LAUREL OLSON COOK
Author, Writer, Editor
(dba A Way with Words)

From The Bohemian
May 5-11, 2004

Soaking It Up
Wine Country Spas a chatty treat
By Gretchen Giles

Chatty and colloquial, Laurel Olson Cook's fifth book rounding up California spas focuses exclusively on the lowdown of rubdowns available in Sonoma and Napa counties. Like reading the travel notes of an indulged friend, Cook's Wine Country Spas of California (iUniverse; $16.95) not only points visitors to the many spas of Calistoga and the less frequent establishments of Sonoma County, but suggests ancillary tips and travel spots of local interest to pique the jaded curiosity of that new consumer: the spa vacationer.
Certainly a New World invention, the spa vacationer travels in search not of art and culture and extreme sports or stunning views, but rather of aromatherapy blends exotic to home, pummeling techniques never before visited and different ways of essentially lying around being pampered, head to toe, from the muscles outward. However, a spa traveler need not struggle far from home nor even spend the night in order to have "traveled"--at least from stiff and sore to rubbery and beatific. Cook introduces the concept of the "one-hour vacation," that which can just about be squeezed into a lunch break, but which allows you the time to really step out of your world.
An authority on which hotels accommodate pets 60 pounds and under, Cook, a proud Healdsburg resident who tends to favor her hometown, also reveals which wineries are famous for summer Shakespeare and what's in walking distance of the Vineyard Creek Hotel, Spa and Conference Center near Railroad Square. It appears, for example, that this facility offers Monday night football pedicures for men.
Not exactly brimming with strict research--though Cook visits each spa she writes about--this amiable book offers a glut of small insider nuggets culled from her own friends ("Gloria and others agree you should not miss the gift shop and gardens at Ferrari-Carano. Lavish!") and her jovial sense of fun. Regarding the Raymond Burr Vineyards, suggested as a day trip once one has pruned up sufficiently at the nearby Spa Hotel Healdsburg, Cook notes that she "bumped into Perry Mason in an elevator on Market Street in San Francisco. OK, forget that. Check its website for more significant doings."
For those who like to know what to expect in advance, Cook's eye for the smaller detail or fuller explanation is grand. She notes if a spa offers complimentary robes to those visitors who are wandering all relaxed-like between treatments; she notes the type of stone that lines a particularly lovely hallway or the coffee grounds that rough up a bar of gardener's soap. She even does a marvelously straight-forward explication of the mysteries of hot stone massage when discussing the Lavender Hill Spa in Calistoga, suggesting that having hot and cold stones placed all over the body is one way for those "leery of being touched by human hands" to get the stress relief and circulation bump of massage therapy. Perhaps of more use to those of us who live here, we learn that Graton painter Claude Smith worked at the Lavendar Hill Spa in 1993, that Cook "has been told" that the food at the restaurant Catahoula is "excellent," and that the Frog's Leap Winery grows organic grapes according to biodynamic laws outlined by Waldorf school founder Rudolf Steiner.
With lots of asides, opinions, straightforward news and odd tidbits, Wine Country Spas of California is just the thing to read in the tub.#

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 2004

Wine Country Spas of California
CONTACT: Laurel Olson Cook
Publisher: iUniverse

200 pages (indexed with B&W photos)
Trade paperback (POD)
ISBN #0-595-30298X

ORDER: www.iUniverse.com, 877-823-9235.

Soaking, Sipping and Sojourning through Wine Country!

Wine Country Spas of California, released in 2004, encourages readers to make their next spa trip a full-blown wine country vacation, with or without the family. Having written extensively about where to soak in hot mineral water, nod off in an herbal wrap, or surrender to a mud or enzyme bath, Cook now shows her readers how to combine those earthly delights with other pleasures offered by Sonoma and Napa counties: its ever-changing vineyards, sprawling hills, distant mountains, and scenic back roads; its treasure trove of wineries; its fine and varied eateries; and its many recreational activities.

In her fifth guidebook to day spas, urban retreats, hotel resorts and country retreats, Laurel has added two newcomers to wine country, the prestigious Calistoga Ranch and The Carneros Inn, and provided lists of local wineries (those with picnic grounds and tasting rooms open to the public) in each of the wine country regions where the spas are located. With their Web addresses and teaser notes about the wineries, the winemakers and the varied and sometimes unusual activities wineries offer their visitors, this new guide not only makes fine night table reading but facilitates trip planning.

