La Prairie at the Ritz Carlton, New York - Times Online http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/good_spa_g...

1 of 3 16/10/07 19:53

Know your filmThe Times BFI London Film Festival: full details

October 10, 2007

La Prairie at the Ritz Carlton, New YorkHigh-class gold and caviar treatments that leave you glowing like a Bond girl

BACKGROUND

London day spas - five of the bestTop 5 serene retreatsAutumn weekend spas - 5 of the best

A caviar treatment at La Prairie at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel

Rachael Scott

USP The ultimate in cosmetic bling - a facial infused with 24-carat golddeveloped by Swiss skincare company La Prairie – the perfect antidote toa hard day's shopping in New York.

AMBIENCE The Ritz-Carlton Central Park exudes classic opulence and its spa is as elegant as its townhouse home.

Fresh cucumber for tired eyes sits next to wet face towels in the changing room and La Prairie products are free to use after a shower ora visit to the steam room. My locker had a small silver box to leave myjewellery in.

There are six treatment rooms and the relaxation room is intimate andold school with two large armchairs and a chaise lounge type recliner. Youcan choose the music during your treatment from a case of CDs fromclassical to New Age. I chose a classical relaxation CD, which I didn’tlike, but there was no problem in changing it to something more floatyand calming.

EXPERIENCE I’m about as farremoved from a skincare junkie as youcan get, but even I know La Prairiemake the most coveted products onthe planet. La Prairie’s CellularTreatments claim to slow down thesigns of ageing and keep your skin asyoung as possible. At $350 (£175) fora pot of their Skin Caviar Luxe Creamit’s more like sincare than skincare, so

I was expecting nothing less than leaving the spa looking like a Bond girlcandidate.

The Ritz-Carlton’s signature spa treatment is the indulgent Caviar FirmingFacial that actually contains real caviar. Honestly. I was having the PureGold Radiance Facial with 24-carat gold. Yes. Really. And so it wasconfirmed, I had officially entered another world.

I lay down on a heated massage table with a foot spa at its base and soaked my feet for ten minutes. The Pure Gold Radiance Facialincorporates a foot massage, hands, arms, neck, shoulders anddécolletage.

I joked with my therapist Carolina about having a facial containing 24-carat gold and asked her if many clients come expecting nothing lessthan crystals in their face creams. She informed me that the RefiningMicrodermabrasion Facial does in fact contain a blend of liquid and quartzcrystals. Of course it does. Silly me.

The noisy footbath lasted ten minutes and majoram oil was massaged into my feet for its soothing and relaxing qualities. Carolina then putelectrically heated mittens that looked like ice cream cones on my handsand feet; these acted like a mask and helped the essential oil seep intothe skin. There was no way I could escape now, not that I wanted to.

While the booties were on Carolina started extracting the impurities from my face using a tiny lancet to cut a little hole in my skin where whiteheads had taken residence so she could squeeze them out with herfingers.

MOST READ MOST COMMENTED MOST CURIOUS

Hotel reviews

We've checked out 289 hotels in Britain just for you

Offer of the WeekCaribbean Cruise, 30 days, from £1999

Celebrate Sydney's SummerNew South Wales is more alluring than ever during the Sydney Festival

Upfront RugbyYour WorldTime To SailNew horizonsFantasy CEO

The GradeModern Day BusinessFink Tank FootballEntrepreneursGalaxy of StoriesBusiness Travel

Now InteractiveLove Sudoku? Play our brand new interactive game: with added functionality and daily prizes.

Su Doku Driving Career & JobsTravel Podcasts Photo Galleries

Style HotelsFree upgrades and nights at the world's best hotels

TODAY

Women’s secret sect raided after...Hazardous drinking, the middle-class viceFrank Lampard in the cold as Steve McClaren...Kate McCann believes she is being persecuted

FOCUS ZONE

QUICKLINKS

SU DOKU

TRAVEL PARTNERS

NEWS COMMENT BUSINESS SPORT LIFE & STYLE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RUGBY OUR PAPERS AUDIO / VIDEO CLASSIFIEDS

CA REER & J OBS D R IVIN G EDUC ATIO N FOOD & D RINK HEAL TH PRO PERT Y TRAV EL COU RT & SOC IAL WO MEN M EN REL ATED FEA TURE S

Where am I? Home Life & Style Travel Good Spa Guide

MY PROFILE OFFERS SITEMAP

Diana's dead. End of story Rachel Johnson

Send your views

Sponsored by

From Times Online

La Prairie at the Ritz Carlton, New York - Times Online http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/good_spa_g...

