When I am in the mood for a big splurge and pamper-fest, I head to San Francisco. In addition to great museums, restaurants and outdoor activities, San Francisco also boasts great places to while away the afternoon with a spa treatment or two, and by that I mean massages, facials and mani/pedis. With over 100 spas in San Francisco to choose from, the decision can be a little overwhelming, but I have narrowed it down to my top 5 choices:

Recharge Spa on Nob Hill

This full-service salon offers a treatment for nearly every part of your body, including parts I did not even know I had (laser hair removal from my glabella?). Located just up from Union Square, and down the street from the Grace Cathedral, this spa is perfect for locals and visitors alike. Note, the spa is closed on Wednesdays.

Tenaya Med Spa

Across town, on Union Street, Tenaya Med Spa, specializes in laser hair-removal treatments and Botox. Great place to go if you are feeling like a facial pick-me-up, something those of us with young children encounter quite a bit.

White Ginger Day Spa & Gallery

A complete spa, along with work from local artists, White Ginger is also the place to take your daughter for Mommy-Daughter Day, with special services for the under-12 set. Both of you can enjoy manicure and pedicure as part of their Mommy and Me package. Dads, don’t feel left out, you are invited too!

PatrickEvan Salon & Spa

Is your hair fried from too much summer fun in the pool? Maybe you need a new style, something sassy for the first day of school? Head over to PatrickEvan, where in addition to a top-notch salon, you can also relax with spa treatments galore. You will come out feeling (and looking) like a million bucks!

Re:fresh, A Day Spa

After a long day of shopping at Union Square, hit this local favorite for a massage from one of their experts, who can get knots out of even the tightest muscles! Reasonably priced, this place won’t break the bank, leaving you enough for a little cocktail at KoKo’s around the corner.

What is your favorite spa in San Francisco? Let’s get relaxing!

Photo courtesy of Thomas Wanhoff. 

There’s some spas in Napa which take pleasure in treating guests like pigs. Yep, that’s right – you’ll end up wallowing in mud up to your neck. This would be the mud spas in Calistoga, where a mix of volcanic ash, essential oils and water from the region’s mineral hot springs are used to offer a body and skin treatment which, believe it or not, is actually cleansing and relaxing.

Before we get to the spas offering this treatment, here’s a bit of background about why these mud spas are centered around Calistoga. For that, we need to go back 148 years to 1860, when a bright spark called Samuel Brannan had the idea to mix some volcanic ash from Mount St. Helena with the plentiful mineral water from the hot springs in the area  and offer spa treatments at his’Calistoga Hot Springs Resort. The mud bath thing kinda caught on, and now Calistoga is ground zero for mud baths, with a string of resorts and spas offering said treatment. For the record, Samuel Brannan was Calistoga’s founder, and a cottage built by him – The Brannan Cottage Inn – is now a Bed and Breakfast.

The spas offering mud baths in Calistoga include the Calistoga Village Inn & Spa, Golden Haven Hot Springs Spa & Resort, Solage, Oasis Spa, Indian Springs Spa and the Lincoln Avenue Spa.

Of course, spa treatments are not just about minerals and massages, so it helps that Napa Valley in general, and Calistoga in particular, offers a splendid vista and a beautiful landscape for a romantic holiday or getaway. Poking around the wineries and the historical landmarks, with some relaxing downtime at the spa in between, is what really makes these Napa vacations really memorable. And you get to fool around in the mud without anyone telling you to get out of there at once!

Photo copyrights – Golden Haven Spa

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Are the triple-digit temperatures getting you down? How about immersing yourself in a vat of bubbling hot water? Believe it or not, it can be a refreshing experience, as long as you’re in a Jacuzzi at a nice spa. In other words, don’t try this at home.

Here are some spa retreats that you might want to check out for a cooling, calming break from the summer heat. Don’t forget to hydrate!

A popular destination for spa-loving Angelenos, Burke Williams is a chain so there’s probably one close to where you are. Definitely in the upscale realm of spas, they offer a standard menu of massages, facial treatments and spa facilities in lush surroundings. I’ve been to the Pasadena and Santa Monica locations, and while I got a decent massage at both, I found the experience unremarkable considering the steep price: $125 for only a 50 minute session, much more than what I’ve paid at other spas. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a rich friend (or husband) who will gift you with the $790 all day spa experience, titled ‘A Day Beyond’ (apparently they left out the words, ‘My Budget.’)

For a more down-to-earth experience why not try the Beverly Hot Springs, located in Koreatown. This no-frills spa boasts L.A.’s only pure-alkaline mineral water spa, and also a celebrity clientele. I tried to impress at a party once by telling them how I had seen Brooke Shields in the lobby, but was quickly trumped by someone else who had seen Madonna, naked, in the boiling-hot spring pool. Their prices are reasonable – $30 will get you the use of the hot springs and for another $60 you can have my favorite, the Body Care treatment, which consists of a 50-minute massage and skin conditioning session using milk, oil and cucumber. Besides feeling great, you come out of there smelling like a nice salad.

If you’re really feeling crazy on one of those sweltering days, why not drive for two hours to the blazing hot desert to Two Bunch Palms. Located on what was once Al Capone’s hideout in Desert Hot Springs, this resort is also a celeb favorite – Meryl Streep and Bette Midler have been known to escape to this ultra luxurious resort. Known for theier mineral springs, they also offer a full menu of spa and pampering services ranging from a standard Swedish massage (a fairly reasonable $115 for 60 minutes) to something called Watsu, which has you “cradled in the water in the amrs of your therapist” while your receive a shiatsu treatment. Sounds a little freaky to me, but whatever floats your boat, er, body.