Spa: The Sensuous Experience takes you on a worldwide tour of the most spectacular spas, hand-picked by spa aficionados Robert D. Henry and Julie D. Taylor. This collection of 50 thermal, resort, wellness and medical, day, destination, thalasso, and hotel spas spotlights the location, design, and treatment experiences that make them havens of sensuous well-being and luxury. Each chapter is introduced by a spa expert, who gives you the meaning of each spa type-from warm, soothing waters of Thermal Spas to traveler's escapes at Hotel Spas. The New York Times' Julie V. lovine lends her expertise to an informative history of the rituals and palaces encompassing Salus Per Aqua (health through water).

Some of the spas you'll experience have never been seen before (Orient Retreat Spa in Taiwan), some are well-known classics (Takaragawa Onsen in Japan), and others are sure to be future favorites (Kara at Park Hyatt Los Angeles). Through sumptuous photography and descriptive text, you'll indulge in such experiences as Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa's Walbul-Walbul Butterfly treatment with Australian salts and mud, Nopal Anti-Cellulite and Detox Wrap using local Mexican cactus at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Wine Barrel Bath whirlpool at the working French vineyard of Les Sources de Caudalie, White Lotus Enricher at Banyan Tree Shanghai day spa, and Balneo-Sono-Color-Relaxation at Liquidrom Therme Bath in Berlin, to name just a few of the signature treatments awaiting you.

Whether you're a world traveler or an armchair voyager, you'll find a rich cornucopia of sybaritic encounters in Spa: The Sensuous Experience.

Content - Spa State of Mind, The History of Spa, Spas by Definition, Thermal Spas, A Warming Trend, Blue Lagoon, Spa Bad Elster, Liquidrom Therme Bath, Takaragawa Onsen, Thermae Bath Spa, Therme Vals, Resort Spas, Resorting to Well-Being, Island Spa at Kuda Huraa, Spa at Amelia Island Plantation, Banyan Tree Bintan, The Retreat at Aphrodite Hills Resort, Amanjena Health and Beauty Center, COMO Shambhala at Parrot Cay, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa, Vigilius Mountain Resort, The Carneros Inn, Wellness & Medical Spas, Creating Health, Ajune, Skinklinic, Chiva-Som international Health Resort, Blue Medical Beauty Spa, Spa Fusion, Day Spas, Seizing the Day, Banyan Tree Shanghai, E'SPA at Gianfranco Ferre, Orient Retreat Spa, Rogner-Bad Blumau, Evian Spa by Three, The Greenhouse, Destination Spas, Total Spa Immersion, Red Mountain Resort and Spa, Les Sources de Caudalie, Six Senses Spa at Madinat Jumeirah, Banyan Tree Seychelles, Mii amo, Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa, Plateau at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Rajvilas, Sanctuary Spa on Camelback Mountain, Thalasso Spas, The Ocean Within, Delos Spa Center, Zara Spa, Thalassa Spa, Miramar Crouesty, Hotel Spas, Check Into Pampering, Bathhouse Spa at The Hotel, Samas at Park Hotel Kenmare, Estrella Spa at Viceroy Palm Springs, The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, New York, Kara at Park Hyatt Los Angeles, Quality Spa and Resort Holmsbu, Spa at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, The Oriental Spa at The Oriental, Bangkok, Spa Bellagio, Spa Without Valls at The Fairmont Orchid, The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, Directory, Acknowledgements