New trends in spa vacations

From medi-pedis to frigid blizzard rooms and swankier eyebrow bars, fresh trends are surfacing around the world in the $60 billion spa industry, according to an annual forecast.

As destination resorts, day spas and beauty salons shake off economic worries, new luxury is playing out in all price ranges through more intimate pairings with healthy fine dining, glamour and child-friendly options, says Susie Ellis, president of the online spa portal SpaFinder.

Past trends like wellness pampering and organic treatments haven't been replaced but are being joined by a broader range of foot healing, multisensory experiences and icy cold therapies, Ellis says. Look for more wow, fun and wellness, and for more spa options in Asia, which she says leads the world in industry growth.

With more than 100,000 spas worldwide, making sense of often-pricey services can be difficult, along with tracking evidence that they work. A nearly year-old, industry-funded website, SpaEvidence.com, is a small but growing clearinghouse for clinical trials and published research on services ranging from yoga and music therapy to Ayurveda, the ancient holistic system of medicine from India.

"You are now moving from not only wellness but to wellness empowerment," says Dr. Daniel Friedland, an internist and consultant who worked on the site. Helping spa-goers hunt down research is a game changer, especially now that more insurance companies and employers are willing to reimburse them for preventive care, Ellis says.

Here are five more trends from the SpaFinder report:

1. COLD AND ICE

With saunas, steam rooms and whirlpool baths, spas have traditionally used heat to de-stress and detoxify, but the industry is taking a cue from the Romans, who more than 2,000 years ago finished spalike experiences with a trip to the "frigidarium."

Look for more ice therapies and cold rooms alternated with hot treatments to reduce pain and inflammation, Ellis says. At ESPA spa locations around the world, clients can scoop ice crystals from fountains to rub down after saunas. At the Qua Baths & Spa in Caesars Palace Las Vegas, visitors can head to the "Arctic ice room" to sit amid falling snow as a gentle transition from heat and steam.

With cryotherapy, spa-goers in bathing suits wear protective socks, gloves, mouth and ear gear to avoid frostbite in rooms cooled to minus-184 degrees (visits last just moments). The chambers are available at the new Sparkling Hill Resort & Spa in Vernon, British Columbia, and Champneys Tring Health Resort in Hertfordshire, England.

Cryotherapy has earned mixed reviews from researchers for relieving pain and ailing muscles, but Mehmet Oz of "The Dr. Oz" show recently endorsed it. The first U.S. Cryotherapy Center, a 4,300-square-foot facility in Roseville, Calif., opened in April.

2. HAPPY FEET

Chinese reflexology has been around for years. Now spas and wellness centers are targeting problems like high-heel pain as part of menus for the feet.

Computer gait analysis and foot treatments in zero-gravity chairs are available at the Canyon Ranch SpaClub in Las Vegas. Stride in Palo Alto, Calif., includes foot Botox to reduce odor and a "Walking on Clouds" treatment of filler injected into the ball of the foot for padding and pain reduction.

Yamuna Zake, the founder of Yamuna in Manhattan, uses small knobby spheres to condition aching feet and teach foot care. "You can't get anywhere without those feet, yet they come with no education," she says.

The Mandarin Barber and Mandarin Salon in the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong are targeting men for a traditional Chinese foot treatment involving 10 razor-sharp blades.

3. GLAMBITION

While health and wellness have been a spa focus for several years, full-on Hollywood glamour and old European grooming are back.

In addition to affordable blowout bars for the hair, Blink bars for eyebrow treatments have multiplied in the past year at London department stores -- along with Henri Bendel in Manhattan.

Hershesons hair spas in London let customers pick walk-in hairdos from a dozen celebrity photos, including Brigitte Bardot and Kate Moss, about $37.

On the high end, the Waldorf Astoria's Guerlain spa offers guests free post-treatment makeup retouching and clothes pressing. The newly opened Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto assigns guests a personal "spa concierge."

4. FAMILY AFFAIR

More spas are accommodating adults and kids together. "People want to go with their children to spas. Not all of them, of course. Some want to go without," Ellis says.

Kid-specific spas are on the rise, Ellis says. The Jiwa Spa Resort at Conrad Bali Hotel has a "Mum and Me" package, where kids choose from foot baths, back massages or chocolate milk baths and get a bath toy to take home while Mom picks her own selection of facials and massages.

At the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii, guests can book the "family spa suite" and treatments like chocolate-coconut scrubs and massages for kids as young as 6. At Aulani on Oahu, Disney's new family resort and spa, the Laniwai Spa offers family suites; babies are welcome and young children can get massages.

5. WOWS BIG AND LITTLE

Some spas are trying to wow and woo with eye-popping decor that defies traditional minimalism. In Thailand, a luxurious rain forest wicker treehouse, "The Nest," serves as a private spa suite suspended from the branches of a banyan tree at the Coqoon Spa at Indigo Pearl in Phuket. Canada's Sparkling Hill Resort is adorned with 3.5 million Swarovski crystals and has crystal glass fireplaces.

Not all spas are Zen quiet or dead serious. The spa at Travassa Austin in Texas offers a workout on a mechanical bull. The CosquilleArte Spa in Madrid is the world's first "tickle spa," using feathers and light touch as stress-relievers during treatments.