It may be a breezy 107 degrees at the Ritz Carlton Bali Resort & Spa in the wee hours of the morning, but at least you can order an iPod shuffle pre-programmed with tunes while you’re cooling off at the pool during the day. But perks like this are just the reason Travel + Leisure recently ranked the hotel second overall for customer service in the world.

Beauty junkies will love Spa Dee Dah’s recipe for a TSA-friendly in-flight mini-facial. If you prepare according to the directions ahead of time, you’ll have everything you need to refresh your face at 30,000 feet. Yes, the person sitting next to you may think you’re slightly deranged when you start getting your spa on in such close quarters, but you’ll have the last laugh when you step off the plane looking like the fresh catch of the day.

Here, copied from Spa Dee Dah’s June newsletter, are directions to get you started. Click through for the complete instructions.

You’ll have a few simple preparations. Here’s what you’ll need:

A small spray bottle (1 oz.)
A small leak-proof jar

(Both of these can be found at The Container Store, a great place for travel items!)

Distilled water
A sprig of rosemary
A tspn. of fresh lemon or grapefruit juice
1 tblsp. of crushed rose petals
3 tblsp. of Pure Aloe vera gel (Look for a brand without parabens, fragrance or dyes)
2 or 3 inch Cotton rounds
Small ziplock bags
A spritz of cleanser
A dab of your favorite moisturizer
Green tea tea bags (with caffeine)

Instructions:

For the mask: Place crushed rose petals and Aloe gel into a small leak proof jar. Mix together and let it sit overnight so that the rose oils will mix into the gel properly.

Apply your aloe and rose mask and let it set for about 10 to 15 minutes. Rose and Aloe will hydrate the skin and provide protection from bacteria as well as add nourishment, replenishing dull, tired skin.

Eye Soother. Dip green tea bags in cool water and wring out slightly. Place cool bags onto tired, puffy eyes. Caffeine draws water out from the surface of the skin, reducing puffiness. Green tea also provides great antioxidant support!

Moisturize. After you have masked and cooled your eyes, remove the mask with the remaining cotton rounds, add a cool spritz of toner and apply your favorite moisturizer. Your skin should feel clean, soft and refreshed!

Look closely, and you’ll see that this is no ordinary map. Instead of museums or major tourist destinations, spas and salons are the main attraction of Shecky’s New York Beauty Map. This full color, laminated (so you don’t ruin it after a few cosmos) map of Manhattan has over 250 beauty venues and points of interest, as well as subway stops and key landmarks. The map’s flip side has contact information for each of the venues listed on the front.

But best of all, this map is free. Shecky’s, an online bar and nightlife guide to major U.S. cities, will send you the map as a gift for registering on the site. In fact, my map arrived just a few days after joining the site.

Need a Fort Lauderdale fix? I ran across a deal today that appears to be quite a steal. Located in Pompano Beach, the Fairfield Palm-Aire Resort and Spa is offering one- and two-bedroom condo accommodations in its Fairways lodging starting at $70/night for five night stays. The cost for a two-night stay in a one-bedroom condo is $100/night, while the cost for three nights drops to $90, and so on. One-bedroom condos have whirlpool tubs in the master bedroom, sleeper sofas in the living areas, full kitchens, washer/dryers and balconies. Two-bedroom condos, which are $10 more per night, sleep six and offer an additional bedroom.

The resort itself has four swimming pools, access to five golf courses, a day spa, mini golf and plenty of other water sport activities.

The offer is good for travel through July 31, 2007.

Fairfield Fairways at Palm-Aire Resort Deal

Mobil Travel Guide has announced its picks for the best North American spas of 2007. Only two establishments won Mobil’s coveted five-star rating: Spa Montage at Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, CA and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental New York. But there were plenty of four-star winners:

Mobil Four-Star Award Winners

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont, Banff Springs, Banff, AB

The Sanctuary Spa at Sanctuary, Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley, AZ

Alvadora Spa at Royal Palms, Royal Palms Resort & Casitas, Phoenix, AZ

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale at Troon North, Scottsdale, AZ

The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician, Scottsdale, AZ

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont, Scottsdale Princess, Scottsdale, AZ

The Spa at Omni Tucson National, Tucson, AZ

Ancient Cedars Spa, Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, BC

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Whistler, BC

The Peninsula Spa, Beverly Hills, The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA

The Beverly Hills Hotel Spa by La Prairie, Beverly Hills, CA

The Spa at Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, CA

Post Ranch Spa, Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, CA

The Bathhouse, Calistoga Ranch, Calistoga, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Aviara, Carlsbad, CA

The Spa at Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, CA

Spa Gaucin, St Regis Monarch Beach, Dana Point, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Half Moon Bay, Half Moon Bay, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA

The Spa at Torrey Pines, Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Jolla, CA

The Spa at The Carneros Inn, Napa, CA

The Spa at the Island Hotel, Newport Beach, CA

Spa du Sureau, Chateau du Sureau, Oakhurst, CA

Spa Ojai, Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, Ojai, CA

The Spa at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach Resorts, Pebble Beach, CA

