RELATED LINKS Return to City Guide: Sonoma

Long before European settlers arrived in Northern California, Native Americans recognized the healthful properties of the natural hot springs that flow from the hillsides near what is now the town of Sonoma. By the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the area had become a popular recuperative retreat for San Franciscans, and today the Sonoma Valley harbors a number of indulgent spas offering a wide range of massage and beauty treatments.

The most illustrious of Sonoma's spa treatment centers is at the Sonoma Mission Inn, (www.fairmont.com), which stands on the site of a Victorian-era thermal resort that has been pampering guests off an on for over a century. The 43,000 spa, which opened in 2000 after an extensive expansion and renovation project, has earned numerous accolades for the quality of its facilities and services, and it's one of the only luxury spas in the country that has its own source of naturally heated mineral water on-site.

Other options include:

— Sonoma Spa on the Plaza (www.sonomaspaontheplaza.com), a day spa offering a range of massage therapies, facials and body treatments

— The Lodge at Sonoma (www.thelodgeatsonoma.com), a 182-room resort with a modern, full-service spa, located on the Broadway commercial strip south of the Plaza

— MacArthur Place (www.macarthurplace.com), another in-town property off the Broadway commercial strip, combining a high-end spa with guest cottages and hotel rooms in a converted 1850s-era ranch house

— The Kenwood Inn & Spa (www.kenwoodinn.com), a pricy and atmospheric country hotel with 30 rooms and a posh spa offering a range of wine-themed "Vinotherapie" treatments, including wine barrel baths, Merlot wraps and crushed Cabernet scrubs

— The Gaige House Inn (www.gaige.com), a stylish Glen Ellen B&B that offers a full range of massage and spa services both indoors and at various idyllic garden and creek side settings around the 3-acre property