Spa + travel + discounts = ah!

Courtesy Spa at Trump SoHo

The Spa at Trump SoHo features Turkish décor, spacious treatment rooms and in this instance, bubbles.

By Harriet Baskas,

If you’ve been plugging away on your taxes and feeling stressed out and cash-strapped, Wellness Week 2012 may offer a getaway reward you can afford. 

From March 19-25, hundreds of spas, yoga studios, gyms and other wellness businesses around the country will be offering massages, facials, yoga and Pilates classes, and nutrition counseling, fitness assessment and other wellness services for half price or just $50.

Organized by SpaFinder.com, which has posted the week’s free events and deals (searchable by zip code) on its website, Wellness Week offers cost-conscious travelers a chance to add a discounted spa treatment to a weekendgetaway or an excuse to turn an afternoon off into a blissed out — we have to say it — staycation. 

“It’s a great opportunity for travelers to experience the nation’s best destination spas and resorts at a deep discount, whether it’s a weekend getaway or an afternoon escape to a hotel spa in your city,” said Sallie Fraenkel, spokesperson for SpaFinder.com.

During Wellness Week, the Salish Lodge & Spa, which overlooks Snoqualmie Falls and is just a half-hour from Seattle, is offering its Honey & Oatmeal Body Scrub for half off the regular $115 price.                            [Heathrow taxi Transfer Gatwick transport]

“With the economy the way it is, we know everyone is looking for extra value for their money,” said Melanie Silver, director of rooms and spa at Salish Lodge & Spa. The lodge recently added bees and beehives to the property, “so we decided to offer a discount on a new service that pampers people in an unusual way: with honey straight from our hives,” said Silver, who hopes the sweet deal nets some return customers. 

In New York City, the Wellness Week deals at the Spa at Trump Soho, include an organic spray tan for $47.50 and a 45-minute Moroccan mint tea-Vichy body polish treatment for $80, each 50 percent off.  Lapis, the Spa at Fontainebleau in Miami Beach is offering a facial, soak, express pedicure and a day spa pass for $99 (regular price: $198) and, for something a little different,Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. Health Center & Spa in Virginia Beach, Va., is discounting a colon hydrotherapy session to $50, down from $80. 

Some room packages are also on the Wellness Week menu. For example,Deerfield Spa, in East Stroudsburg, Pa., is offering a Stay Package for $137.50 (down from $275) that includes half-off a massage sampler.

While the more than 700 Wellness Week specials listed on the SpaFinder website are certainly good deals, keep in mind that many hotels and resorts with on-site spas will offer complimentary treatment and discounts on services as part of room packages year-round.

“Wellness Week is great for deals at many day spas, where facials and massages can be 50 percent off,” said Stephanie Durst, a spa specialist with Protravel International in Syosset, N.Y. “But keep in mind that, year-round, many destination resorts offer promotions that not only include many spa treatments, but free nights and discounts for your friends as well.”