Days of Heaven

Nationally, spas now number more than 9,600, a figure that has doubled in the past four years; and gross receipts top amusement-park and box-office revenues, according to the International Spa Association in Lexington, Ky. Spas have proliferated apace in Southwest Florida. Even remote Everglades City now has one.

We've talked with savvy sources, combed through large lists and even done a few test runs to search out the Gulfshore's top day spas-places that make you feel good while they make you look good. We looked for day spas with a varied menu of treatments and facilities that enhance the spa experience. We were amazed to see just how many of these places have sprung up in the last few years-so many, in fact, that we lack the room to list them all in our pages. Here is a sampling of some of the best. To see the entire list, visit our Web site, www.gulfshorelife.com. Read on and relax.

A Massage Oasis

6258 Presidential Court, Suite 207

Fort Myers

466-2747

Despite its name, A Massage Oasis offers more than massages. A menu of nearly 100 treatments-everything from body wraps, hydrotherapy, thalassotherapy (treatment with fresh heated seawater), facials and body scrubs-offers something sure to relax.

Armando's Day Spa

2101 Estero Blvd.

Fort Myers Beach

463-1200

Owner/massage therapist Bobby Armando Mimmo has kneaded and de-knotted some of the world's top athletes, including the British track-and-field team during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. His spa specializes in massages including therapeutic and hot stone; it also offers facials, exfoliation peels, salt scrubs and body wraps in a rustic setting of hardwood floors, wicker furniture, a big bay window and aromatic cedar-planked walls. Monthly classes delve into subjects such as self-hypnosis, astrology and crystal bowl sound therapy.

Body and Soul Skin Therapy and Fitness Studio

851 Cape Coral Parkway East

Cape Coral

542-2639

Eighteen years in the biz in the same location, Body and Soul offers a full-service menu, including raindrop aromatherapy, a variety of massages, enzyme masks and European facials. Specialty treatments include egg-white facials for toning and tightening, and hydration and oxygen facials.

Blue Door Spa

827 Myrtle Terrace, Naples. 262-8585

www.elizabethfoxmd.com

The beauty business has been so good for Naples plastic surgeon Elizabeth Fox that she recently opened a new 4,000-square-foot facility to accommodate a growing list of spa services-and clients. Visitors are welcomed by a view of a gorgeous lily pond and relax in one of five treatment rooms, where they're massaged, wrapped, scrubbed, peeled and polished to perfection. Fox says the day spa was a natural complement to her medical office-"part of a whole package of patient care" that also focuses on state of mind and well-being.

Blue Skies Bodyworks

4301 Sanibel-Captiva Road, Sanibel Island. 472-0116 www.blueskiesbodyworks.com

Owner Bonnie Clancy offers three-day spa-and-fitness packages that, unlike their destination spa counterparts, do allow cell phones and alcohol. In fact, Clancy's overnight cottage guests are greeted with a chilled bottle of champagne. A trained occupational therapist, Clancy offers a full menu of services. Her motto is: "You won't believe what I could do if I could get my hands on you."

Danielle Spa for Beauty & Wellness

27160 Bay Landing Drive, Bonita Springs. 947-5900 www.daniellespa.com

Rumors fly about the celebrities who've visited Jinx Liggett's Bonita Springs spa, which, of course, no one at the spa will confirm. Privacy and exclusivity are the hallmarks of this 14,000-square-foot oasis, where the weary can indulge in massages lasting a dreamy two hours, body treatments infused with aromatic oils and Dead Sea mud, and virtually any other service known to man and woman, including a massage with two of your closest friends. Don't feel like leaving home? Danielle will bring spa and salon treatments to you.

Day Spa of Naples

4077 Tamiami Trail, Naples.

263-3447 www.dayspaofnaples.com

Laina Beach, owner and master aesthetician, says she introduced day spas to Naples when she broke ground six years ago. "People were familiar with massage but that was really about it," says Beach. Today, she offers the full range of services, including full-body paraffin treatments, oxygen facials and the revolutionary Quantum Detox, said to pull toxins from the body via the feet. The spa has seven treatment rooms, a wet room with Vichy shower, and a relaxing lounge serving ginseng and honey green tea, fruit, muffins and bottled water.

