| THE SCOUT 05.26.06 12:00 AM |
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| Business Entertaining: Where to Go for Activities |
| Check out these spots for rest and relaxation. |
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For a Stressed-Out Client
Deepak Chopra’s well-being center inside the Dream Hotel offers an alternative to the typical spa with holistic ayurvedic healing techniques. The Chopra Center & Spa at Dream opened in November and has yoga classes, facials, massages, therapeutic body treatments, and morning and evening meditation classes in a beautifully designed space. Taking inspiration from India, the tranquil interior includes rosewood, soft red and yellow accents, a 20-foot tall fresco, a three-foot stone centerpiece for the meditation area, and unique artwork painted on the walls. Treat a client to a spa package or book a group for one of the classes or treatments.
To Treat Special Guests
Heading to a spa together isn’t the right palling-around choice for every client, but it can be a relaxing way to cozy up to someone. (And for people not considered robe-ready, there are always gift certificates.) Here are three new options. G Spa is a daytime health haven at the Hotel Gansevoort that converts to a nightclub. The new space has infinity-edge hydro pools, private treatment rooms that convert to lounges, and a bar area for cocktail receptions for 100 people. Space rental starts at $2,500 per hour, and China Grill Management provides food and beverage. For men, there’s the newly minted Okeanos spa, which pays homage to the czars with traditional Russian therapies, barber services, and a vodka bar. The masculine spa is available for private events, where powerbrokers indulge in body treatments, relax in the eucalyptus-infused banya (wet sauna), or get a taste of Petrossian caviar. Group packages start at $250 per person, and includes a sports massage, traditional platza treatment (a revitalizing massage with birch leaves), and lunch. If you’re entertaining expectant mothers (why not?), give them an extra dose of pampering at Edamame Spa, a Zen den for the pregnant set that offers specialized treatments like lower-back massages, prenatal yoga, and hormone-tempering facials.
For a Group of Gamblers
Place a wager on the Poker Room, a 1,500-square-foot SoHo retail space that offers gaming furniture like poker tables and roulette wheels to betting types. For small groups, the Poker Room offers craps and poker lessons in two-hour sessions at $100 per person. For a $10,000 base fee, they’ll also make the space available for high-end private events complete with dealers and croupier. Up the ante with customized details like catering, liquor, and prizes.
For the Discriminating Palate
If a group is serious about wines, set up a private tasting at the new Upper East Side wine store Cellar 72. Owner and sommelier Guy Goldstein brings restaurant-style wine service to this retail establishment, with a roster of sommeliers from restaurants like Barbounia, Per Se, and Nice Matin able to assist with selection. The private tasting room seats 14 around a rustic wood table. And in Midtown, you can hold a private tasting for as many as 18 in the barrel-enclosed room at Crush Wine & Spirits.
—Jeralyn Gerba, Mark Mavrigian & Anna Sekula
Posted 05.26.06
Photos: Arthur Julian (G Spa), Jennifer Mitchell Photography (Cellar 72)
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