Startle

Let loose your inner Michael Phelps in Spa Gaucin’s outdoor pool that may well be more luxurious than anywhere Phelps has trained. The quiet, adults-only pool is heated to a toasty 82 degrees Fahrenheit, so your swan dive won’t be the only thing that’s hot. For even more serenity, an underwater music system pumps tunes to listen to while you practice your butterfly technique. Use of the pool is complimentary for resort guests, or when you purchase a treatment at the Five-Star Orange County spa. Post-dip, make use of the spa’s locker room facilities, such as the steam room, Jacuzzi and sauna.

As with the rest of the hotel, Spa Gaucin draws its inspiration, and its name, from the small seaside town of Gaucin, Spain. Accordingly, the interior is designed in a soothing Mediterranean style, replete with dark, rich woods, stalky plants, black and tan marble tiles on fireplaces and tubs, nature-inspired artwork and neutral, beige walls and carpets that make these other elements pop. Seating is sleek and modern, yet plush and comfortable with cushy throw pillows. The overall effect is elegant, but understated and warm like the Mediterranean sun. There’s no doubt that drifting off into a state of total relaxation will be effortless, due in part to your calming surroundings.

If you’re in the mood for a cocktail after your treatment at Spa Gaucin, there are plenty of bars onsite at The St. Regis Monarch Beach that you could patronize. Stop by Club 19, near the golf course, or nurse a beer at the Lobby Lounge where you can cozy up to the fireplace or get some fresh air on the terrace. The Lobby Lounge also has live music on Friday and Saturday, as well as a DJ on Thursday. The bar at the Four-Star Stonehill Tavern restaurant whips up some interesting specialty cocktails as well, such as the cloverleaf, made with Nolet’s Silver gin, housemade raspberry syrup, egg white, lemon and mint. If you’d like to get out of the St. Regis, nearby in The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, the hotel bar has a jaw-dropping view of the ocean, set atop a popular surfer beach.

Ditch the taboo that spas are female-only sanctuaries, because the just for men facial at Spa Gaucin addresses men’s skin needs, focusing on irritation caused by shaving and congestion. The Five-Star treatment begins with a deep cleansing, exfoliation and extractions to clear the skin. Afterward, a custom mask hydrates while a shoulder massage deepens your relaxation. The nearby Vogue Salon also offers a gentlemen’s manicure, treating your phalanges with a seaweed soak and light buffing to leave you looking dashing and well-groomed. Of course, men can also discover luxurious facilities to prolong a pampering session within the spa’s locker room, such as a steam room, sauna and Jacuzzi.

Whether shorthand math was never your strong suit or you’re in a rush to make a dinner reservation, you needn’t worry about figuring out who and how much to tip after your appointment at Spa Gaucin. Refrain from awkwardly breaking out the tip calculator (the spa actually prefers that you leave your phone off, anyway), because all the work is done for you. The Orange County spa automatically adds 20 percent gratuity to the bill for any service you get. However, you can adjust that amount at your discretion, so if your therapist does an extra fantastic job this time, just have the spa adjust your bill to throw a little something extra their way.

You don’t even have to leave the premises to enjoy fine dining near Spa Gaucin. Onsite at The St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel is the Four-Star restaurant Stonehill Tavern — from celebrity chef Michael Mina — where you can order an amazing lobster pot pie that will be served to you tableside. Just across the Pacific Coast highway, the Three-Star Raya restaurant offers gorgeous views of the ocean out of its gigantic windows. If you’re up for a drive, the Four-Star Andrea in Newport Beach and the Five-Star Studio in Laguna Beach are each about half an hour away. Needless to say, you won’t be at a loss for top-notch dining post-facial.

Wraps are designed with Spa Gaucin’s namesake Spanish coastal town in mind, and make use of natural Mediterranean ingredients. Should you opt out of a facial or massage, you can book the devine grape seed mud wrap made with clay to revitalize your skin and grape seeds to tone, moisturize and absorb impurities. There’s also the tomato basil nourishing wrap, which sounds like a kind of sandwich, but is actually a moisturizing, antioxidant-filled body treatment that uses extracts of orange fruit, olive leaves, rosemary leaves and lavender flowers in addition to the title ingredients. Both these wraps are 60 minutes long and cost $175. Spa Gaucin does refresh their treatment menu frequently, so be sure to ask what wraps are currently featured when you book.

At the Vogue Salon, within The St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel that houses Spa Gaucin, you can choose from a variety of manicures and pedicures, ranging from quick and easy to positively indulgent. The standard Vogue manicure and pedicure starts off with a cleansing soak and cuticle maintenance, followed by a moisturizing massage and finishing off with polish application. The express manicure and pedicure are abbreviated versions of the Vogue treatments, for when you just want a quick tune-up. On the other end of the spectrum is the ultimate St. Regis manicure and pedicure, which ups the ante using a fruit hand peel and a grape seed oil treatment during the manicure and a sea salt scrub and marine-algae foot masque for the pedicure. For an especially sweet treat, try the chocolate pedicure, which incorporates a chocolate sugar scrub and chocolate mask, enjoyed while you nosh on decadently rich truffles.