Everglades Spa-Fari

207 Broadway Ave. W.

Everglades City. 695-1006

www.banksoftheeverglades.com

Located in the 1926 Bank of the Everglades building, Cheryl Hender-son's spa caters to locals and tourists from around the world who love her old-fashioned hot-towel facials (she uses 30 in each session and charges just $45). Everglades Spa-fari also offers body polishes, facials, paraffin wraps, massages and clay baths in classic claw-footed tubs and plans to add colon hydrotherapy. Coming soon: a full-day package that includes an airboat ride and lunch at the Rod & Gun Club, followed by a facial or massage.

Felix Andrew Salons

2322 Pine Ridge Road

Naples

434-6722

Each of its three local salons (the others are located in The Strand Plaza in Naples and on U.S. 41 in Bonita Springs near Pelican Landing) offer facial rooms. But the Pine Ridge studio takes services a step further by offering body treatments, massages and custom facials.

Healthy Complexions

20400 Trailside Drive, Estero.

992-6476

Despite the name, this day spa, which Cynthia Alvarez and Lorraine Bryner opened in 2001, offers a full menu of services. Located in a former model home, the spa includes a pool and fireplace. The interior was recently updated to better reflect the age and attitude of their clients-young and hip, say the owners. Offerings include salt glows, hot stone therapy, massage and, of course, facials (the largest menu offering). The signature treatment is an organic facial, using a hand-grown peach product that smells, Bryner proclaims in her Scottish brogue, "like something you could put on your toast."

La Bellezza Day Spa

13691 Metro Parkway,

Suite 110, Fort Myers. 561-7556 www.abeautifulbody.com

Introduced to Fort Myers by plastic surgeon Frank Campanile to provide comprehensive post-operative care to patients, La Bellezza also serves the public. The spa offers body wraps, facials, treatments for body, hands and feet, and massage (including a lunch-hour massage). Complete spa packages last a blissful two to five hours.

La Femme Perfumery

351 12th Ave. S., Naples. 434-7444

www.lafemmeperfumery.com

Marie Christine Elden's shop is the place for the most right-now make-up products and more than 700 fragrances, including some dating back a century or two, and the full-service spa and salon upstairs is one of just a few in the country to offer the famed Guerlain facial developed by the Guerlain Institut de Beauté in Paris. La Femme's fantastic menu of services also includes body polishes, masks, reflexology, massage and full-body paraffin treatments that Elden says work wonders for muscle aches, arthritis and rheumatism.

La Piel Spa

6370 Pine Ridge Road, Suite 101,

Bldg. B, Naples. 348-7362

Located within plastic surgeon Manuel M. Peña's Naples office, La Piel has evolved from serving the skincare needs of pre- and post-operative patients to a full-service day spa offering everything from facials and massages to paraffin treatments. The spa is equipped with two facial rooms, an aqua room for body wraps and scrubs, a massage room and pedicure area, and is separate from the medical facility.

Marco Beach Ocean Resort

480 S. Collier Blvd., Marco Island. 393-1400

The spa at the newly opened Marco Beach Ocean Resort provides an intimate experience for hotel guests and the public, with separate men's and women's spas, each with four treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms and lockers with private showers. A spa menu of 19 services includes massages (deep tissue, Swedish, hot stone and reflexology), facials and body treatments, plus three packages that guarantee half and full days of bliss by the beach.

Miromar Lakes Beach Club

10160 Miromar Square Blvd.,

Miromar Lakes, Estero. 489-CLUB or

toll-free (877) 809-9444

Master-planned communities are starting to include spas for residents, but the Beach Club at Miromar Lakes Golf & Country Club is offering memberships in its on-site European spa to the public as well. An annual $2,000 membership fee not only provides access to tennis, swimming, dining and the community's boat club; it also includes the spa, which offers massages, body wraps, facials, aromatherapy and a full menu of spa services. The club has four indoor and two al fresco treatment rooms, men and women's steam and sauna facilities and a full Pilates studio.

The Registry Resort

475 Seagate Drive, Naples. 597-3232

Registry health-club manager Rob Hofstetter says some of his staff have been affiliated with The Registry "for years and years and years. People who have been to spas around the world say the massages they get here are the best they've ever had." Spa services are available to hotel guests and members of the Premier Club, who enjoy facials, body treatments and therapeutic massages, including the signature Ashiatsu Oriental bar therapy, a deep-tissue massage using bars and bare feet. Hofstetter says the portable Ashiatsu unit is often requested poolside.