Overview

What can you do to promote a healthy lifestyle while on vacation that's much easier and more fun than nagging your kids to get off the beach chair to go on a hike? Take them to the spa. After all, as parents, we look forward to vacations where we can treat ourselves to massages that melt away stress and wraps that revitalize. Youngsters too can get the same feel-good benefits from spa-going That's why more and more facilities are adding kid and teen friendly treatments to their menus, including manicures and pedicures, facials (great for teens) and massages from aromatherapy to back rubs. ('tweens and teens typically wear bathing suits). So share the pampering with your progeny at these 10 resorts with kid-friendly spas.

 

1. Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Both the Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit and its sister property the Grand Velas Riviera Maya earned AAA Five Diamond ratings, rare honors for all-inclusive resorts. Both hotels gain fame for expansive rooms, excellent food and exceptional spas noted for elaborate water therapies and scores of treatments. The Riviera Nayarit's new Kids Spa, adds massages, facials and baths that target ages 4 years and older. Young spa goers get to stretch with the Tarzan and Jane massage or relax as a result of the sweet scent of petals in the Flower Shower massage. There's even a treatment for tots ages 1 to 3 who respond with smiles and giggles to the gentle textures and sounds of the Sunrise massage. Kids may also choose chocolate, strawberry or vanilla flavored malt baths as well as sparkly manicures and fantasy make-up sessions. Treatments take place poolside or in the family suites. Spa treatments cost extra.

 

2. Grand Wailea, Maui
Maui's Spa Grande, Grand Wailea's 50,000-square foot spa, consistently ranks among the top spas in North America for its soothing soaks and Hawaiian-influenced scrubs and wraps. Unlike many facilities, this one also caters to ages 6 to 17. They can sample 25-minute versions of such signature treatments such as an aromatherapy or crystal massage, a coconut and papaya polish and a tropical or acne facial. Honey mango pedicures, chocolate coconut manicures and hair braiding also tempt also ages 6 to 12. Another nice touch: 'tweens age 10 and older can take part in the spa's stretch, boxing, yoga and group cycling workouts, as well as sign up for a fitness assessment.

 

3. Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
A mega-resort in the Bahamas with thousands of rooms, 21 restaurants and a casino, Atlantis is loosely themed after the myth of that ancient lost city under the sea. That sort of explains the 141-acre indoor and outdoor waterscape, awash with lagoons, lazy rivers, Maya themed water slides as well as an indoor and outdoor aquarium whose millions of gallons showcase sharks, dolphins, stingrays and hundreds of other critters. The Atlantis resort creates legends of its own with its new CRUSH teen center, fantasy camps for ages 6 to 22, plus the Generation Y Spa. That's where ages 9 to 17 chill out with mother/daughter or father/son massages, improve their Facebook photos with acne attack or fruity facials and get moving at three exercise classes. Girls can finish up with Beach Babe hair conditioning and French braids as well as manicures and pedicures.

 

4. Nickelodeon Suites Resort, Orlando
Not all the excitement in Orlando takes place at the city's theme parks. Nickelodeon Suites Resort keeps kids' energy high with 4D movies, mini-golf, Nickelodeon designed shows, family karaoke and a lagoon pool with daily mass sliming. That's when kids get doused with the famous, icky green stuff. Dried off and back in street clothes, boys, as well as girls, ages 4 and up channel their inner rock star at the Kid's Spa by getting inked with temporary tattoos and by requesting hair braids.

 

5. Cape Codder Resort & Spa, Cape Cod
Bonfires on the beach as well as movies under the stars plus man-made waves to jump over and slides to zip down at the indoor pool mark just some of the family fun at this Hyannis resort set on 14 acres. At the Kids' Corner, part of the property's Beach Plum Spa, children as young as 3 years can soak their fingers and toes in potions and lotions that smell and feel like strawberry ice cream or chocolate milkshakes. Another nice touch: parent and child 30- or 50-minute massages for any age child. Having mom or dad in the room lessens kids' anxiety, adds to the relaxing benefits and creates a mellow bonding experience.

