Five spa trends

Fairmont Hotels report that 50 percent of their spa guests are male at certain times, like ski season in Banff, Alberta, Canada, and golf season in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Spas have responded to the large numbers of male guests with gender-specific products, and by making their menus and decor more appealing to men.

The Lodge at Woodloch, in Hawley, Pa., which is the first new destination spa to open in the country in more than a decade, "was designed to be an environment that men would feel comfortable in," said owner Ginny Michel Lopis.

The architecture is reminiscent of a mountain lodge, incorporating stone and wood with picture-window views of the forest. There is a private lake, golf course, a full bar with tapas, and a dinner menu - no calories listed - that offers steak and bison burgers.

• FUN: Spas shouldn't only be about scrubbing skin, massaging muscles or lazing in the sauna. They should also be fun.

At Loews Hotels spas in Tucson, San Diego and Santa Monica, Calif., you can get treatments based on astrology readings. Is the Aquarian in you dominated by "air" qualities like curiosity and multitasking, leaving you nervous and exhausted? If so, Loews "Star Menu" recommends "earth" therapies to help "ground" you - deep tissue massage, a desert herbal wrap or reflexology.

The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in Ojai, Calif., has an Artist's Cottage and Apothecary where guests can weave, paint or make a mandala. The spa has hosted three-generation families and birthday parties for all ages where an art project or storytelling brings the group together.

If you go:

RATES: Rates vary. Best deals are group rates, packages, weekdays and offseason (summer for Southwest, early spring for New England).

INTERNATIONAL SPA ASSOCIATION:  888-651-4772

CANYON RANCH: Tucson, Ariz., and Lenox, Mass., 800-742-9000.

CLIFF HOUSE RESORT & SPA: Ogunquit, Maine; 207-361-1000.

FAIRMONT SONOMA MISSION INN & SPA: Sonoma, Calif.; 877-289-7354.

THE LODGE AT WOODLOCH: Hawley, Pa.; 866-953-8500.

LOEWS HOTELS: "Star Menu" available at Loews in Tucson, San Diego and Santa Monica; 800-235-6397.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL MIAMI: 305-913-8288
Other Mandarin Orientals in New York, San Francisco and Washington in the U.S., plus more than a dozen globally.

MII AMO: Sedona, Ariz.; 888-749-2137.

MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE: New Paltz, N.Y.; 877-877-2664.

MONTAGE AT LAGUNA BEACH: Laguna Beach, Calif.; 866-271-6953.

OJAI VALLEY INN & SPA: Ojai, Calif.; 805-646-1111.

WILLOW STREAM SPA AT FAIRMONT MAYAKOBA: Near Playa del Carmen, Mexico; 800-441-1414.

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