Loew's Santa Monica Eco-friendly Spa has Soothing Rewards for Guests and Locals

The 7,000-square-foot Ocean Spa & Fitness has just reopened at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, and now provides a relaxing dose of eco-friendliness to go with its revamped facilities and salty air. Plus One Health Management oversaw the redesign and manages the spa, which means you're probably in good hands -- the same company has spent 13 years creating such oases for Merrill Lynch, Trump, and Google.
The greenness comes courtesy of the gym rebuilt with Ecoresin panels made from 40-percent post-industrial recycled resin, Armstrong sustainable ceiling tiles, Mondo recycled rubber floors, and Shaw carpet with Cradle to Cradle Certification. Even the furnishings do their part, coming from reclaimed wood.
As for the spa itself, the treatments have also gone into the revamp shop and come out more verdure. Essential oils from Red Flower are certified organic and come in numerous scents, from Indian jasmine to Icelandic moonflower. Skincare is provided by Pevonia Botanica, all of whose products are paraben- and chemical-free. Our favorite is the Beachcomber, with heated tiger clam shells used to knead away any ill you might have brought in with you. It's the best use of a clam since, well, chowder.
The extensive spa menu is filled out with the usual suspects: manicures, pedicures, a full-service hair salon with cutting, coloring and styling services, dry saunas, and eucalyptus steam rooms. But if you're committed to things of iron and muscles of steel, the gym's cardio equipment comes from Technogym, networked Expresso bikes allow for side-by-side "racing," and the group fitness studio is a playpen for adults that offers all of the c'est necessaire twisty-bendy classes.
And you don't need to be a hotel guest to take advantage; locals can join sign up for memberships, with terms as short as three months. Once you do, you'll get discounts on spa services and restaurant visits, and you can avail yourself of the guests-and-members-only pool deck whenever you wish. Put that all together -- a masseur's hands, poolside cocktails, and ocean air -- and it doesn't get more environmentally friendly than that, does it?
[Source: Loews]