2 of 3 16/10/07 19:53

HIDE THE FORM

HAVE YOUR SAY

* Name * Email

* Town / City Country / State

Remember me

PRINT EMAIL POST TO DEL.ICIO.US

POST TO NEWSVINE POST TO YAHOO! POST TO DIGG

Then I had another mask and a pot pourri of luxurious creams wereapplied one after the other.

Finally she massaged the 24-carat gold serum into my face. The gold issupposed to give you an extra glow, which it does and I felt more than able to face my long journey back to reality in Blighty.

The whole extravagance was followed by a complimentary glass of champagne in the relaxation room. As I left I was given a PersonalPriority Skincare booklet indicating the products that would be best formy anti-ageing regime.

FOOD Two ladies had ordered food to be delivered to the relaxationroom after their massages. If you prefer not to intrude on others chill-outtime the newly opened BLT Market attached to the ground floor of thehotel serves breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner. With its contemporarybistro setting, French chef Laurent Tourondel focuses his seasonal menuon fresh produce available from local farmers’ markets with dishes suchas Heirloom tomato & watermelon salad with Vidalia onion and Westfieldsheep's milk cheese and Rigatoni with summer squash and Espositosausage.

IN-CROWD Sybarites with a healthy bank balance. When one hundred world leaders descended on Manhattan for the UN General Assembly,the Ritz was a hotel of choice.

WALLET WATCH Pure Gold Radiance Facial and Caviar Firming Facial$275 – 90 minutes. Refining Microdermabrasion Facial $275 – 60minutes.

British Airways Holidays offer a four-night break to the 5* RitzCarlton-Central Park, New York from £1,602 per person based ondepartures during October 2007. The price includes return BA flightsfrom Heathrow (which start from £298) with accommodation-only from£1,304 per person. For reservations visit ba.com or call British AirwaysHolidays on 0870 243 3406.

NEED TO KNOW La Prairie at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park, 50 CentralPark South, New York, NY 10019 ([001] 212 308 9100; www.ritzcarlton.com)

For more than 200 independent spa reviews worldwide: timesonline.co.uk/goodspaguide

* Your View

1000 characters left

* Required Field

Terms and conditions

ALSO IN GOOD SPA GUIDE

Mandarin Oriental Spa, New YorkCowshed Spa at Soho House, New YorkLa Prairie at the Ritz Carlton, New York

ALSO IN TRAVEL

When Robert Elms met Gabriel GarcÍa MarquezInquiry starts into Heathrow plane collision The five-minute guide to Moscow

YOU LAST READ

Cowshed Spa at Soho House, New York

TRAVEL

Five New York spasWe've hand-picked the best pampering in Manhattan

GOOD SPA GUIDE

Buenos Aires spasPampering to suit all tastes in the Argentinan capital

Aqua Vita Medical Spa

Ahin Spa, Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt

SPAS & LIFESTYLE

Five autumn spas

British retreats for a dose of seasonal pampering

SPAS & LIFESTYLE

Ask our expert

For good spas, food and evening activities should we go to Kerala or the Maldives?

GOOD SPA GUIDE

Top 5 serene retreatsFrom a desert lodge in Jordan to Holy Island in Scotland, five holistic hideaways for seekers

EXPLORE GOOD SPA GUIDE

NEWS

DEST INAT IONS

HOLI DAY TYPE

WHER E TO STA Y

YOUR SAY

BUSI NESS TRA VEL

BEST OF BRIT AIN

TRAV EL I MAGE S

TIMES RECOMMENDS

The five-minute guide to MoscowSigns of the timesThe rebirth of Buenos Aires

Win a Baltic cruiseFrom Stockholm to Edinburgh; 13 nights of luxury for you and a friend

CARS JOBS

PROPERTY TRAVEL

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS

Executive Directorcirca £60k plus bonus Agrico UK Ltd Scotland

Licensing ConsultantsUp to £34k Ordnance Survey Southampton

Project Implementation Manager£ £35,232 - £42,278 Health Protection Agency London

Head of Development ManagementUp to £78k London Borough of Islington London

Search more Jobs

Search Ad Reference:

Holiday RentalsFind a holiday rental at Times Online, villas, apartments and much more

Ads by Google

LaprairieLuxury Swiss Skin care at discount Huge Skincare range at up 40% offwww.skincare-online.com

70% off UK Spa BreaksUp to 70% off Spa Breaks & Hotels 100% Guaranteed same day delivery!www.spaandhotelbreak.co.uk

Spa DaysSpa and treats breaks, top spas and offers. Visit today.days-spa.todays-deals.eu