Spa/Wellness: Places: ESPA Travel Advice

ESPA Travel Advice

ESPA founder Susan Harmsworth shares travel advice and her favorite spots to get away from it all.

You travel a great deal for work. What is your favorite travel ritual when arriving in a new destination?

I try to do a combination of steaming, swimming and fresh air. The minute I arrive, I prepare a bath, as I’m a great believer in exfoliating and using essential oils to hydrate in order to get over jet-lag more quickly. I always carry some ESPA products, like the Relaxing Salt Scrub and the Detoxifying Seaweed Bath. If you don’t have the ESPA products handy, using Epsom salts in the bath are a secret tip. It’s an inexpensive way of hydrating and remineralizing. If the hotel has a pool, I also try to get in a swim, and I always take a long walk.

What are some of your favorite hotels around the world?

I work in five-star hotels, so I tend to go to non-spa places that are very basic. On the west coast of Scotland, which I love for its rough weather, there’s a small coastal hotel called the Crinan (www.crinan.com). It’s totally rustic and their restaurant is phenomenal. If I’m in need of something more sophisticated, I’ll go to the Villa Marie in the south of France, and I also adore the Castello del Nero (www.castello-del-nero.com), in Italy, which is privately owned and was recently renovated (it also has an ESPA). We just opened a spa at the Gleneagles (www.gleneagles.com) in Scotland, and this is a marvelous place. I have four grandchildren between the ages of 3 and 12, and we all go away together once in a while. At Gleneagles we found a place that had tons to offer for all different activity levels and age ranges. It was a joy to travel with the whole family.

How about your favorite restaurants?

In no particular order, I love: Lever House Restaurant (390 Park Avenue; 212-888-2700), in New York, Spring Moon at the Peninsula in Hong Kong, Robuchon at the Metropole, in Monte Carlo, Nino (Via Borgognona 11; 011-39-06-678-6752) in Rome, Alain Ducasse at L’Andana (011-39-05-649-44800; www.andana.it), in Tuscany, and in the U.K., there’s the Fat Duck (011-44-1-628-580-333; www.fatduck.co.uk) in Bray and Zuma and the Wolseley in London.

Where are you dying to go next?

Marrakech, since I have not been in more than fifteen years.

The ESPA products Sue mentions above are available at www.espaonline.com.