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While Arista Spa & Salon resides in Naperville, a tony suburb 40 minutes west of Chicago, it tries to transport you to Greece.
Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Hotel Arista’s 6,500-square-foot spa adds Grecian details wherever you look — the treatment rooms are named after Greek gods like Helios and Apollo, white-and-aqua throws with Greek key patterns rest on the massage tables and large beautiful photos of the islands hang throughout the facility (not to mention “Arista” means “the best” in Greek).
Our Inspector's Highlights
- The coed relaxation room has a fireplace, which is a great perk in the frigid Chicago winter. Cozy up next to the fire on one of the light gray cushioned chaise lounge sofas and thumb through People or The Wall Street Journal.
- Pre-treatment snacks, like house-made granola, yogurt-dipped raisins, dried fruit, cucumber water, lemon water and Tea Forté tea can also be found in the relaxation room.
- One Greek-themed amenity that men should try is the Poseidon shower. Inside the men’s locker room, the 65-degree blue-and-green mosaic-tiled rain shower gives you a good wake-up jolt after a sleep-inducing session in the infrared sauna under the chromotherapy lights.
- Ladies don’t have access to the Poseidon shower, but their locker room comes with a sauna and a larger grooming area.
- The full-service salon offers manicures and pedicures with Deborah Lippmann polishes, hair coloring services with Davines products and La Bella Donna makeup application while looking out of the big windows and watching the Canada geese waddling around a green lawn in the middle of CityGate Centre (a business park and retail hub).
Things to Know
- The intimate spa offers several couples treatments. All of them take place in the luxe couples’ room, which comes with a pair of side-by-side oval stone tubs and two massage tables.
- The hair dye used in the salon is ammonia-free, so pregnant women and those that suffer from allergies can refresh their looks as well.
- For those who are staying at Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Hotel Arista (the spa sits on the second floor), the concierge also can help book you a service. In fact, you can arrange to have a treatment in your room as well.
- Arista Spa & Salon uses ultra-luxe Natura Bissé skincare products in its facials and other treatments.
The Treatments
- The most popular treatment at the Naperville spa — which sees an even split of hotel guests and locals — is the 120-minute Lomi-Juma Massage Ritual. The service targets those with joint blockages and muscle tension and includes an all-body exfoliation, a body mask and a 60-minute rubdown.
- Get a customized treatment with the signature Arista Massage, which can incorporate Swedish, deep-tissue, acupressure, Thai, neuromuscular, reflexology or lomi-lomi techniques.
- Go even further with the customization and create your own oil for the Aromatika Massage (your therapist will help you blend complementary essential oils). Afterward, the therapist will bottle your oil so you can continue the pampering at home.
- Arista also does spray tans, exfoliating body scrubs and a wrap that’s tailored to your skin’s needs.
- Among the facials, the Arista Ageless option uses a tuning fork massage to keep wrinkles at bay. The Multisensorial Lifting Signature Facial employs shiatsu to give your face a boost, and the Gents Facial combats the dullness that results from daily shaving.
The Rooms
- Duck into the couples room to see the design inspiration for the spa: One wall is covered with small blue-green square tiles that resemble the ocean.
- You’ll see that beachy aesthetic throughout the six treatment rooms — tan walls, brown blankets on the massage tables, cork flooring, river stone floors near the showers and pops of blue and aqua from the throws and beach-centric images.
- The best of the bunch is that couples room, where two white oval stone tubs are joined by a table, where you can arrange to have wine, grape focaccia with whipped goat cheese and mascarpone-stuffed figs.
- The deep-soaking bathtubs angled against a backlit stone wall and flanking sconces set a romantic mood.
