The Caribbean's most luxurious spa

I agreed to the ear candling in a spirit of journalistic inquiry, as it involved having a hollow, pencil-shaped poplin candle, imbued with pure beeswax and stuck through a paper plate (which acts as a support), inserted gently into my ear. The heat acts like a chimney, drawing the earwax into the candle point.

When I looked up out of the corner of my eye, I saw the candle flaming like an oil-refinery chimney and tried to recall if my medical plan covered spa burns. But candling turned out to be very relaxing, with Ons gently massaging my jaw and forehead as a distraction. Most people go to sleep, she told me. I find that hard to believe. What's beyond question, though, was the session itself, perhaps the most illuminating two hours I've had in a spa.

SANDY LANE RESUME

Getting There: Air Jamaica, American Airlines, and BWIA all fly nonstop from New York and Miami to Barbados, and US Airways flies nonstop from Philadelphia.

Room Hierarchy: Villa, Penthouse, two-bedroom Luxury Dolphin Suite, one-bedroom Dolphin Suite, Luxury Ocean Suite, Luxury Orchid Suite, Ocean Room, Orchid Room.

Best Rooms for Couples: Luxury Ocean ($1,900) or one-bedroom Dolphin ($2,300) Suites. (Prices are high season, which runs from January 7 to April 30, 2005.)
Best Rooms for Families: Luxury Dolphin Suites ($3,500), which have a second bedroom and bathroom for children.

Memo to High Rollers: The two penthouses ($4,200) don't have a view of the beach, which is obscured by a line of trees. You're better off taking the 7,300-square-foot, five-bedroom villa ($15,000) built around a courtyard and with its own pool and butler, or a Luxury Ocean or one-bedroom Dolphin Suite.

Nice Touch: Complimentary airport transfers in a Bentley.

Service: Good (and much improved since my visit two years ago) but still with inexplicable lapses: A request for ice to refill a Champagne bucket went unfulfilled, and the computer technician didn't come to hook up my e-mail, despite three calls.

Food: Good but not as adventurous as I expected, given the clientele. I was surprised that there wasn't more seafood on the menu at L'Acajou, the gourmet restaurant. And the chef should know that vegetable tempura is not a vegetarian entrée.
Memorable Dishes: Grilled tuna on a bed of lentils at the spa cafe; house-smoked marlin carpaccio and antipasto buffet at Bajan Blue, the casual restaurant.

Consider: Having the chef create a spa menu for you, which must be arranged in advance.

New at the Spa: Yoga and meditation retreats led by Lynn McGowan, a certified Kripalu yoga instructor and Phoenix Rising therapist.

Golf: Two 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed courses.

For Kids: The Treehouse Club, a large playhouse near the resort pool, and a spa menu for 12- to 16-year-olds, available only in the morning and created because of guest demand.

Rates: $1,000-$4,200. Villa, $15,000.
Reservations: 866-444-4080
Website: www.sandylane.com

SPA HIGHS AND LOWS

High: Ronaldo Barroga's Oshadi Envelopment and, I suspect, any other treatment he performs. (His specialty is Thai massage.)
Low: The Ayurveda lesson preceding the Bajan Synchronized Massage. It was long, perfunctory, and seemingly there just to burn up time.
High: The large, well-equipped fitness center.
High: The Blissful Back, Face & Scalp treatment, which lived up to its billing. According to former spa director Brigitte Laurayne, it's one of the spa's best treatments--and one of the most underrated by guests.
Middling: The Bajan Synchronized Massage because the therapist duo always seemed to be thinking, Ready, set, go, as they started on a new body part.
High: The treatment rooms and the curvaceous relax-room beds.
High: Yvonne Ons, period.

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