Working out of a tranquil office suite at Century Boulevard (near the Clairmont Road exit), Gina Michael specializes in several Asian massage techniques, including traditional Thai and a variation that incorporates heated herbal compresses. But her most unique specialty is zheng gu tui na (pronounced “jung goo tweena”), a Chinese acupressure treatment. “Tui na” means “push-pull,” and Michael performs a rolling action with her fist that unwinds the muscles, though the overall effect is energizing: You’ll head back into the world feeling restored. $85 for sixty minutes; $105 for ninety minutes.
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Four-Handed Massage, Mind & Body Day Spa
Two massage therapists indeed prove twice as effective. In the Alpharetta spa’s largest treatment room, a duo of practitioners work in tandem: They begin by unknotting the back with fluid, simultaneous motions, then one kneads the shoulders while the other works on the legs. The experience disorients in the most relaxing way possible. The massage is $170 for sixty minutes; $250 for ninety. Achieve an even deeper sense of calm by adding shirodhara, an Indian Ayurvedic treatment in which warm, herbed oil is drizzled over the forehead and then massaged into the scalp. It’s $65 for an additional thirty minutes, and you’ll want a nap afterward.
Mandarin Oriental
When the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group took over Buckhead’s former Mansion on Peachtree earlier this year, it revamped the spa with its signature therapies fusing Asian and European techniques. Start with a fifty-minute Oriental Essence massage ($135) that combines Chinese acupressure and Swedish massage. Or indulge in the nearly two-hour Peaches and Cream ($280), which uses nutty peach-scented massage oil and, as a finale, features a scalp rub that includes Georgia red clay.
Jonpaul’s
“Manly” and “spas” don’t normally coalesce, but Jonpaul’s and its country club aura excel in equating the two. Services include massages, nail grooming, and tonsorial services, but the twenty-five-step Deluxe Shave with hot towels and scented oils makes you feel like a master of the universe.
Château Élan
This Napa-esque winery and resort’s spa, just forty minutes northeast of Atlanta, elevated its game with a $3 million renovation in 2010, adding spa suites, couples’ treatment rooms, and big, comfy couches for relaxing between services like the Château Winery Ritual, a grapeseed body scrub and mud wrap. Day rates for access to common areas, whirlpool, sauna, and steam room are a deal for inn guests: $25 during the week, $35 on weekends. The best part? A low-lit “quiet room” for napping.
Aviary
You know that blissed-out feeling you get after a particularly restful vacation? For $105 and sixty minutes, the Upgrade body rub by Talk to the Hand Massage’s certified therapist Christine Legnon imparts that same sense of renewal. First, she exfoliates your body with a dry brush. Then the perfectly intense kneading begins. Legnon has a sixth sense for which areas need the most attention and moisturizes with Dr. Hauschka’s all-natural body oils, befitting this Old Fourth Ward beauty collective’s earth-friendly mission.
Exhale
Socks on, we limbered up for our first Core Fusion Barre class, which promised to be, as the lady next to us warned, “incredibly tough.” An hour later, after countless planks and push-ups, we were feeling the burn (and would for the next couple of days). This signature workout combines Pilates, yoga, ballet, and dance principles. Located on the seventh floor of the Loews Hotel, this total-wellness spa whips you into overall shape the way health spas (like Arizona’s Canyon Ranch) used to do before so many of them got into the pampering business. Of course, Exhale also offers indulgences, like the Japanese mushroom enzyme facial, the acupuncture massage, and the Turkish bath. For $30 enjoy a week of unlimited classes, a $25 gift toward one spa therapy, and 20 percent off any additional treatments.
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