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Published Jul/Aug 2006 |
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From Florida to Colorado and points in-between, choose from these resorts where couples can spend quality time together and have fun apart.
By Pam Grout |
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 en may be from Mars and women from Venus, but on this planet, they often vacation together. Thankfully, the resorts on Earth have a fail-proof formula for accommodating men and women: his-and-hers amenities.While he putts, she’s pampered. While she shops, he catches the game on the bar’s big-screen. Or vice versa. What follows are six rendezvous a deux to please both vacationers, whatever planet they call home. Lovers’ lake There are more than 50 miles of fairways at central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks. But for every green, there’s a spa service to match. Take the Lodge of Four Seasons (Horseshoe Bend Parkway). It has three award-winning golf courses: Witch’s Cove, Seasons Ridge and the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the waterfront golf community, Porto Cima. Add the nine-hole executive course and this AAA three diamond lodge offers a whopping 63 holes of golf, all with terrific views of the lake and Ozark hills. Spa Shiki services are plentiful and include detoxifying algae masks, an 80-minute deluxe pedicure and Japanese cleaning rituals that end with candlelight and an aromatherapy massage. Spa Shiki was designed in honor of Buffy Murai, the Japanese landscape designer who lived in a teahouse on the property for 30 years. Spa Shiki is consistently nationally ranked as one of the country’s best. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention there’s also a couples massage you can do together. And golf carts do seat two. I do…again There’s nothing like an oceanfront view to remind couples of those three little words. Sonesta Beach Resort in Key Biscayne (350 Ocean Drive) near Miami, Fla., offers a state-of-the art spa with classic European treatments (try a combo massage and soak using algae, mud, oils and herbs) and a nearby 72-par golf course–Crandon Park (6700 Crandon Blvd.)–that can be packaged with a stay at the resort. But the best thing about this AAA four diamond resort is that after going their separate ways, couples can reunite each evening to partake of Food is Art, a culinary program that separates Sonesta from other upscale hotels. Not only does Sonesta Key Biscayne have a curator for its museum-quality art collection, but each dish that comes out of the kitchen is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. I still tell stories about my appetizer at the resort’s Purple Dolphin restaurant. A live neon blue Siamese Fighting Fish was swimming around the goblet in which the appetizer was served. Nearby, the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort (18001 Collins Ave.) is an equally inspiring his-and-hers retreat and a AAA four diamond hotel. While he catches a Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins or Florida Panthers game (all within a short drive), she can pamper herself at the Aquanox Spa on the third level of the 32-story property. Situated on Sunny Isles Beach, the resort offers air-conditioned poolside and beachfront cabanas and is minutes from the nearest Bloomingdale’s at the Aventura Mall. Need I say more? Ski widow’s revenge What happens when he likes to ski and she doesn’t? Do words like reiki, shiatsu and aromatherapy ring any bells? Today it’s hard to find a ski resort without an adjoining spa. So while he’s out traversing black diamonds, she can get her nails manicured, her face peeled and her back kneaded. A good example is the Allegria Spa at the AAA four diamond Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort (50 W. Thomas Place) in Beaver Creek, Colo. The newly renovated two-story spa will have 30,000 square feet and 23 new treatment rooms in time for the 2006 ski season. Many of these rooms are designed for specific treatments, including couples’ massage, barefoot massage, hot stone massage and Swiss shower treatment. In the new water temple, water flows over stone into a heated mineral pool, an aromatic bath for women and men. Or consider a his-and-hers jaunt to Solitude Mountain Resort (12000 Big Cottonwood Canyon) in Utah. Only 40 minutes from the Salt Lake International Airport, this ski resort has its own village complete with AAA three diamond accommodations, restaurants, ice skating, shopping and the Essentials Spa. Rekindling the flame My friend Susan, a wonderful therapist and writer, has a fantastic marriage. It’s one of those marriages the rest of us envy, the kind Dr. Phil insists are possible. So what’s her secret? “Once a month,” she slyly replies. Now she has my attention. “When I was a young therapist, newly married, I worked with this wise old doc at Menninger’s (the Menninger Clinic) who was always playful, always talked about his exciting marriage. Needless to say, I had to ask. He told me that no matter what, he and his wife took off one night every month for a small vacation. No kids. No phones. No responsibilities,” she says. Susan and her husband, Frank, took his advice to heart, recently celebrating 27 years together at the Arbor Day Society’s Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, Neb. In recent years, they’ve done everything from taking Caribbean cruises to packing a picnic basket for the motel in their hometown. Susan prescribes it to all her clients. “You can talk without being interrupted. You can start a conversation and not have to rush it. I’m telling you, it’s a marriage saver,” she says. In St. Louis, Mo., couples can choose from dozens of hotel packages designed with him and her in mind. They range from the “Breakfast in Bed” package at the Holiday Inn South County to Renaissance Grand Hotel’s “Martinis for Two” that comes with overnight accommodations, collectible martini glasses and, of course, the martinis that come with them. My sweetie and I opted for the Westin’s (811 Spruce St.) Romance Package that included champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and breakfast in bed for two. The Westin is a AAA four diamond hotel. I’m glad I heeded my friend Susan’s advice. Whether you and your partner spend time doing your own thing or doing something together, make time for a his-and-her getaway this summer. Pam Grout is a contributor from Lawrence, Kan. |
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