Spa

This Dominican-owned business is not only good for you, but good for the community. Jasmine Spa and Wellness Center (Tubagua, Carretera Turística Luperón Km 12, tel. 829/252-5272, www.jasmine-spa-wellness.com [1], US$249 per person d high season) is located on 16 hectares of the tropical Cordillera Septentrional.

This holistic health retreat has one- to three-week on-site wellness programs including meals and accommodations. If you have been needing a place to recharge your fast-moving new millennium batteries, this skilled staff will help you. People from all walks of life come here to manage weight, improve diet, stop smoking, get over caffeine intake, or just take in the beauty of the natural environment and detox their systems of emotional and physical stresses of life.

Leave your computer and iPod at home, though. Forget about bringing alcohol and tobacco, and even newspapers and magazines, as all of these items are expressly forbidden. Check the website for what you can and cannot bring.

Spa treatments include: mud treatments, facials (US$20), full body massages (US$50–80), beach treatment (complete with seaweed wrap and sand scrub with dip in the ocean), hot stone massages, shiatsu, reflexology, and more. Day passes to the spa (US$125 per person) come complete with fresh juice, a one-hour massage, lunch, a tour of the whole grounds, and your choice between facial, manicure, or pedicure. You can also take a dip in the freshwater dipping pool. They can arrange for transportation from your hotel or resort for an additional fee.

For a more invigorating experience, take a bachata, merengue, or yoga class. Go horseback riding (US$25), hiking (US$10–20), or on an excursion to the Sosúa [2] flea market.

There are four comfortable rooms, each with one queen-size bed. There is no air-conditioning, but you won’t need it because of the perpetual spring-like mountain air. If you want a fan, the staff will happily supply one for you, but for the most part, they try to keep things as natural to the environment as they can — but never fear, you will have hot water.

They offer a mix of Dominican, Indian, Italian, and Thai choices for food and even cater to those who chose vegetarian, raw food, fat free, or fresh fruit juice diets. All the food is grown on-site and they try to use mostly organic products.

By the time you leave the Jasmine Spa and Wellness Center, you will be addicted to it and it only.