The Hotel Casa de Sierra Nevada, a boutique Orient-Express Hotel in the city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, draws on its natural surroundings to create a distinct experience at its newly unveiled Laja Spa. Named for the river that runs through the city, the Laja Spa offers specialty treatments such as the Detox Herbal Wrap, which uses heated sheets of pure cotton infused with locally grown herbs to draw out toxins from the skin, followed by a honey and salt exfoliation. Each spa treatment utilizes herbs, oils, and natural resources from the area?even stones from the Laja River are heated and used in massages. The spa’s dining room has also fashioned a healthy menu using ingredients grown in San Miguel, so you can continue experiencing the local flavor at your dinner table. (+52.415.152.70.40, www.casadesierranevada.com)

—Stephanie Mazursky

The Four Seasons opened its newest location in a former 15^th-century palazzo that once housed Florentine nobility.  Located in the heart of Florence, the Four Seasons Firenze has maintained its historical heritage while at the same time providing all the modern luxuries expected at a Four Seasons hotel. The Renaissance-art filled hotel features works in bas-relief, stucco, and silk wallpaper dating from the 15^th to the 19^th centuries, and each room displays original frescoes. While appealing to the historian in each of us, the Four Seasons possesses luxurious facilities that include the largest private garden in Florence, a spa, outdoor pool, and fitness center. Prices range from approximately 5 to ,600. (39.055.2626.1, www.fourseasons.com/florence )

—Stephanie Mazursky