Alicia MoonEveryone in the golf world recognizes the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course as the venue for the Phoenix Waste Management Open, the rowdiest of PGA tour stops. What everyone should also know is how it is attached to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, a resort for all seasons. Sip a signature cocktail, slip into one of the five pools or soak in a Jacuzzi. Hold your own court from the balcony over golfers teeing off on number five with room service for privacy or enjoy the varied restaurant scenes and cuisine.
Golf on the TPC Stadium or the Champion Course or play tennis on the courts where memorable matches were played by the likes of Andre Agassi. Some people find golf and tennis relaxing but sports can be stressful and taxing on the body. There is no better place for relief of both than at the Well & Being Spa. Formerly called the Willow Stream Spa, it earned its new designation for all the added fitness and wellness characteristics and amenities. Workouts, classes and therapies span a broad scope of possibilities, a reason so many locals sign up for memberships. For example, when was the last time you tried aerial yoga? Combine it with a body treatment, a circuit in the spa’s “inner circle,” topped off by tai chi and you will have erased all the stress of your world.
The Well & Being Spa excels in expert selection of personnel from Megan in the lobby to the spa whisperers in the locker rooms to servers at the rooftop pool. And don’t forget the therapists. This was perhaps the first time we indulged in a spa treatment and both exclaimed, “Best massage ever!” The couples’ room was spacious with a jacuzzi tub for augmented pleasure. If your mind is boggled by the number of treatments, remember, as with the signature hole on a golf course, you can’t go wrong selecting the signature massage. Professional therapists give just the right touch in all the right places. Debbie deployed a different grand finale technique, artfully tugging hair after a scalp massage without painful pulling to complete the finishing touch.
The “inner circle” in each of the men’s and women’s private locker rooms involves water therapies in the round – a hot spa pool across from a cool plunge pool, along the wall a Swedish shower, a steam sauna, dry sauna and inhalation room. Make sure to block time for this circuit before or after any treatment or workout. Enjoy too, the coed grotto waterfall. Do you love lingering in your shower with water pulsing on your shoulders? If so, this is your bonus treatment. Here’s how to maximize the al fresco experience. Stand tall beneath the falls, close your eyes and forget about mascara. (It should be waterproof anyway.) Turn. Position one shoulder in, and then the other like doing the hokey pokey.
The rooftop pool is the place to lounge, splish-splash on floating pillows, hydrate with water or sip adult beverages, read magazines and watch green feathered, peach faced lovebirds flit in the palm trees. A great selection of healthy delicious snacks and meals are delivered to your chaise.
After our Well & Being Spa day, we did feel very Well & we’re Being totally honest. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess has some sizzling hot deals in the summer and that’s not a reference to the heat. Believe it or not it’s back in the 80s the last week of May. Forget global warming debates or any politics. Just chill at Well & Being spa.
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