Customization is the order of the day at this Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star spa, with add-ons available for each and every massage. You can add any combination of deep tissue, coastal stone, reflexology or stretching techniques to the Orange County Spa’s Signature Mediterranean massage. If you aren't sure what it is you need or want, the Artisan's Intuition massage includes an assessment of your body’s needs so your therapist can decide on the best treatment option for your treatment. There is also a plethora of enhancements that can be added to any treatment, including a red wine bath or mint foot treatment. This is Five-Star service at its best.

Sloughing off any dead skin is always a good thing, which is why two different scrubs are available at Spa Gaucin. The first is the grape seed rosemary scrub, which draws obvious inspiration from the Mediterranean town of Gaucin, Spain for which the Orange County spa is named. Grape seeds and grape seed oil are infused with chamomile extract and lavender, rosemary, peppermint, jojoba, eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils for a scrub that’s both exfoliating and aromatic. A somewhat more conventional scrub is the antioxidant-rich chardonnay sugar scrub. After sloughing off all your dull skin, your therapist applies a chardonnay, lavender and rosemary body butter that helps seal in your new glow.

There’s real meaning behind the saying “It’s better to give than to receive,” so go ahead and reward someone special in your life with a gift certificate to Spa Gaucin. To purchase a gift certificate, talk to the resort’s concierge, call the Five-Star Orange County spa directly, or purchase one online on the spa’s website. Gift cards are redeemable not only for any spa treatment on the menu, but also for private fitness services at the gym, or at the spa boutique, where your giftee can purchase skin care products used during services. Who knows, your recipient might be so touched that he or she might return the favor down the road.

Treatments at Spa Gaucin are palpably influenced by the Orange County spa’s namesake — the tiny seaside town of Gaucin, Spain. Mediterranean ingredients abound throughout the treatment menu. Add-ons and options make many of the services customizable, so you can design just the right service for your appointment. Here are our picks for the five best treatments to get at Spa Gaucin:

1. Signature massage. The standard, signature Mediterranean massage is great on its own, with aromatic chardonnay massage oil soothing your senses, but custom additions of deep tissue, coastal stone, reflexology or stretching techniques ensure that this treatment is a perfect fit.

2. CoffeeBerry Natureceuticals Facial. For anti-aging benefits, you can’t beat the coffeeberry natureceuticals facial. Coffeeberry extract helps visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles while simultaneously soothing, leaving your skin fresher and younger-looking than when you arrived.

3. Couples retreats. Any of the three couples retreats would make for a lovely and relaxing romantic getaway. The signature Mediterranean massage or Mediterranean deep massage is combined with a chardonnay bubble bath, red currant bath or lemon verbena bath, during which you and your partner will be served wine and fresh grapes — true Mediterranean hospitality.

4. Chocolate pedicure. A decadent and daring treatment for any sweet tooth is Spa Gaucin’s chocolate pedicure. Snack on delicious truffles while your therapist exfoliates your legs and feet with a chocolate sugar scrub and applies a chocolate masque.

5. Maternity massage. Mothers-to-be have specific, special aches and pains. Expert therapists will get you back to your glowing, healthy state with a maternity massage that soothes your sore feet, back and neck.

If you decide to tote along your middle school or high-school offspring, Five-Star Spa Gaucin offers three different treatment packages for teens, specifically designed to address their needs and make them feel special during the crucial stage in their early lives. The Feria Beauty package teaches teens to care of their skin with a 60-minute facial, skin care coaching from an expert esthetician and a makeup consultation. The Feria Friendship package lets two friends get side-by-side facials and brow shapings, and the Feria Health package gives advice on food choices and fitness with a nutrition consultation and personal training session. If your teen is craving a massage or scrub, Spa Gaucin also offers a program called Petite Retreats for spa goers aged 13 and older. Teens can book a facial, massage, or scrub in a 45-minute time length—just enough time sooth the skin without getting too bored.

There are four couples suites at Spa Gaucin, each of which boasts a marble fireplace and plush chaise lounges. Certain couples lounges also have private whirlpool baths, or even an ocean view. The Five-Star Orange County spa offers several retreats for two — some of which are designed for friends, and some for couples. You and a friend can enjoy the Gaucin duo or Mediterranean duo retreat, which each consist of a different massage and facial combo. Or, you can hit the spa with your special someone and choose between the Love, Life and Wellness retreats, which offer different combinations of massages and baths. Wine and fresh grapes are served with all the couples retreats for you to enjoy in the bath.

