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By Barbara Penny Angelakis
Photography courtesy of The Water Club and Manos Angelakis
Immersion Spa At The Water Club
1 Renaissance Way
Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
800.800.8817
www.thewaterclubhotel.com
Last month I had a wonderful spa experience at a resort in the northwest corner of New Jersey (see Reflections Spa at Grand Cascades Lodge). This month, my travels took me to the southeast Jersey shore playground of Atlantic City.  Connected to the main island of Atlantic City is a causeway leading to Brigantine, a smaller more residential, family friendly and less well-known island, sporting a lovely beach but with few entertainment opportunities. In the past few years Atlantic City’s gaming industry has been extended to the causeway where a state of the art marina has been built to accommodate visitors arriving by sea; ergo the area is now known as The Marina. This is important to know for those traveling by land in order to grasp the multiple array of signage that assaults you when driving into Atlantic City. Crisscrossing the causeway is a paroxysm of roads leading to several gaming casinos and resort hotels, amongst them the luxury Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and their ultra-lux new hotel tower The Water Club and Immersion Spa.
As I have mentioned many times before, ratings for luxury properties is arbitrary and a 5-star rating only tells you that the spaces are well-appointed and the  quality of service is high… to me, luxury is a state of mind and it’s all in the details. The Water Club is a moderate sized hotel by Atlantic City standards, some 800 rooms and suites, but so uniquely defined that it is in a category all by itself. This is not your elegant grand dame hotel; this is an ultra-modern, ultra-indulgence, high technology, you name it, you got it, experience. From the exquisitely matched hard woods, stone and tile walls and floors, exalted ceilings, art glass decorations, exquisite floral arrangements and coordinated palette of rich chocolate brown and beige with touches of deep turquoise, every design detail is  of the highest quality. Each room is equipped with the latest technological equipment and the highest degree of creature comforts including the most comfortable bedding imaginable… its like sinking into a cloud. The suite floors, all those above the spa on the 32nd and 33rd floors have padded halls for the ultimate in privacy. Our room was on the 29th floor overlooking the marina and the island of Brigantine in the background with its pristine beaches. The Water Club runs frequent shuttles back and forth to the beach for those preferring nature over the four outdoor pools at the ground level and one seventy-five foot indoor, infinity-edge lap pool at the spa with a spectacular view. The Water Club is connected by a shopping corridor to the Borgata Casino with its many high profile restaurants and bars. The one jarring note is the very loud music piped into the lobby that was so over the top that one had to shout to be heard by the receptionist at check-in.
Immersion is a destination spa offering comprehensive treatments including conditioning body wraps and scrubs, Ayurvedic therapies and multiple massage modalities. Exotic world-wide technologies have been enhanced with the latest in healing and rejuvenating products for treatments designed solely for Immersion Spa. Renowned procedures from Bali, Thailand, Marrakech, Scandinavia, Egypt, Java and India (Ayurvedic) are incorporated into treatments that range from 50 minutes to 105 minutes.
My signature treatment was the Nirvana, an Ayurvedic experience designed to promote healing from within. Nirvana in Sanskrit translates to ultimate bliss and this particular 105 minute treatment combines the Bindi Body Rejuvenation with Shirodhara. Bindi was inspired by the ancient Kaya Kapa body ritual of India and Shirodhara is used to restore inner calm by balancing the emotions and rejuvenating hair and scalp.
Upon arrival at the Spa you are asked to complete a form that gives the therapist insight into your personal constitution or dosha. My therapist was Nicole Elisio, a soft spoken totally professional practitioner that analyzed the form I completed and selected the essential oils and exotic herbs that suited my individual dosha before she picked me up from the waiting room. As we walked to the treatment room Nicole explained that Immersion uses a simple three basic dosha system; PITTA for fire and spirit; KAPHA for water and earth; and VATA for air and ether. She briefly explained the philosophy behind the Ayurvedic treatments as a body, mind and spirit experience and that in order to get the full benefit from this healing treatment, the Nirvana was done in silence. Of course soft meditative music was playing in the background but conversation was to be kept to a minimum and when necessary was spoken in whispers.
The Bindi Body Rejuvenation begins with a body mask of herbs that are used to exfoliate, followed by a warmed oil massage and finished with a total body warm towel compress. By the time Nicole had finished the Bindi, I was in a deeply relaxed state. This set the stage for the Shirodhara which employs a spigot that drips a steady stream of warm oil onto your brow/third eye and is then smoothed and massaged into hair and scalp nourishing and promoting circulation.
It was hard to believe that almost 2 hours had elapsed when Nicole whispered in my ear that I should slowly gather myself and take my time getting up while she stepped out of the room to wait for me. When I reluctantly roused myself Nicole handed me a bottle of spring water and said to make sure I drank a lot of water to hydrate myself since the treatment created lymphatic drainage and if possible to spend some time in the steam room to reground and bake the oils into my body and hair. Of course my hair was an oily mess and Nicole said to leave the oils in as long as possible, overnight if convenient for best results. But if that was not possible, when showering, to first lather my hair with soap before adding water or the soap would just slide off. I did what she suggested and voila hair silky smooth and body definitely slimmed down. As with many people in warm weather my legs and ankles tend to swell by the evening hours but this did not occur after the Nirvana so if retaining fluids is your problem, do consider this treatment which was not only extremely pleasant but also hugely beneficial. For a complete listing of treatments and fees, as well as availability at The Water Club visit www.TheWaterClubHotel.com or call 800.800.8817.
© July 2009 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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