Jessica Herman

Stepping into Bliss, the two-week-old spa housed snugly on the eighth floor of the W Hotel (644 North Lake Shore, blissspa.com), feels nothing other than ethereal: A circular design motif and minty shades of blue complement the sleek white setting, where green tea-scented air seeps through the vents and views of Lake Michigan provide a backdrop for ladies and men in waiting.

Since partnering up with the W, the Bliss corporation has been setting up shop in the hipper-than-hip hotels, making the Chicago location the sixth stop to date (third within a W hotel). Among the sixteen rooms are massage, body treatment, facial and quick wax rooms. There's no shortage of pampering while guests anticipate scrubbing, rubbing, waxing and washing; "robe-only zones," the spa's single-sex waiting rooms, offer silver platter hors d'oeuvres of wine, cheese and signature Bliss brownies for the women and a bucket of beer for the men. Four nail stations take it over the top, with personal TV screens showcasing a choice selection of "Sex and the City" episodes.

Signature treatments include the complexion-reviving ($150) Triple Oxygen Treatment, ($215) the Hangover Herbie for post-reveling recuperation, ($125) the Blissage 75, which combines Swedish and Shiatsu techniques and ($150) the Homme Improvement facial for men. The spa spices up traditional facials and wraps with delicious combinations like the carrot, ginger and sesame scrub and the hot-chocolate-milk soak.

It's literally complete Bliss from start to finish, from the soap and shampoo in the locker-room showers to the complimentary bottles of water. The retail store in front features a complete selection of the company's products, so customers have the option of taking a bit of Bliss back home at the end of the day.

(2005-11-01)

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