Weekend getaways are always a coveted luxury; an opportunity to get away from the daily grind. Throw in a hotel with a on-site spa and you’re practically in heaven. Does it get any better? 

It just did. 

The Fairmont Chicago will actually bring the spa to your room. Included in it’s in-room dining services, the hotel offers the Serenity Bath. Order one and a bath sommelier comes and sets up a relaxing atmosphere for you. They’ll draw your bath, adding soothing aromatherapy oils. They’ll also set up neck pillows and loofahs, a fruit plate and bottled water, a variety of soaps and lotions, and leave a CD player with an assortment of relaxing music.

Add this to the already tantilizing array of gourmet dining options from the hotel’s in-room dining menu with signature dishes like pan-fried crab cakes with tomato-herb chipotle aioli, or roasted halibut and suddenly seeing all that Chicago has to offer from the view of your posh suite doesn’t seem so bad.

Order up a Valhrona chocolate lemon tart for a post aroma bath treat, indulge, repeat.

We first wrote about the most expensive bath ever in the Summer 2008 issue of Sherman’s Travel. Featuring a 350-gallon infinity tub full of 1000-liters of Evian water, it’s quite possibly the most indulgent soak at $11,000. Guests of the Hotel Victor, South Beach, can only access this hyper-hydro experience by booking the penthouse. Now before your eyes bulge at the cost, take into account the service and amenities that follow. The full-service Spa-V team will draw the bath and set up a meal service of champagne (bring it on!), display of chocolates (yum! yum!), foie gras (huh?), and smoked salmon on a lollipop (wait a sec?). This is all being served alongside the tub? I’m definitely not into the eating in the tub trend. Where does the napkin go? Does etiquette just…go down the drain? What do you think? Does food have a place in the bathtub?

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I was lucky enough to spend a night recently at the Mayflower Inn & Spa in rural northwestern Connecticut. This Relais & Chateaux, five-star, five-diamond inn and its spa—especially its spa—have been lauded by just about every travel publication under the sun and accordingly, they charge sky-high prices. So needless to say, my expectations of the amenities were high. I noticed the first one—or the lack thereof—while we were still in the parking lot: no cell service. Read the rest of this post »

After building up an appetite while in St. Petersburg, visitors unwind and renew with, of all things…caviar? At the ultra-luxe Rocco Forte Hotel Astoria, spa guests go for the caviar facial ($183), whose secret ingredient is Sevruga, which has anti-aging, therapeutic, and rejuvenating properties. Packed with vitamins and proteins these Florian Kerstin products smell, well…deliciously un-fishy and leave the skin hydrated and smooth. For more caviar and chilled vodka head to Davidov post-treatment, the hotel’s restaurant, and enjoy the view of St. Isaac’s Square.