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Topic: Knowledge Center
THE GREAT EAUSCAPE…
By Katherine Stewart
Maybe it was the gargoyle with the painted fingernails. Maybe it was the disco ball in the steam room. Or maybe it was the mysterious aesthetic of chairs suspended over a reflecting pool in front of a heated waterfall. Something told me this spa was different.
Open since March, Eau Spa, in the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, Florida, provides the answer to the question many spa-goers have been asking. Now that the leading spas of the world have all converged on the same, infinitely replicated form, with their minimalist décor, soporific music, and identical treatment menus, what’s next?
The new “new thing” in spas, it turns out, is quirky, thrilling, high-concept, and, most of all, lots of fun. From the fresh-baked, bite-sized chocolate cupcakes in the spa lounge to the irreverent décor to the garden filled with inspiring art and delicious scents, Eau Spa fulfills needs and desires that guests may not even know they have. Five years in the planning, and with a $30 million price tag, it represents a remarkably creative investment – or perhaps an investment in creativity.
As I enter the spa lobby, my greeter wears a diaphanous, cream-colored outfit that suggests an attendant at the Goddess Temple. She leads me down a hallway whose white-and-green color scheme, accented with platinum-framed mirrors, is stylish, fresh, and suggestive of the playful delights to come.
First stop: the “Scrub & Polish Bar,” where “Mixologist” Samantha concocts a handmade selection of customized spa products on the spot. Directing me to a display of fresh ingredients, she offers me a choice: “Pause” for lavender, mint and pumice; “Play” for citrus, eucalyptus, and salt; and “Perfect” for vanilla, ginger, and sugar. I choose “Pause,” and she mixes up a body scrub, body butter, and body spray, all cheerily packaged in a silky, polka-dotted drawstring bag. The products can be used on site, or saved for later. Because of the other pleasures in store for me today, I put the products in my locker and vow to save them for a rainy-day home-spa experience.
Before my treatment, I want to spend a little time unwinding. That’s when I discover the disco ball in the steam room. With peppy music piped into the wet area, this has none of the “twilight sleep” feel of its brethren; rather, you feel as though you’ve joined a party for sybarites. Rubber ducks of various sizes float in the whirlpool bath and perch around the edges. As I watch several pairs of guests chatting animatedly, I realize that Eau Spa strives to capture the spirit of the ancient spa world. From the Middle Eastern Hammam, all the way back to the Roman baths, spas are meant to be fun and social, not only an escape from the stresses of everyday life but a place for personal enjoyment and for building community.
Next, I take a stroll in the Self-Centered Garden, which separates the men’s and women’s areas of the spa. The garden is a place where couples can spend time together before and after their treatments. In front of a heated waterfall, a dozen chairs dangle over a reflection pool. The eclectic design of the rectangle-shaped pleasance offers numerous areas perfect for intimate tête-à-têtes. Dramatic water features create delightful sounds, and plantings are designed to attract butterflies. A giant chess set with knee-high-sized pieces provides a conversation piece as well as opportunities for diversion.
As I take a seat on a couch in the relaxation lounge with a cup of tea, a plate of fresh berries, and one of the aforementioned cupcakes, I peruse the offbeat mix of reading materials before me: Copies of In Style, Vogue Italia, and Psychology Today, as well as vintage editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton. There is definitely something for everyone. Even the chandeliers tell a story. The one above my head consists of approximately 400 upside-down cognac glasses, painstakingly assembled by young British artisan John Harrington and imported from England.
“Mrs. Stewart?” A lovely blond attendant, Lindsay, leads me to “Villa Flow,” a serene suite decorated with such madcap touches as a vintage-like chandelier inside a modern casing, and a Plexiglas Louis IV chair.
I lay down on the “Dry Float Bed,” a magical contraption that feels like a firm, heated mattress, but it also transforms into a deliciously decadent waterbed at the touch of a button. First, Lindsay asks me to express my preference for room color. I choose “sunset” – a setting that controls the lights rimming the walls. It turns the room from a rich, vibrant fuchsia to various warm shades of red, yellow, and orange. Next, she asks me to smell various fragrance oil blends. I choose “Balance” – a bracing combination of lime, rosewood, and lavender.
My service, the Elemis Exotic Frangipani Body Nourish Wrap, begins with a body brushing and an application of coconut oil infused with the essence of frangipani flowers. I imagine that I am in Hawaii at sunset. When the scrub and oil massage are completed, Lindsay rubs my head and scalp, anointing my hair with frangipani oil.
After a rinse-off in the shower and a delicious full-body massage, Lindsay shakes a rainmaker instrument to signal the treatment’s end. A drink of orange-strawberry water and I am on my way.
My next treatment is perhaps the piece de resistance of Eau Spa: The Platinum and Diamond Facial, a service from the spa’s unique Bejeweled collection. The facial utilizes sheets of actual platinum leaf, the purest of the metals, for its legendary tightening and hydrating properties.
My therapist, Linda, is an ageless beauty of the type celebrated by the French. Though her children are grown, her skin appears entirely without pores, fine lines, or other markers of time. “I don’t believe in invasive procedures; I just take good care of my skin,” she tells me. Vowing to follow her lead, I submit to her skillful cleansing and facial massage. After applying a creamy, gentle papaya enzyme peel by Elemis that smells like an exotic dessert, she performs a few extractions, applies a Pro-collagen Quartz Lifting Serum, and places silk compresses on my eyes containing an eye serum booster. Then she painstakingly applies the Platinum masque to my face. Those Egyptians may have covered their mummies in gold, but I feel as regal as an ancient Pharaoh!
For spa traditionalists, the lavishly creative approach taken by Eau Spa may take some getting used to. No matter. There is something for everyone who steps behind its doors to explore the world of Pause, Play, and Perfect. I, for one, will be looking for the Repeat button.
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