a. Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos
No need to wait until you arrive on 1,000-acre Parrot Cay to drift into leisure mode. The half-hour boat ride northwest from the island of Providenciales, in the Turks and Caicos, 600 miles southeast of Miami, to this private sandy islet will lull you into a lovely stupor. Once there, you'll find your airy cottage outfitted with a four-poster bed draped in mosquito netting and a private veranda with views of the mile-long beach. When you've maxed your intake of yoga and canoeing, snorkel the barrier reef off nearby Little Water Cay, swarming with blue tangs, yellow jacks, and nurse sharks. THE BIG CHILL:: After your Indonesian massage with Javanese essential oils at the on-site Como Shambhala spa, regain functionality in the infinity pool, on the sun deck, or in the saunas and steam room. DETAILS: Fly direct to Providenciales from Miami, Charlotte, Atlanta, or New York. Doubles from $410; 877-754-0726, www.parrotcay.como.bz.
b. Emerson Resort & Spa, Mount Tremper, New York
"Adopt the pace of nature," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Her secret is patience." The mack daddy of Transcendentalism would have approved of the Emerson Resort & Spa, a sleepy Catskills resort west of Woodstock, not far from where the writer spent some of his own holidays. At this spare-no-details retreat two hours from New York City, guests stay at the Lodge, an Adirondack-style log compound, or the quieter, adults-only Inn, reopening this August after a major renovation—with its own full-service spa and Asian/Indian-inspired restaurant, the Silk Road. An adventure concierge will arrange hiking, biking, and kayaking excursions or set you up for angling on Esopus Creek, a famed fly-fishing stream that runs through the property. After dinner (the chef will cook your catch), unwind on the Riverwalk, a 1.5-mile path lined with tiki torches. THE BIG CHILL:: Book an afternoon of Ayurvedic treatments, designed to bring you back in balance with your body—start with an Indian head massage and graduate to abhyanga, an herb-infused oil rubdown. DETAILS: Doubles from $200 at the Lodge, from $340 at the Inn; 877-688-2828, www.emersonplace.com.
c. Ten Thousand Waves, Santa Fe, New Mexico
It's an unlikely meeting of styles—Japan in the high-desert Southwest—but 25 years ago, Duke Klauck, owner of Ten Thousand Waves Japanese Spa & Resort, saw that it was good, and a steady flow of guests have proved him right. A mere ten minutes north of Santa Fe, at 7,800 feet in the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the lodging consists of 13 tranquil guest rooms—called the Houses of the Moon—with fireplaces and authentic features like moving shoji walls. Newest of the lot is Silver Moon, a fully loaded 19-foot Airstream trailer with tatami-fiber carpeting, lava lamp, and plenty of pillows for post-massage sprawling. The spa itself, modeled faithfully after the Japanese onsen, has seven private soaking tubs plus two communal units, kept at 98 to 106 degrees, with ice-cold plunge pools nearby. THE BIG CHILL:: The morning after your detoxifying spa experience, exorcise any lingering impurities with a peaceful hike on one of the area's ponderosa-shaded trails. DETAILS: Doubles, $109 (Silver Moon) and from $219 (standard rooms), including use of communal tubs; 505-982-9304, www.tenthousandwaves.com.
