Name: New Age Health Spa
The Setting for New Age Health Spa:
The New Age Health Spa benefits from the beauty its setting, near the Catskill State Forest Preserve. On a birdwatching expedition at the nearby Neversink reservoir we saw a nesting pair of bald eagles, the kind of experience that most spas can’t provide.
Accommodations at New Age Health SpaIt looks like a summer camp for adults, with 280 acres of woodlands, trails, classes and white clapboard buildings named after Indian tribes -- Lenape, Delaware, Cayuga. It’s not for people who require five-star accommodations, but it’s charming.
The Spa at the New Age Health Spa: The actual spa is modest and somewhat dated. It could use some new carpeting.
Spa Treatments at the New Age Health Spa: I had a great experience with the "Shirodhara," an Ayurvedic treatment where warm oil streams through a small hole in a bowl onto your "third eye" and down through your hair, while a therapist massages your hands, feet, neck and shoulders. But I had a surprisingly bad Swedish massage from someone who has been doing this too long. It was so fast and perfunctory as to be uncomfortable, she couldn’t really adjust her style when asked. It's one of the few spas that has colon cleansing as one of its most popular treatments.
What's Special about the New Age Health Spa:: The people who go there are regular folks, and there are lots of singles who are easy to talk to. It has a gorgeous "meditation hall" for yoga classes and brings in special teachers like Bridget Shields, who spritzed the meditation hall with essential oils from Himalayan cedars during an “aroma yoga” class. And that night 20 of us wrapped in pink towels, gathered around a blazing fire before heading in to the Indian sweat lodge to purify ourselves and ask for blessings.
What Could Be Better:The spa facility itself needs updating.
Rates at the New Age Health Spa: Prices start around $200 a night per person. Check the website for specials where you can bring a friend for reduced rates. The price includes all meals, classes and activities but no spa treatments. Two night minimum.
Contact the New Age Health Spa:PO Box 658 Rt. 55, Neversink, NY 12765. Reservations: 1-800-682-4348 or visit the website at www.newagehealthspa.com .
