massage and rose-infused wrap for 90 minutes of guilt-free bl iss. If only the same could be said of the authentic French cuisine at the resort's Waterlot Inn, a romantic 37.5-year-old bayside restaurant - still, it's worth every calorie. From $359 (800-257-7544, fairmont.com).

Spas in paradise: from heaven-sent pampering to fat-blasting fitness, these six oceanfront retreats answer all your weight-loss prayers - Venture Out

Shape, April, 2003

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