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THE SPA AT SANDY LANE

I’ve been on the massage table for less than a minute and already my neck muscles are thanking me. Twenty-four hours ago, my stress level peaked when the flight from San Juan was canceled and several subsequent departures were delayed, all cutting into my precious time at the Spa at Sandy Lane on Barbados’ Platinum Coast.

To make up for lost time once I arrived, I skimmed through the list of mind, body and facial treatments — Essence of Earth ($150), Lomilomi ($220), Balinese Body ($170) — until I found Optimal Release ($220), described as, “A free-flowing joint release and massage that results in gently bewildering the mind, removing alert anticipation and replacing it with floating calm.” Ah, yes, bewildering calm — make mine a double.

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I was led to one of the 47,000-square-foot Romanesque spa’s 11 private treatment suites — one that overlooked a tropical garden and hydrotherapy pool. The facility also offers the Chakra Therapy Room (complete with marble plinth warmed to body temperature), the Crystal Laconium Steam Room, the Ice Cave for cooling off after heat treatments, a fitness center and the low-cal Spa Café adjacent to a vast free-form pool.  

My masseur, Edward, began with a welcoming foot ritual as I sipped herbal tea. He then asked me to pick a fragrance for the several oils to be used during the massage: energizing oil for muscle pain and tension, warming oil for mental focus and skin conditions, cooling oil to balance out the warming and enhance mental focus.

The two-hour full-body rub — which also included tension-releasing techniques for my arm and leg joints, a facial and a hot-stone kneading — left me floating. As I rolled off the table, I felt almost relaxed enough to get back on a plane.

— Emily Kruckemyer

Room rates range from $800 to $8,000 in low season ($1,000 to $15,000 high) For more information, call 866-444-4080 or visit www.sandylane.com.

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