Spa du Soleil, Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford, CA

Remede Spa, St. Regis San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

The Spa at CordeValle, The Lodge at CordeValle, San Martin, CA

Bacara Spa, Bacara Resort and Spa, Santa Barbara, CA

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Bachelor Gulch, Avon, CO

The Spa at the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO

The Spa at the Brown Palace, Denver, CO

The Mayflower Spa, The Mayflower Inn, Washington, CT

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Washington DC

Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort, Aventura, FL

Spa Palazzo at The Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Key Biscayne, Key Biscayne, FL

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Gaylord Palms Resort, Kissimmee, FL

SpaTerre at Little Palm Island, Little Torch Key, FL

The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Miami

The Spa at The Setai, Miami Beach, FL

The Ritz Carlton Spa, Naples, Naples, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Orlando, Grande Lakes, Orlando, FL

The Spa at The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Members Spa Club, Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, Sarasota, FL

The Ritz Carlton Spa, South Beach, South Beach, FL

The Ritz-Carlton Lodge Spa, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, GA

Spa at Sea Island, The Cloister, Sea Island, GA

Spa Halekulani, Halekulani, Honolulu, HI

Spa Suites at The Kahala Hotel and Resort, Honolulu, HI

Hualalai Sports Club and Spa, Four Seasons, Resort Hualalai, Ka’upulehu-Kona, HI

The Spa at Manele Bay, Four Seasons Resort Lanai, Lanai, HI

Spa Grande at The Grand Wailea Resort, Wailea, Maui, HI

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, Wailea, Maui, HI

The Peninsula Spa, Peninsula Chicago, Chicago, IL

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, Chicago, IL

The White Barn Inn Spa, White Barn Inn, Kennebunkport, ME

The Spa at Pinehurst, The Carolina at Pinehurst, Pinehurst, NC

The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Lake Las Vegas, Henderson, NV

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Venetian Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Spa Bellagio at Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Four Seasons, Hotel Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

The Spa at Emerson Place, Mount Tremper, NY

The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel New York, New York, NY

The Peninsula Spa, New York, The Peninsula New York, New York, NY

Stillwater Spa, Park Hyatt Toronto, Toronto, ON

Woodlands Spa at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, Farmington, PA

Spa at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, Kiawah, SC

The Spa and Salon at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, Irving, TX

Trellis, The Spa at The Houstonian, Houston, TX

The Watermark Spa, Watermark Hotel & Spa, San Antonio, TX

The Spa at Stein Eriksen Lodge, Park City, UT

The Greenbrier Spa, White Sulpher Springs, WV

The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, Teton Village, WY

Clearly, finding a top-rated spa is easier when you’re in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Florida or somewhere involving snow.

Mobil Travel Guide’s Best of the Best Spas 2007

Need a getaway focused on recharging your health and fitness outlook in 2007 (with a little pampering thrown in, of course)? Check out Red Mountain Spa’s Spring on Sale package. Good for visits through May 31, 2007, package rates start at $239/per person per night, and a four-night minimum stay is required. Weekend and holiday rates will be higher, as are accommodations in Villa Suites. The package includes:

- Overnight accommodations

- Complimentary 50-minute facial or massage

- Three meals per day

- Daily hikes

- Unlimited fitness classes, ranging from yoga to Reebok Core Board

- Cooking demonstrations

- Nutrition classes

- Use of swimming pools and fitness equipment

To give you an idea of the value, rates for Deluxe King accommodations, based on double occupancy, for weekday stays during April start at $318/night, and weekend rates start at $328/night.

Iceland Air wants you to go on a bender. Starting at 299 GBP/person, the airline’s Clubbing in Reykjavik package includes roundtrip airfare from London Heathrow or Manchester airports, two nights at Hotel Leifur Eiriksson, complimentary breakfast, a Day & Night Club Card that gets you into VIP entrances at local clubs and bars and a trip to the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa (pictured).

The packages is available for a number of weekends in March and April. Check the link above for exact dates.

Miami’s Renaissance Eden Roc Resort and Spa recently announced plans to shut its doors on April 17, 2007. The closure of the well-known Collins Avenue lodging option won’t be permanent. After renovating the main tower, the hotel plans to reopen this fall. The upgrades are part of a $110 million renovation and expansion project slated for completion in late 2008. If they can make the tower look as good as the resort pool looks in this TravelPoster-taken shot, they’ll have done their job in spades.

Eden Roc to Temporarily Close

During a stay at the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport, one TravelPoster snapped this image of the airport’s D_Parture Spa. What I like about this chain’s offerings are the quickie haircuts for men. For $25, guys can stop by for a business cut or buzz cut that takes about 20 minutes. Quick, fairly inexpensive and easy. And of course they have all the usual treatments for women: mani/pedis, hair, waxing, mini facials, etc.

The most famous coed grotto may be at Heff’s mansion, but the grotto at the Ritz Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Avon, CO is just as much of a treat (minus the bunnies, of course). Located inside the luxury hotel’s gorgeous spa facility (which is well-worth a lengthy visit just for all the amenities in the private men’s and women’s locker rooms), the grotto is romantically lit rock-walled room whose piece de resistence is a swimming pool sized hot tub. A rushing flume of water tumbles from the wall into the pool at one end. Sitting underneath it feels almost as good as a back and shoulder massage from a pro. Almost. Rolled face towels packed with ice cubes and cucumber slices make for a refreshing break from the steaming water. It’s a divine way to unwind after carving turns on the mountain all morning. Oh, if only every day could be like this…