Island hopping: Caribbean spa travel guide

St. Martin: La Samanna

From the accents and brisk attitudes of the front-desk staff, you'd think La Samanna had been airlifted to St. Martin from the Riviera. Still, it's not French enough for some Parisians. They bemoan the Creole-speaking waitstaff's casual use of tu rather than the formal vous. To its credit, the hotel is content to let the Parisians fume--this is the Caribbean, not Saint-Tropez, after all.

The 81 rooms are in two-story white stucco villas with bright blue doors. Each room opens to Baie Longue, the island's longest beach, but it's the pool, perched 30 feet above the ocean, that's the dreamiest spot. My one-bedroom suite (830 square feet) was handsome enough in pale yellows and Mexican tiles, but like 31 rooms already, it will soon undergo a minimalist makeover, turning white and beige, with dark wood and just a hint of warmth. And those tiny '60s-vintage bathrooms are finally being enlarged.

The Elysýes Spa stands alone, with five treatment rooms arrayed around a courtyard but no relaxation room. Four of them have delightful alfresco showers and louvers, so you can hear Caribbean songbirds mix with the New Age music or French pop that's playing. The seven therapists are French, and my Swedish massage (50 minutes, $130) was invigorated by a strong Chinese accent. If you're brave, go for the Moxa treatment (90 minutes, $260), administered by the singularly gifted Pascale Panot, who studied traditional Chinese medicine. The Moxa is a cigar-shaped roll of mugwort (artemisia) that's lit until a glowing ember forms at the end. Panot moves the burning tip in small circles about an inch above 25 or so acupuncture points on your body. It hurts as much as you might imagine--she admits that many people cry. Reflexology and an abdominal massage follow, meant to release deep tensions and emotions. While I felt relaxed immediately afterward, a fitful night of sleep followed. It's pain as purgative, and whether you consider that catharsis or torture, Elysýes's therapists are among the most intuitive and inventive I've encountered. --E.P.

Rates $850-$4,300
Reservations 800-854-2252
Website www.lasamanna.com

Turks & Caicos: The Palms

Give the staff time to mature: That's the gist of this new mega-million-dollar property on the main resort island, Providenciales. The 72 suites and public spaces are gorgeous, with a neo-Palladian look inspired by British set designer Oliver Messel. The restaurant is sexy, the food is fantastic, and the resort provides of-the-moment amenities like iPod Minis. But the cast, as of my March visit, didn't have the polish to cater to a clientele paying upwards of $750 a night. It took 20 minutes to get a breakfast check, no one at the pool bar could make the signature cocktail, housekeeping left room doors unlocked, and, in one instance, a staff member let himself into a room when the couple was in bed asleep.

It was the same story at the spa. The 25,000-square-foot facility has a glorious T-shaped reflecting pool, shoji-screened yoga studio, and two huge couple's suites. The therapists are experienced and skilled, but the support staff is neither on the job--shampoo and sandals were in short supply--nor winning. One ordered me to sit down because "you look tired."

The spa menu is exotic--the signature services are the Mother of Pearl Scrub (25 minutes, $65), which uses ground conch shells, and the Zareeba (80 minutes, $175), an inhalation therapy. The scrub was too abrasive--and too gimmicky. There's no local tradition of using conch shells in skin care, and they're so hard to grind that it takes two hours to get enough for two treatments. I liked the Zareeba, which means "safe enclosure" in Arabic and refers to the shoulder-height, canvas-front teak box in which you sit. In front of you is a clay pot full of dogwood, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and about a dozen other herbs in boiling water, which purportedly improve the functioning of almost all the body's systems. Afterward, Earl Blake, who learned the treatment from its originator, Jamaican herbalist Shirley Genus, gave me an assured full-body massage.

I also had an exquisite Thai massage (50 minutes, $115) from Rosanna Dela Rosa, a native Filipina who's been a therapist for 14 years. It was almost enough to make me forgive the attendants who didn't understand that you're supposed to wear clothes for Thai massage. --A.A.

Rates $750-$7,000
Reservations 866-877-7256
Website www.thepalmstc.com

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