After four days on the exhibit floor, treat thyself

By Patty Enrado, Editor

ORLANDO, Fla. — You brought comfortable shoes last year. You paced yourself on the exhibit floor. But after four days, your dogs are tired, and your arms lengthened five inches from all that paper (not to mention the knickknacks picked up from vendor booths) you’ve been lugging around.

Fortunately, you planned ahead and are staying an extra day to relax and unwind before going back home — and that doesn’t include making a trip to the Magic Kingdom or being an action hero at Universal Studios.

If you’re still figuring out what to do on your off days, consider treating yourself to a full-service spa. We’ve checked the reviews and here are the top spas in and around Orlando.
The Canyon Ranch Spa Club (407.586.4772, 6000 W Osceola Pkwy., Kissimmee) offers 20,000 square feet of massages, facials, wraps and salon services, with an emphasis on balance and wellness. Citysearch reviewer Kristin Harmel noted that while all services are pricey, you are paying for top quality for such amenities as the large, quiet and well-equipped treatment rooms.

Treat yourself to the Club’s exclusive Euphoria multi-treatment. This 100-minute treatment includes a heated body mask, hydrotherapy tub soak, and scalp and body massage. It may well be the most relaxing 100 minutes you’ve ever experienced. You can also sign up for exercise physiology consultations and energy therapies. For example, if you sign up for Jin Shin Jyutsu, you’ll get an analysis of your pulse and your practitioner will use pressure points to “free up” energy blocks within your body.

Water is the operative word at the Ritz-Carlton Spa, Grand Lakes (407.206.2400, 4012 Central Florida Pkwy., Orlando), where many of its treatments involves water at this five-star 40,000-square-foot resort spa and fitness center. Considered a healing agent by therapists, water is incorporated into its massaging shower, citrus-infused bath treatment and steam treatments. The Ritz-Carlton Spa has 40 treatment rooms, a 4,000-square-foot heated lap pool and a guest conservatory.

The Pierre Day Spa (407.294.5464, 3541 Edgewater Dr., Orlando) has garnered across-the-board kudos from Citysearch reviewers, who liked the cozy, intimate surroundings, despite its downtown district location. The spa specializes in manicures, facials and deep massages. Citysearch reviewer Natasha Lawrence noted that the Swedish and deep-tissue massage, mud wraps, sea-salt exfoliation and various therapies are designed to “revitalize and relax.” The full-service salon offers nail services, waxing and scalp treatments. Lawrence commended the personal care service and resort-spa experience of all therapists. What tips the scale of this spa is the “high-quality service at less-expensive prices.”

Okay, there is one spa that we’re highlighting that is owned by Disney. The Grand Floridian Spa & Health Club (407.824.3000, 4401 Grand Floridian Wy., Lake Buena Vista) is the Magic Kingdom’s answer to a full-service spa, featuring saunas, facials, body wraps, aromatherapy massages and workouts on an individual treatment basis or spa package. You can work with a personal trainer one-on-one or participate in a group session. Citysearch reviewer Natasha Lawrence called the spa setting “contemporary elegance” within the Grand Floridian resort.

You may still want to pack your comfortable shoes, but leave behind your handheld massager.