Club Med Archives - Mom's Guide To Travel

Oct 30 2012

Club Med Sandpiper Bay’s L’Occitane Spa: More than Facials

Club Med Sandpiper Bay’s L’Occitane Spa delivers on more than just massages and facials. It delivers on an experience. The all-inclusive resort is a short hop from West Palm Beach, approximately a thirty minute drive. If you’re coming from Miami, it will take you two hours but an afternoon at this one-of-a-kind spa is well worth the trip. This location marks L’Occitane’s first and only spa in the United States.

The boutique is a spa-lover’s paradise. Filled with dozens of L’Occitane products for all skin types and both genders. Jewelry, branded clothing, and other accessories fill the shelves that line the walls at L’Occitane Spa. If you can withstand the temptation to shop before your treatment, you’ll probably succumb afterwards while still on your euphoric-spa high.

Listen, it’s perfectly okay to splurge and treat yourself considering you’re not going into your pocket for anything else at Club Med. That’s one of the wonderful things about all-inclusives – your basic necessities like room and board are already paid. Anything else is just icing on your vacation cake.

The spa’s soothing music, lavender scents, calming colors, and iced green tea all do wonders on the sensors, easily putting you in a shopping mood.

The locker room is intimate and quiet, not really where you’d hang out. However, the shower is another story. Besides being an absolutely roomy space, the cleansing products invite you to take all the time in the world to freshen up. Be mindful – there’s only one shower so you’ll have to get to it as soon as you can and if the spa is crowded at that time, you might have to be wait.

My massage therapist, Rachel, is knowledgeable and patient. She does an amazing job of regulating deep pressure and light pressure as needed. After a short get-to-know-you conversation, her goal is to get me to relax. It took me a few minutes but eventually I relax and am able to “let go.” It’s impossible not to with expert hands, calming French music, L’Occitane Spa’s Lavender Tea tree geranium pillow mist, diffusers, a basket of lavender beneath the face pillow, and a warm scented sheet to cover me.

My morning at Club Med’s L’Occitane Spa was memorable and just what I needed. The standout moments were the warm foot bath to begin and the cooling foot wipe to end. And of course, the amazing Rachel. I spent an hour or more in the outdoor relaxation area enjoying the warm Florida sun and the moment. I couldn’t resist taking my sweet ol’ time coming back to reality.

Jul 19 2012

Fitness and Travel at Club Med Sandpiper Bay

I seriously need a vacation but not a sit-around do nothing vacation, an active fitness vacation. I have a triathlon coming up in August and I need to stay focused. I’ve written several times about the challenges of sticking to a diet and staying fit while on travel. It’s one of the hardest tasks for me and many others. I’ll be as dedicated as a monk while I’m home but once I get to a destination (especially if I’m cruising), it seems like all rhyme and reason and discipline go out the door.

I like that resorts such as Club Med Sandpiper Bay help you stay on course. You know the drill – most of us follow it. Days 1, 2, and 3 start off with a disciplined bang but by day 4, the good behavior begins to wane. You sleep a little later, indulge a little more, and then bam! You’re off course. However, even amidst the gourmet dining, the spa, the music, and dancing, there are serious opportunities at Club Med Sandpiper Bay to maintain and improve your fitness and training.

Whether you’re training for a tri, bike race, or marathon, the resort appears to have all the ingredients to keep you on course. It also has sports and fitness clinics including golf, tennis, cardio, and strength. It’s easy to take your exercising outdoors, making it an integrated part of your vacation, instead of some “inconveniently” scheduled time at the indoor gym.

I might have to talk the ladies on my Iron Girl team into doing a 3-day girls-only getaway to train at Club Med’s triathlon clinic for our next race. Why not, right? The biggest challenge I can foresee is trying to get comfortable with a new trainer in a short period of time. It usually takes a few sessions to get a rapport with each other. On a 3-day getaway, I guess we’d have to bypass “being comfortable” and just get to business. Besides that small detail, everything we need seems to be in one place: training, motivation, a spa, dancing, and sun.

And, if we decided to bring our kids, there’s plenty of activities to keep them occupied while we train…a balancing act we all struggle with at home. Club Med is hosting me for a couple of nights to check out the resort and its fitness amenities for myself. I’ll let you know what I think.

*Photos courtesy of Club Med.

May 04 2012

Travel to Club Med Sandpiper Bay

I just realized today that I’m overdue for a trip to the spa. All of that’s going to change next month when I visit (by invitation) the Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Florida. So don’t be surprised if you find a series of posts on the site about my day dreaming for this trip.

For the past 7 years, without fail, October has been my spa month and most recently, I added in an April getaway. I have a lot going on in my life. We all do. I’ve professed to mom friends the importance of scheduling in some spa time to counter the pressures of our busy personal and family schedules. This past October, travel business conflicted with my regularly scheduled program, and last month, my April partner-in-crime had medical issues that prevented us from going away together. This is not a good trend for my sanity but…

“Ahhhh”, I can already hear the spa angels singing.

This 216-acre property nestled along the banks of the St. Lucie River is focused on well-being with its various sports-centric programs so the inclusion of their new L’OCCITANE spa makes sense. Its opening marked the completion of a $28 million renovation project by the resort. This is the first and only L’OCCITANE-branded spa in North America. In this 5,000 square foot full-service spa, there are seven indoor treatment rooms, a Zen lounge and a boutique with over 80 L’OCCITANE products.

LOccitaneRoom — L’Occitane Treatment Room

And in June, one of those rooms will be reserved for me. I can’t wait to get back to one of my principle well-being activities. I’ll be sure to report back and let you know all about it.

Photos courtesy of Club Med.

Connect with Tawanna