Surrender to the Spa
CuisinArt Resort & Spa, Anguilla
Life is just a bowl of cherry tomatoes.
Well, it is at Anguilla's CuisinArt Resort & Spa, where that's precisely what guests find in their room every day: a just-picked selection of what are some of the sweetest and purest specimens of the fruit known to mankind. Mini-maters may sound like a peculiar five-star amenity, but here they're a signature touch that speaks volumes about the wholesome, holistic ethos that permeates the resort. They announce, "You've come to a place that's going to take good care of you."
The Rendezvous Bay hotel, whose style was inspired by the whitewashed architecture on the Greek island of Mykonos, was opened in 2001 by Leandro Rizzuto, the American owner of the CuisinArt appliance company. In a stroke of inspiration, Dr. Howard Resh was drafted to build and curate a one-acre hydroponic garden, the likes of which is to be found at no other resort property in the world. The good doctor is also its docent, leading daily tours that turn out to be far more fascinating than one might expect of a quick tutorial on greenhouse horticulture.
Hydroponics is the method for growing plants without soil, using water and nutrients, and man, does it work - those tomatoes go from seed to bowl in three months, and the plants grow to 40 feet over a 10-month cycle. There's more: Dr. Resh and crew harvest 128 heads of bib lettuce every day, and they grow peppers, microgreens, cucumbers, and 15 kinds of fresh herbs and edible flowers. You like salad? They've got salad.
"Nutritionally, it's better for you than what you could grow in your own backyard," says Dr. Resh. It's also prepared more expertly than you probably could in your own kitchen; the ultrafresh produce is, of course, an extraordinary resource for executive chef Daniel le Guenan. "Now I can playing with that!" says the Frenchman. In his "Meditaribbean" fusion cuisine, he uses little butter or oil, cooks quickly and incorporates local ingredients like plantains, sweet potatoes and fresh fish. Le Guenan hosts an educational chef's table near the kitchen and offers hands-on cooking classes. "My cooking is a part of my heart," he says. "I love to share it with my staff and guests."
Not to be outdone, the bar staff also exploits the garden's bounty. To make a batch of tomatinis, vodka is infused with cherry tomatoes for eight weeks. Cumin and sweet basil are added to the blend; the rim of the glass is dusted with paprika and sugar; and the drink is garnished with three cherry tomatoes, orange, red and yellow. Folks, that is not your everyday cocktail (but perhaps Petal's Hydroponic Cucumber and Sage Martini is). At CuisinArt, the bar's an adventure in the possibilities of hydroponic, alcoholic goodness.
So, too, it turns out, is the Venus Spa, a 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the art facility that underwent a $10 million expansion this year. "You know that people are going to leave here feeling better than when they came in," spa director Kathy Eggleston said as she showed me to the men's locker room. I opted for a 2½-hour regime called the Pyrat Refresher, named for Anguilla's own premium rum blend and offered in the Men's Club Suite "for all our distinguished gentlemen," as the menu put it.
Featured Spa: CuisinArt Venus Spa...
First I was the fortunate recipient of a tandem massage performed by expert masseuses. Upon my creaky and aching middle-aged body, they practiced simultaneous effleurage - my favorite new word, meaning slow, circular strokes. They were like four-hand pianists coaxing a beautiful duet out of an out-of-tune instrument. This was followed by a facial - my first - and then a pedicure, another first. During the latter, I couldn't help wondering where the nymphs with grapes were. Then a woman walked in with a tray of fresh fruit and a mojito made with Pyrat and aromatic mint from Dr. Resh's garden. I felt like a pharaoh.
When I got back to my room, I said to my little tomato friends, "You were right: I have been well taken care of today."
Choose Your Next Heart's Desire:
Three More Top Spa Retreats
Ceiba del Mar Beach & Spa Resort, Mexico
Just outside the sleepy village of Puerto Morelos, about 20 miles south of Cancún, Ceiba's 88 ocean-view rooms and suites surround a 9,000-square-foot sanctuary, which specializes in Maya-inspired rituals, including the traditional purifying sweat lodge, the temazcal. From $148 in low season ($280 high). 877-545-6221; ceibadelmar.com
Lap up the luxury on Virgin Gorda, where the cliff-edge Sense spa overlooks glistening waters and offers treatments (including the neem leaf facial) that utilize locally harvested ingredients. From $450 in low season ($650 high). 888-767-3966; littledixbay.com
Intimate and low-key, this 47-suite Ocho Rios classic offers tasteful accommodations, exceptional service and the KiYara Ocean Spa, where plant-based treatments are administered in a thatch-roof waterfront cottage. From $300 in low season ($590 high). 800-837-4608; jamaicainn.com
Choose Your Next Heart's Desire:
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