Ready for a spacation?

When Chris Wright recently whisked his wife away on a romantic weekend getaway, they barely bothered to pack. There was no hassle getting to the airport and no flight delays, nothing but a short drive from their Tucker home to their overnight destination, the W Atlanta Midtown.

“We were supposed to go to Asheville [North Carolina] that weekend,” said Camille Wright, owner of Kaleidoscope boutique in Decatur. “Instead we just decided to go to Midtown. It was less expensive.” The couple had dinner at Spice Market and cocktails, before Wright popped into Bliss Spa for a pedicure.

Welcome to the spacation revisited. Trips to destination spas or special occasion hotel stays are still part of the mix, but increasingly, cash-strapped city dwellers are opting to hit a local hotel on a random weekend, book a spa treatment or two and call it a mini vacation. It’s a step up from a staycation —- you actually leave the house —- but generally less pricey than out of town travel. And it means that hotel spas, which make up about 9 percent of total spas in the nation according to data from the International Spa Association, are getting a big boost.

“We’ve seen a 20 to 25 percent increase in people coming for a one- or two-night stay for a quick getaway and utilizing the spa,” said Sharon Ordono, director of marketing for Barnsely Gardens, a resort reminiscent of the English countryside tucked in Adairsville. In response, the spa introduced a number of stay and spa packages for their guests, most of whom are from the area.

Glenn Bean, president of Atlanta-based VIP Distinct, a luxury concierge, thought the time was perfect to launch a spacation service. “I found that people really do want to rejuvenate, and they can do it inexpensively because you don’t have to fly anywhere. You still have to pay for the hotel and everything else, but you can accommodate the cost and you don’t have that guilt factor going on,” he said.

Bean partnered locally with the spa at the Four Seasons, but the company will arrange a spacation at any hotel. They can handle transportation, book the room and spa services and even set up child care if you need someone to watch your kids. “I can give you anything as long as you can pay for it,” Bean said.

But of course, the point of a spacation is ease and affordability. That was the plan when Robanne Schulman and her husband, Troy, checked into The Mansion on Peachtree one weekend when they needed an escape. “Three-day weekends are so hard when you go away because by the time you get home, you don’t have time to rest,” said Schulman, a style consultant and personal shopper. “We were five minutes from home!”

After dinner at NEO, they took a swim, then had a couples massage complete with body brushing in one of 29 Spa’s massive treatment room. They hung out in the jacuzzi and at the bar, and even had a butler at their service. It felt like they might be in say, Cabo (which they actually were on a later vacation.)

“We were on no time schedule,” Schulman said. “It really did feel like we were somewhere else.”

Living