 

6. Ritz-Carlton Cancun, Cancun
All Ritz-Carlton's are upmarket, but the luxury chain's Cancun property delights food-lovers with two AAA Five Diamond restaurants -- Club Grill and the Mediterranean-inspired Fantino--plus a cooking school as well as tasty, casual fare at the Caribe Bar & Grill. The oceanfront, open air eatery overlooks the resort's enlarged beach. Ages 4 to 12 enjoy crafts and games at the Ritz Kids Mayan Adventures program. After a hard day of sunning and swimming, teens 13-17 rejuvenate at the Kayanta Spa. Among the just-for-teens treatments are facials, an aromatherapy massage for the hands, neck and shoulders or a back and neck massage.

 

7. Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA
Situated on 2,000 acres in southwest Pennsylvania about 70 miles from Pittsburgh, Nemacolin offers golf, a range of accommodations and the noted Woodlands Spa whose tree-shaded decks overlook ponds, creating a relaxing ambiance for adults to distress. At the Spa Voyage Kidz Spa, red and purple brightly colored walls plus jungle, Arabian desert and other themed areas get ages 5 to 15 excited about treatments. Kids and teens can choose rainforest reflexology, a 25 minute session that starts with a foot bath or a mini-massage. Can't get your child to wash his face? Then consider a 15- to 25-minute mini-facial geared to ages 5 to 9. The spa also features child-oriented manicures, pedicures, shampoos and French braids plus applies movie starlet make-up for ages 7 to 15.

 

8. Wintergreen Resort, Wintergreen, VA
Wintergreen sprawls on nearly 11,000 acres in the valley and on slopes of Virginia's scenic Blue Ridge Mountains. In winter go skiing and snowboarding and in summer hit the hills for guided hikes, try fly fishing and play tennis or golf. Kids learn snow sports in winter and enjoy nature and art themed activities in summer. At the Wintergarden Spa, ages 9 to 14 pretty up with manicures and pedicures or share the relaxation with the Diva Day with Mom package of pedicures and back rub massages, also available for ages 15 to 17. These older teens can add a Bye Bye Blemishes facial, a back and foot rub massage and finish with Make-Up Art 101, a session that teaches effective and moderate make-up application, a good investment. Teens, after all, are more likely to listen to the advice of a specialist than their mom.

 

9. Four Seasons Resorts, nationwide
Known for their upmarket hotels whose decor reflects each locale's architecture and culture, the resort properties typically offer kids' meals, robes, baby amenities and often the Kids For All Seasons children's program for ages 4 to 12. 'Tweens and teens ages 12 and up can take advantage of the properties' glamorous spas. At the Four Seasons Costa Rica, best friends double-up on the fun by enjoying side-by-side facials or massages. A highlight of the teen menu at the Four Seasons Resort Santa Barbara is the Junior VIP massage and the Four Seasons Nevis has acne facials. At the relatively new Kuda Spa for Kids and Teens, Four Seasons Maldives, teens enjoy a Magic Shell massage with clam shells, a Miracle Mud mask with sea ingredients, a Fabulous Fingers manicure complete with glitter and nail art, and the ultimate -- a Totally Transcend session: 90 minutes of Himalayan salt and marigold scrub followed by a massage done to a background of singing Tibetan bowls.

 

10. Topnotch Resort and Spa, Stowe, VT
Traveling with an older teen, one who feels "weird" being seen with his or her parents?
Turn your grumpy progeny into a grateful spa goer at Topnotch. Not only does the 35,000-square foot facility frequently make it onto the lists of the top 10 U.S. spas, but the Topnotch Spa allows full access to those 16 years of age or older. Even the pickiest teen can find something to tweet about from the resort's menu of 120 treatments and services. Maybe they will go for the 25-minute Maple Sugar Body scrub, the 75-minute Little River Stone massage, or the luxurious Mount Mansfield Saucha (Sanskrit for "purify"), 100 minutes of a sea salt exfoliation, followed by a wrap soaked in the essence of Vermont wildflowers and topped off with an aromatherapy massage. You're not likely to hear any complaints not even if your teen loses to you on the tennis courts.

 

Written by Candyce H. Stapen