FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

Mountain Magic

Apr 1, 2006
2006 / April 2006

“Is this temperature good for you?” A soft voice interrupted my melting process. I was lying limp on a massage table after being washed, scrubbed, rinsed and buffed. Now the sweet-scented wrap was covering me and I was drifting. I was having the Vermont Wildflower Herbal Wrap at the Spa at Topnotch, one of the spa’s signature treatments.

Sprawled at the foot of Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, Topnotch Resort and Spa has grown from a 22-room inn in 1959 to a 127-unit resort today, situated on a 120-acre estate just outside the historic center of Stowe, in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. Already famous for its tennis academies, Topnotch’s owners, Jack Cummings and Arthur Kreizel, added a spa in 1987 to create a year-round resort for its growing clientele. Still family-owned, Topnotch expanded in 2005 to include a 35,000-square-foot spa, adding 14 treatment rooms for a total of 30. The project included updating its services and spa menu — one of those upgrades involves the recent addition of Canadian celebrity hairstylist Robin Barker who has signed on as Topnotch’s creative consultant and artistic director — plus refurbishing its famous cascading waterfall whirlpool, co-ed sauna and 60-foot indoor pool with 360- degree views of the surrounding Green Mountains.

The spa offers an astounding array of services including body wraps customized with local herbs and flowers that have been researched by Topnotch’s own staff. Treatments include localized body therapies, massages, individualized exercise treatments, and group and private Pilates and yoga instruction on the suspended wooden-floor in the aerobics studio. Facials are a specialty unto themselves — Decleor and June Jacobs products are used exclusively. Recently, the roster of dermatological treatments has expanded with the addition of Mitchell Schwartz, M.D., a board-certified cosmetic dermatologist and aesthetic surgeon. Offerings now include Restylane therapy, Botox therapy, capillary removal, chemical peels and a host of individualized treatments. Aware of the growing men’s market, the spa also is turning its attention toward balancing men’s and women’s needs. Today at least 40 percent of the spa’s clientele is male. Who said men don’t like pampering?

Romantic dual treatments in a private fireside massage room have been added, so couples can enjoy the spa experience together. Following your massage of choice — traditional, ayurvedic, shiatsu, thai, aroma mountain massage, deep tissue, fourhand massage … Beijing foot treatment anyone? — staff will create a facial customized to suit your individual skin types and needs. Or perhaps you’ll indulge in a Papaya Mango Body Smoothie or a Vermont River Rocks Treatment? Maybe a craniosacral therapy treatment or a Reiki session? Regardless of your choices, you’ll both float out of the room. Luckily, you can recline in one of the elegant lounges while wrapped in a plush robe as you savor the experience before returning to your equally plush guestroom.

Once you’ve indulged your body and spirit, sate your appetite at Maxwell’s where Chef Doug Barg and his staff have expanded the resort restaurant’s innovative American cuisine menu to include classical, regional and seasonal influences. There’s also a creative spa menu and Maxwell’s wine list earned an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator.

For more information, call 800 451 8686 or visit http://www.topnotchresort.com

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FX Excursions

FX Excursions offers the chance for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in destinations around the world.

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