Use of the spa facilities, including the gym, is complimentary when you book a treatment at Spa Gaucin. The gym is stocked with treadmills, elliptical machines, spinning bikes with a built-in video instructor, strength training machines, free weights up to 50 pounds, medicine balls, a movement studio, and an outdoor 22-meter lap pool. Fitness classes are also free for spa guests, and there are a smorgasbord of options, from cardio runs on the beach and trail hikes to Pilates and candle-lit gentle yoga with meditation. There’s also a spa café next door to the gym where you can refuel after your workout on complimentary snacks such as grapes, nuts and lemon water, or order something heartier off the menu.

Let loose your inner Michael Phelps in Spa Gaucin’s outdoor pool that may well be more luxurious than anywhere Phelps has trained. The quiet, adults-only pool is heated to a toasty 82 degrees Fahrenheit, so your swan dive won’t be the only thing that’s hot. For even more serenity, an underwater music system pumps tunes to listen to while you practice your butterfly technique. Use of the pool is complimentary for resort guests, or when you purchase a treatment at the Five-Star Orange County spa. Post-dip, make use of the spa’s locker room facilities, such as the steam room, Jacuzzi and sauna.

Spa Gaucin requests that you give them, and other guests, the courtesy of turning off your cell phone for the duration of your stay at the Five-Star Orange County spa. We understand that the pretty Mediterranean décor might make you itch to take an Instagram picture on your iPhone and text it to your friends, but try to restrain yourself. There are plenty of amenities to distract you. Instead of playing Angry Birds, relax the old-fashioned way — by sinking into a piping hot jacuzzi before your treatment. If you feel as though you might not be able to fight the urge to send out a few emails, either store your cell phone in the locker room lockers or better yet, keep the phone back in your room if you’re staying at The St. Regis Monarch Beach.

As with the rest of the hotel, Spa Gaucin draws its inspiration, and its name, from the small seaside town of Gaucin, Spain. Accordingly, the interior is designed in a soothing Mediterranean style, replete with dark, rich woods, stalky plants, black and tan marble tiles on fireplaces and tubs, nature-inspired artwork and neutral, beige walls and carpets that make these other elements pop. Seating is sleek and modern, yet plush and comfortable with cushy throw pillows. The overall effect is elegant, but understated and warm like the Mediterranean sun. There’s no doubt that drifting off into a state of total relaxation will be effortless, due in part to your calming surroundings.

Spa Gaucin is a member of the Starwood Spa Collection and as such, adheres to their philosophy based on seven pillars of well-being. The pillars are: beauty, life, balance, harmony, aqua, vitality, nature and nutrition. But Spa Gaucin distinguishes itself from the 50-plus other spas in the collection with a strong theme. The Five-Star Orange County spa is inspired by the little town of Gaucin, Spain, and consequently features Mediterranean-inspired treatments to match. The spa proclaims that “every moment in life is worth a celebration” and aims to celebrate life, love and wellness. No matter which treatment you choose to book during your visit, you can rest assured that your experience will reflect the seven pillars.

Although there are both male and female therapists available at Spa Gaucin, you won’t be offered a choice when you call to book a treatment. Unless you specifically make a request, your spa appointment will be scheduled with the first available therapist. Of course, the staff at the Five-Star Orange County spa wants you to be comfortable, so if you feel strongly about your therapist gender preference, whether it’s a massage, facial or body wrap, speak up when you book your treatment. In that case, the spa will be happy to accommodate your request, though it may mean you don’t get in as quickly, depending on availability.

The locker rooms at Spa Gaucin are stylishly decorated in the Mediterranean style, as is the rest of The St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel, recalling the tiny Spanish seaside town of Gaucin, Spain that inspired the Orange County spa. We recommend showing up half an hour early so you can enjoy all the amenities in the locker room before your service: there’s a sauna, a steam room and a jacuzzi, complete with a flowing waterfall that cascades into the tub from a gorgeous tiled marble tower. After your treatment, you can park yourself on a grey padded stool in front of one of the light-up vanity mirrors to freshen up using the complimentary deodorant, hair products, curling iron and hair dryer.

Should you need to ax your appointment for any reason, Spa Gaucin has a pretty simple cancellation policy. The Five-Star spa requires at least 24 hours’ advance notice to cancel a treatment without incurring a fee. However, if you don’t make it within that window, but you’d like to reschedule your scrub for another day, you still ought to call, since guests who give notice within 24 hours will only be charged a $40 rescheduling fee instead of the full price of the service, which you’ll have to pay if you cancel or just don’t show up. We recommend keeping the spa’s phone number handy for any last-minute emergencies or to avoid any unnecessary charges to your credit card.