Go Spas:Think spas exist only to help ladies who lunch fill the rest of their day? Wrong. In fact, they're not really about primping at all – they are about health and well-being. SANDRA O'CONNELLfinds a spa treatment to suit and soothe your every need
Outdoor enthusiast
For rugged types who love nothing better than hiking, cycling and climbing, indeed anything that gets them out in the great outdoors, check out Delphi Mountain Resort.
The spa here is so splendidly isolated that the only creatures overlooking you in the relaxation suite are ovine, and even they’re so far up the mountain they might in fact be rocks.
If you’re up for a little fun, high up that is, make the most of its high wire adventure course, paddle a kayak along Ireland’s only fjord or simply trek the surrounding hills.
Then come back and ease your weary bones into a regenerating seaweed bath, which, combined with its mountain spring water minerals, eases muscles, boosts circulation and soothes boot-chafed skin.
A two-nightbreak at Delphi Mountain Resort, including seaweed bath and choice of facial or full body massage, starts at €225 midweek. delphimountain resort.com.
Golfer
As last year’s European Golf Club of the Year, it’s safe to say they know a thing or two about golf at Doonbeg Lodge in Co Clare, but its spa also knows a thing or two about rejuvenating golfers.
Its White Horse Spa offers specialised treatments including a deep tissue golfer’s massage, which concentrates on your areas of concern and provides relief from muscle soreness and stiff joints.
Through a combination of manipulation and neuromuscular techniques, as well as the use of heat packs, it promises excellent recovery after a challenging 18 holes. Say goodbye to the dreaded yips.
A two-nightB&B break in a suite at Doonbeg, including a caviar moisturising massage and refresher facial, costs €345 per adult sharing. A 30-minute golfer's massage costs €80. doobeggolfclub.com
Exercise fiend
The only problem with sport is the sport injuries that go with it. The right spa can be just the ticket to recovery.
The spa at Fota Island in Cork has a hydrotherapy suite with Ireland’s only walking river, great for help in healing sports-related injuries.
The walking river uses different temperatures to reduce muscle fatigue associated with sport and other physical activity. You begin your journey in warm water with invigorating foot jets, small pebbles and counter current massage streams, and move into cooler water with larger pebbles and micro bubbles to finally relax tired limbs.
OvernightB&B at Fota Island Hotel and Spa, with honey and milk bath and wrap, starts at €210 including use of hydrotherapy suite. fotaisland.ie
Mum to be
Pregnancy can be exhausting, which means a spa can seem more appealing than ever. On the other hand, many spa treatments are suitable even if you’re pregnant.
At the Farhnam Estate spa in Co Cavan however, a Radisson Blu property, a little bundle of joy awaits in the form of a special menu of treatments, using jojoba oil and vitamin E, designed for pregnant women.
All can be had both pre- and post-natally and treatments include a special maternity massage to aid relaxation, reduce excess water retention and alleviate tired muscles.
Its Yummy Tummy treatment is applied to the abdomen to soothe and moisturise stretched skin, while your swollen ankles benefit from a lower leg and foot massage.
There’s also a special massage session focusing specifically on the muscles the support the pregnant tum.
RadissonFarnham Estate is currently running a three nights for the price of two promotion, including one dinner and unlimited use of the spa's pool, thermal suite and relaxation rooms, for €159 per person sharing midweek. A 50-minute massage costs €80. farnhamestate.com.
Intrepid traveller
There’s a certain kind of well- travelled person who would think nothing of plopping onto a massage table on a roadside in Asia somewhere but wouldn’t contemplate a visit to a spa back home because it’s just “not authentic” enough.
Well ha! to that because despite appearances to the contrary – it is after all situated in the scenic Fermanagh lakelands – the Lough Erne Resort offers a true Thai spa experience.
All of the therapists in its Thai Spa trained in Thailand, are accredited by the Union of Thai Traditional Medicine Society, and use only Thai-made products. What’s more, they come with years of experience at some of the world’s great spas, including Chiva-Som and the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok. Facilities here include a light therapy sauna, a crystal aroma steam room and an exotic rain shower. It’s like being there, without the plane journey.
A five-hourUltimate Thai Indulgence session, including foot bath, botanical wrap, traditional Thai massage, finger therapy and facial remedy, costs £225 (€264) midweek. Or stay over midweek for a two-night Thai Tonic offer running this month. It includes one dinner plus a half-day Thai Spa package from £305 (€358). lougherneresort.com.
Insomniac
Tired of lying wide awake in the dark, night after night? Tried every remedy and routine change you can think of, to no avail? Well, maybe it’s time to start thinking of a spa.
Not alone does the Solis Lough Eske offer all that sleep-inducing fresh air, but the spa here has an aromatherapy massage designed to have you somnambulate with the best of them.
Its 90-minute Deep Sleep treatment is a powerful body and mind switch-off, to induce a serious state of relaxation.
The treatment works on mind, body and spirit beginning with a warming foot ritual, followed by a head-to-toe massage using carefully applied pressures with neuromuscular and Swedish techniques to balance the nervous system and ease an overactive mind.
As long as nobody jumps out of the wardrobe shouting “Boo!” (leave the kids at home), the stage is then set to give you a full and peaceful night’s sleep.
Roomscost from €184 overnight and the 90-minute Deep Sleep Treatment costs €135. solishotels.com/lougheskecastle.
Stressed exec
With so many people having lost their jobs, those lucky enough to have survived are having to work twice as hard to keep them. It’s exhausting, mentally and physically.
One of the positives is that at least you have the salary coming in to pay for a spa treatment to help. And it can help.
The spa at the Ritz-Carlton in Powerscourt, Co Wicklow, has an Energy Balancing Ritual using hot volcanic stones and aromatherapy oils in a massage designed to “clear blocked energy centres, dissolve stress and bring new energy to depleted zones” (not the office, unfortunately).
Some gentle stretching is applied to neck and shoulders for deep seated tension ease as well as an oriental head massage. An hour later and you’ll be back at your city centre desk raring to go.
Two-hourEnergy Balancing Ritual costs €245. ritzcarlton.com.
Ached and pained
Here’s one for anyone who suffers from aches and pains, including the bane of arthritis and rheumatism.
Mount Juliet Spa, in Kilkenny, has a Softime dry float experience that provides the ultimate in relaxing support for the body. Without getting wet at all, visitors lie on a special bed that is itself on a water mattress, with water displaced to contour the entire body shape.
You can lie on your front, back or side and feel totally supported. Soothing heat and gentle vibration is applied to encourage better flexibility, decreased muscle tension and a general sense of wellbeing.
The vibration system can vary from a soft ripple to more of a pummel, while an infrared system delivers diffuse, pleasant body warming sensation which can help relieve pain in muscles and joints.
The Softimedry float experience starts at €40 per session. Go on a Thursday and there's a range of treatments priced at €30 as part of a special offer, with 30 per cent off a second treatment. mountjuliet.ie.
Dieter
Spas don’t like to talk about weight loss, preferring instead words such as detox.
However, for anyone thinking about embracing a healthier diet, with the added but unspoken advantage of making you slimmer, a spa stay is just the ticket to kickstart your campaign.
The Wells Spa at Wicklow’s BrookLodge Hotel has a Non-Shock Detox package starting in its Thermal Suite followed by an afternoon of treatments including full body exfoliation, detox body wrap, scalp massage and lymphatic drainage back massage.
Opt for a low-calorie dinner, followed by bed for a good night’s sleep and get up to an exercise class before a healthy breakfast and departure. The rest is up to you.
The WellsSpa Non-Shock Detox package at BrookLodge costs €195 per person sharing. brook lodge.com.