With prices exceeding $3,000 per week at many of the United States' top spas, a spa vacation can be anything but relaxing for the budget-minded traveler--especially because expenses climb even higher when the cost of specialized treatments, such as facials or massages, is added.
Cross the border, either north or south, and the picture is different. In Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico, it's possible to spend a vacation toning and trimming (or exfoliating and mud-bathing) for less than $130 a day, including meals and activities. At many of these across-the-border spas, individualized treatments are included in the package.
Rates are lowest in Mexico. A facility called Rio Caliente, for example, charges $115 per person, per day in a double room, including meals. Add $48 for a one-hour massage, $16 for a mud wrap.
About an hour by taxi from the Guadalajara airport, Rio Caliente is in a pine-forested valley and is known for its springs. Many guests come to "take the waters" in one of four heavily salted and mineral-rich (lithium and selenium) pools or in a natural steam room. There are daily yoga and aerobics classes, guided hikes and a vegetarian meal plan low in sodium and fat.
The social program and setting at Rio Caliente are not what one would find at a standard resort. Children are not admitted, and a relaxed atmosphere prevails over the 30-acre facility. Request bookings or brochures from Spa Vacations Ltd., P.O. Box 897, Millbrae, CA 94030; (800) 200-2927, www.riocaliente.com, which represents the spa in the United States.
The nearest Mexican equivalent to our luxury spas, the large (250 suites) and well-equipped Ixtapan Resort Hotel and Spa emphasizes its thermal pools and Roman baths but also takes pains to limit its spa guests to diet meals of 900 calories a day. On the all-inclusive, seven-day spa-and-sports program, which costs $914 per person, double occupancy, guests take a daily morning walk followed by a massage. They then choose from a guided mountain bike ride, a tennis or golf lesson, an aerobics class or sightseeing at La Estrella Caves or the pre-Columbian Teotenango ruins (all covered by the initial price). Don't confuse this location with Ixtapa on the Pacific Coast; this is near Ixtapan de la Sal, south of Mexico City, and also near the silver-producing city of Taxco. For brochures or bookings, call (800) 638-7950 or visit www.spamexico.com.
