The beauty benefits of booze -- particularly antioxidant-rich wine and skin-regenerating beer--are nothing new in Europe, where for decades, vinotherapy and hops-themed destination spas have been enticing guests with barrel baths and malty massages. (Some of the most famous ones include Les Sources de Caudalie in Bordeaux, France, and Chodovar Beer Spa in the far-western Czech Republic.) With the trend toward the use of natural ingredients, though, and more spas catering to a nearly-equal male and female clientele, we've started to notice alcohol-themed services popping up in some unexpected New World places--and some of these treatments go beyond the wine rack to feature libations like bourbon, rum, and even tequila. No matter your poison, here's a 10-pack of boozy treatments that will leave you relaxed and glowing, minus the hangover.
The Treatment: Brew & Renew Menu
The Spa: The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Vail
Location: Vail, Colorado
The Details: The Spa has partnered with the Crazy Mountain Brewing Company from nearby Edwards, Colorado, to create a whole menu of services featuring beer, which is said to have an array of skin healing properties. The Amber Ale Foot Soak includes a beer foot bath, a scrub with crushed barley and malt, and a massage with hop-infused oil, while the Stout Scalp Treatment moisturizes and balances PH-levels with a mixture made of honey and the froth from one of the label's darkest brews. The Lava Lake Pub Scrub removes dry skin and increases circulation with a foamy, vitamin-rich scrub of sea salt and beer, followed by a warm beer bath and hop-oil massage. Filled with nourishing vitamins, yeast, and flavanoids, the Cara de Luna Black Ale Wrap cocoons you in a firming and detoxifying mix of spent grains and ale, followed by a scalp treatment and a pale ale bath. $45-$225.
The Treatment: The Wine Lovers Treatment
The Spa: Spa Qualia
Location: Hamilton Island, Australia
The Details: This award-wining Great Barrier Reef spa pampers couples with a three-hour signature package highlighting the power of the vine. Incorporating antioxidant-rich grape extracts and nature-based products from the Australian Li'tya line, the over-the-top experience starts with a chardonnay body massage, followed by an exfoliating vinotherapy body scrub. Next, guests are wrapped in a detoxifying pinot noir-and-champagne-infused body mask and left to enjoy a moisturizing hair and scalp treatment. After a rain shower and mini-facial, you'll soak in a burgundy bath while sharing a fruit plate and bottle of vino. 180 minutes; $1100 per couple.
The Treatment: Tequila & Sage Massage
The Spa: Hacienda Spa at Hacienda Beach Club & Residences
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The Details: Formerly the site of the famed Hacienda Hotel, which hosted Old Hollywood types like Bing Crosby and John Wayne, this property now offers private residences and resort-style apartment and villa vacation rentals, all set along a private beach. The Spa draws from Mexico's traditional healing techniques and incorporates indigenous ingredients like coconut, juniper, and -- in this popular massage -- tequila and sage. The soothing service heals sun-stressed skin with agave (the main ingredient in tequila), and helps center the mind with calming and purifying sage. 80 minutes; $175.
The Treatment: Vintage Bourbon Massage
The Spa: The Spa at Four Seasons Chicago
Location: Chicago, Illinois
The Details: Following last year's opening of the hotel's Allium restaurant, which serves signature barrel-aged bourbons and bourbon cocktails, the Spa created a couple of treatments inspired by the mixologists' innovations. The Vintage Bourbon Massage starts with an invigorating body scrub done with a gingersnap-pecan scented mix of brown sugar and Kentucky bourbon, then continues with a relaxing massage featuring essential oils and heated stones. There are also hand and foot treatments incorporating warm, bourbon-spiked soaks. Treatments conclude with a visit to the Allium Bar for a taste of smooth, single-barrel bourbon. $55 min; $150.
The Treatment: Cocoa Cabernet Scrub
The Spa: The Spa at Auberge du Soleil
Location: Napa Valley, California
The Details: As befits its wine country setting, this 7,000 square-foot spa, overlooking vineyards and olive groves, offers an array of services incorporating local ingredients like grapes, olives, herbs, and wine. This full-body scrub sloughs off dead, dry skin with an antioxidant-rich mix of freshly-ground cocoa nibs, crushed cabernet grapes, and a splash of house-label cabernet sauvignon wine. Once exfoliated, skin is moisturized with warm grapeseed oil scented with chocolate and cardamom. It's all accompanied by a glass of Napa wine, of course. 45 minutes; $135.
The Treatment: Chocolate Rum Body Scrub
The Spa: Grand Traverse Resort & Spa
Location: Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan
The Details: Set on 900 acres overlooking Lake Michigan, this resort is owned by the region's Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Native Americans. Along with the standard spa menu, new services are offered each season to target seasonal issues like dry skin and allergies. Introduced this winter (and sticking around through spring and summer), this body scrub sloughs off dry skin with a sweet-smelling combination of rum and antioxidant-rich, circulation-boosting chocolate. The treatment is performed under a seven-head Vichy Shower to leave skin hydro-massaged and glowing. $95.
The Treatment: Hops & Honey Ultimate Pedicure
The Spa: The Spa at the Ritz-Carlton, Denver
Location: Denver, Colorado
The Details: Inspired by the brewery boom in the Denver area, this spa has created two hops-themed services. The pedi softens feet with a hops-and-honey soak, followed by an exfoliating scrub, hydrating caramel foot and leg mask, paraffin foot dip, and a massage with a whipped milk-and-honey-infused cream--all topped off by a sampling of three microbrews from the nearby Great Divide Brewing Co. Guests opting for the Mile High Malt Scrub & Microbrew Massage are greeted with a chilled brew, then scrubbed with a mix of rice Ale beer and malt, wrapped in rich, dark stout beer to hydrate skin, and massaged with a think Yeti beer foam. After all that, you get another glass to sip on in the relaxation lounge. 75 minutes; $125-$200.
The Treatment: The Wine Therapy
The Spa: The Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago
Location: Santiago, Chile
The Details: Savor some of Chile's liquid gold in this relaxing hydrotherapy treatment, which leaves skin soft and refreshed after a soak in Carmenere wine, oats, and hot mineral water. For added benefits, follow it up with the one-hour anti-aging Wine Grape Wrap, performed with a rich pulp of black grapes. Wrap is 60 minutes, $138.
The Treatment: Mexican Beer & Lime Facial
The Spa: The Spa at Esperanza
Location: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The Details: A tribute to both the classic gentleman's barber shop experience and the classic Mexican beachside drink, this facial features a deep cleansing, exfoliation, face massage, and the application of steaming hot towels. Corona beer is combined with egg yolks and other natural ingredients to make a mask, then applied to the face to help refine the pores and tighten and lift skin. According to Spa Director, Jose Ramon Garcia, the yeast from the beer plus the protein in the egg whites work to hydrate and increase elasticity, leaving skin plumped and firmed. 75 minutes, $185.
The Treatment: Mendoza Wine Body Glow
The Spa: Kaua Club & Spa at Park Hyatt Mendoza
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
The Details: Located in the heart of Argentinean wine country, the Park Hyatt's spa incorporates wine and grapes into many of its services, including this scrub-and-wrap combo. Skin is exfoliated with a grape-based polish before being wrapped in a nourishing red wine and grape mask, which helps improve tone and elasticity. The spa has also developed the Kuau line of antioxidant skin and hair care products, infused with Mendoza grape skins, seeds, and splashes of wine; products are found in the guest rooms, and are available for purchase. 60 minutes; $80.