Taking the Kids™

Heading to a Spa

Forget that souvenir T-shirt or stuffed animal. These days, savvy young travelers would rather splurge on a facial, a massage, or a chocolate-milk foot soak.

The International Spa Association says 40 percent of spa-goers with teen children have taken their child to a spa and half of the 18- and 19-year-old kids of spa-goers have been to spas.

"Many parents see spa activities as one of the few activities that older teens want to experience with them," said Steven Holt of the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Colorado. And these days, you can take your pick:

The Broadmoor (www.broadmoor.com) in Colorado Springs, Colo., has begun offering an "In Synch" package – complete with synchronized swimming, massage, and side-by-side makeup lesson - with an eye toward moms and daughters.

The Ritz Carlton Spa in Orlando offers everything from a Ritz Kids Massage to a “Systems Blue Teen Facial complete with a personal skin analysis (www.ritzcarlton.com).

The Hotel del Coronado near San Diego (www.hoteldel.com) invites teens to indulge in the "Lucky Chick" package, which includes a shorter massage, manicure, and facial. How about a mud wrap?

Hawk's Cay Resort in the heart of the Florida Keys (www.hawkscay.com) teaches stress relaxation and offers facials, hair styling, and makeup.

Topnotch at Stowe Resort in Vermont (www.topnotch-resort.com), which just expanded its spa, has a special-for-teens super maple sugar scrub and teen tune-up with a personal trainer.

The Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas, (www.lakeaustin.com) offers special discounts and programs for teens.

Canyon Ranch (www.canyonranch.com) lowered its minimum age from 14 to 12 at its resorts in Tucson, Ariz., and Lenox, Mass., and it touts a special discounted parent-child package and has launched a coed camp for teens “for smarter minds and bodies” held on a Pennsylvania college campus.

There’s an entire “KIDsPA” at The Homestead resort (www.thehomestead.com) in Virginia's Allegheny Mountains, where kids accompanied by parents and grandparents are opting for "generations" beauty-treatment packages, "The Boys" father-and-son massages, and pedicures featuring a chocolate-milk foot soak.

Boys can be as enthusiastic as the girls about spa-going, says 16-year-old Michael Fieldman, who loved the special teen facial he got at a Hawaii resort recently “and it really helped his skin,” his mother Amy reported.

But if you're planning to include a spa on your next vacation, make sure the resort you choose will permit children and offers some special services for them.

My daughter and I opted for the Camelback Inn (www.camelbackinn.com) in Arizona, with its stupendous views of Mummy Mountain and its recently renovated gargantuan spa. Around the pool, in the indoor and outdoor hot tubs, in the steam room and sauna, in yoga or Pilates class, there were sister-sister and mom-daughter combinations like us, including 82-year-old Marjorie Gondolf of Philadelphia and her daughter, Eileen. "I'm glowing," said the elder Mrs. Gondolf with a laugh. "The time together is the best part."

The treatments aren’t bad either. At the Camelback Inn, I'm slathered in Sedona clay, which I'm told will pull out all the toxins and relax my muscles. I'm wrapped like a mummy, and as the warmth spreads throughout my body, the therapist massages my scalp with lavender-scented oil. The best is yet to come: I'm scrubbed with a cactus-fiber cloth as a special nine-headed shower cascades from overhead, gently rinsing me with warm water.

Down the hall, my daughter Reggie is relaxing, too, with a hot and cold stone massage. "Very peaceful," she reports. Later, we'll both have facials. In between, we hit the steam and the sauna, then nibble on lettuce wraps and salads that are brought to us poolside.

We'd planned on hitting a fitness class or two - there are several to choose from - but instead we lazed by the pool in the sunshine, talking. There's something to be said for indulgence, Reggie agrees. At least once in a while.

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