Also useful for those turning a spa visit into a wine country vacation are the many suggestions of side trips—touring the back roads by bicycle (one spa offers bicycle drop-off at the door), picnicking at the wineries, hot-air ballooning, enjoying a jazz concert or art exhibit, soaring over a vineyard in an aerial tram, and more.

Those who want to make their wine country spa vacation a family affair will be pleased to find "Traveling with Children." This section is filled with ideas for keeping the youngsters happy—from something as simple as watching dollops of masa transform into tortillas in "El Machino" (Chevy's in Santa Rosa) to the fun of slip-sliding away at Toobtown (Rohnert Park), choo-chooing at Traintown (Sonoma) or braving "Wild Child Nights" at Safari West (Santa Rosa outside of Calistoga) where, for a price, the intrepid can tent-down for the night surrounded by wildlife.

As in her previous guidebooks readers will find glossaries demystifying the lingo of the spas, her own "spa finder" (I want a spa that…), tips on tipping, and contributions from spa experts: How to Receive a Massage (Sheila Cluff), How to Evaluate a Massage Practitioner (David Palmer), and Massage for Seniors (Dietrich Miesler). Blank pages at the end of the book invite readers to keep a trip log of their escapades and adventures.

Wine Country Spas, by moving readers to enrich their spa trips with explorations of Sonoma and Napa Valleys, puts wheels under Cook's assertion that the spa experience is "a drive away and a world apart."



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Ongoing)

Spas of California
CONTACT: Laurel Olson Cook
Publisher: Booklocker.com
ORDER: http://www.booklocker.com/book/1053.html

383 pages including index
ISBN# 1-59113-253-3

There Is No Best Spa
Spas of California, Laurel Olson Cook's update of her 1993 guidebook, California Spas & Urban Retreats, includes many new spas along with those covered previously. Cook gives readers her personal take on 67 diverse facilities from Weed to Tecate, Baja, and includes Web addresses so that readers can follow up with a cyber-tour of spas they find appealing. Spas is organized geographically (Northern California, North Bay, San Francisco Bay Region, South Bay, Central California, Southern California), with special sections on the two wall-to-wall spa towns of Calistoga (north) and Desert Hot Springs (south).

In answer to the question she hears most often, Cook says: "There is no 'best' spa. The one you choose depends on what you are looking for at any given time. It might be a one-hour vacation at a day spa, a weeklong country retreat, a romantic getaway, a serious fitness program, or a hotel resort where business and pleasure commingle." She also reminds readers that, while some elegant places like The Golden Door in Escondido and other challenging fitness retreats such as The Ashram in Calabasas are costly, prices run the gamut: it’s possible to enjoy a day spa locally or go off to the country for a week without breaking the bank.

As in her previous editions, Cook includes some solid information of particular interest to spa newcomers:

· How to Receive a Massage
· The Beneficial Effects of Massage
· The World of Massage and Bodywork
· How to Evaluate a Massage Practitioner
· Massage for Seniors
· Glossary of Massage Terms
. Glossary of Spa Treatments
· Q&A on Glycolic Acid
· Spa Finder
· Tipping Policies

"The Business of Pleasure," published by NorthBay biz, December 2004, features The Garden Spa at MacArthur Place (Sonoma), The Carneros Inn (Napa), Calistoga Ranch (Calistoga), Tea Garden Springs (Mill Valley), and White Sulphur Springs (St. Helena).

"The Pleasures of a Small Hotel," Northbay biz, June 2005: Ledson Hotel (Sonoma), Sonoma Hotel (Sonoma), Les Mars Hotel (Healdsburg), Hotel LaRose (Santa Rosa), Acqua Hotel (Mill Valley) and The Inn at Southbridge (St. Helena)

"This Old (Wine Country) House" (see BIOGRAPHY) appears in the March 2005 issue of NorthBay biz magazine. The saga of how I went about restoring my 1881 urban farmhouse is compressed here.

Healthy Living Today (see QUICK LINKS) says:

"Written in a conversational 'from me to you,' tone, these guidebooks provide more insight into the personality and ambiance of each spa than a traditional spa synopsis."

Says Deanne Stone (Deanne Stone Publications)of Berkeley, "The only way I could be persuaded to give up my dog-eared copy of Laurel Cook's California Spas & Urban Retreats is to replace it with her updated edition. Her ability to capture the essence of each spa has allowed me, and my friends, to find just the right spa for the moment. Ms.Cook is fun to read. This is a writer with a definite point of view and a novelist's flair for expressing it."