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You and your companion want to get away, someplace where you can play golf, tennis, go hiking, maybe do some fishing, and most of all, you want access to a spa.

Well, the Phoenix/Scottsdale area is just the place to go, except for one thing. You might experience a little stress while you're trying to de-stress because of some decisions you'll have to make. You have to decide which of the handful of incredibly wonderful spas, each one trying to outdo the other, you want to visit. Then you have to decide if you want a view of Mummy Mountain, Camelback, or the McDowell Mountains. Do you want to stay in a luxurious hotel room, a casita, or a villa? Even more perplexing, which spa treatments do you want to take? Of course, you could always stay at one resort and visit the others to sample their delicious spa menus (and I don't just mean the extraordinary dining options).

We should all have such problems.

Although the celeb spottings at these lush spas are frequent, you'll be much more impressed with how you feel after this escape than who you saw.

Where else can you find labyrinth therapy, color therapy, Cleopatra milk baths, hot stone massage, and a full-body paraffin treatment? Best of all, during the hot, hot days of summer, some spa package prices drop by 50 percent! Extravagance and economy at the same time! There are loads of award-winning golf courses, tennis courts, and even fishing for bass or catfish at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess (they'll provide the gear), and other activities.

The 27,000 square foot Spa at Marriott's Camelback Inn, the most extensive resort spa in the Southwest, is one of the first in the country to offer a unique blend of all major spa components: relaxing body and beauty treatments, a complete fitness and exercise center, a full-service Spa Salon, and Dr. Kenneth Coopers' highly-acclaimed lifestyle-enhancing wellness programs featuring, education and nutrition counseling.

At Camelback, you can join the with spirit of the Southwest with a Desert Nectar Honey Wrap, that uses pure Arizona honey, fresh buttermilk and natural oats to lock in moisture so your skin is gleaming. While those ingredients are soaking in, your scalp is massaged and conditioned with a natural, fragrant blend of essential oils. Once you've been rinsed and creamed to further hydrate, and sprayed with a conditioner of aloe vera and chamomile, an orange blossom water and honey almond exfoliate is applied to your face. That's followed by a massage with lavender oil and a cucumber mask. You can also have an Adobe Clay Purification treatment using red adobe clay and such indigenous Arizona desert herbs as sage, juniper and sandalwood. See, you always knew it was okay to play in the mud, even if your mother told you not to.

Spa treatments at the Camelback spa aren't limited to women, and a Gentleman's package is available. "More and more, men are realizing they can alleviate stress through continuing therapeutic massage," says Spa Director John Rios. "A visit at The Spa is more than a 'day of luxury,' it is one step in the commitment to total well-being." Included in the package are an herbal wrap, 30-minute massage, and facial.

Personally, I'll fly cross-country at the drop of a ticket to have a shiatsu massage by Harrison at the Camelback. A half-dozen years ago he unstuck something along my back that I didn't know was stuck, and I've worshipped him ever since. I recently went back for a "small" tune-up, so I thought, and again he worked miracles.

Who goes there: Among the celebs who have taken advantage of these programs are Gena Lee Nolan, Lauren Holly, Dr. Ruth, Norm McDonald, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Delores Jordan (Michael's Mother), Kiara Kobukuru, Oprah Winfrey, Cindy Crawford, and Gary Sinese.

For a massage you can't get just anywhere, try the Massage in Symphony at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. Instead of you and your companion receiving a massage at the same time, two therapists, Debra and Debbie in my case, work on you at the same time! Pure Ayurvedic oils are used in this ultimate hour of synchronized pampering.

As can be expected, this exclusive spa offers a wide range of other massages and body treatments as well as exercise and stretching classes, and cardio equipment. For the golfer, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess has partnered with five Scottsdale courses so you can choose from the adjacent Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale Stadium Course (home of the annual Phoenix Open), Eagle Mountain Golf Club, SunRidge Canyon, Wildfire Golf Club and Kierland Golf Club. This selection of courses offers a variety of experiences from desert golf course architecture, to dramatic canyons to a stadium golf course design.

A new, 33,000 square foot spa facility is under construction on the 450 acres of the resort, and it's due to open October 2001. The three-level building will be dramatically linked with a waterfall, creating an ultimate desert oasis setting. After a day of beautifying and exercising, spend a summer night at the Dive-in movie at the South pool, where you can watch a movie poolside or in the water!

You know those saguaro cacti live a LONG time, and now they can help you live better, or at least enjoy your life more with a saguaro blossom body polish at the Spa at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale. A warm rain Vichy shower for fresh and invigorated skin follows this. If you've been impressed with lush hotel robes hanging in your guestroom closet, then you're going to melt with sheer pleasure when you don one of the spa's robes by RobeWorks. These wonders of extravagance are made with Micromattique Microfiber for the shell and a luxurious knitted terry for the lining. They are not your mother's robes. Yes, you can buy one, or more, at the gift shop.

For the ultimate refuge, go for the private spa room, with its own whirlpool, steam, sauna, and massage table.

The Maine Chance spa started the move to the Arizona desert years ago after the original spa in Maine burned. This was the place for a full-body paraffin wrap (imagine a paraffin dunk from your manicure, but with 7-9 pounds of melted paraffin over your entire body!). Then, the Phoenician bought the Maine Chance property and whoosh - it was gone like the stress from your body after a great massage.

You can still get a hydrating body paraffin mask treatment, with about a pound of the stuff, melted, and then brushed all over your bod, after a moisturizer has been applied, at the spa at the Arizona Biltmore Resort. Think how soft your hands and feet are after a paraffin treatment and then realize your bod's going to feel like silk would like to.

Inspired by ancient Indian symbolism, the new Dream catcher massage therapy includes eight essential oils blended just for you. Of course, you receive a small dream catcher with your customized blend of oil to take home. Spa director Lorraine Park sees over the 20,000 square foot spa and salon and is responsible for introducing such treatments as the raindrop therapy, cactus flower wrap, and the Cleopatra-style milkbath.

When your feet have had it up to here from your daily mountain hikes or two rounds of golf or who-knows-how-many-sets of tennis, then schedule a cryotonic soothing pedicure that includes a vibrating soak, a dead sea scrub, followed by an application of a seawater and eucalyptus gel that makes your feet and legs feel icy delicious. Toe nail polish completes your feet makeover. Who's ready for a night of dancing?

Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture inspired the design of the Biltmore, and you can just about feel his spirit as you walk the halls and the grounds.

Real live people visit the resort and spa, including Cindy Crawford, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Nicolas Cage, George Clooney, and Michael Jordan.

At the Phoenician, the 22,000 square foot Centre for Well-Being with John De Fontes at the helm, you can experience tarot and astrology readings along with your pampering. Christina Drozda is the meditation instructor and Thomas McMullan provides the astrological consultation.

You will not believe how wonderful you'll feel after an aloe vera body wrap and scalp massage until you try it! Or, if your tootsies shouldn't be seen in sandals, go for the peppermint foot therapy. For an awe-inspiring early-morning workout, take a guided hike up Camelback Mountain, either to the 1,000-foot level or all the way to the 2,700-foot summit. Be sure to take your camera so you'll have photographic proof that you were there. You may not believe it when you get home.

Although the views are spectacular from the exquisite Mary Elaine's restaurant, you're bound to feel special with a private "Chef's Table" dinner in the kitchen with award-winning chef James Boyce. Note he's lost about a gazillion pounds lately (yes, he does climb Camelback Mountain about once a day), so if weight-loss is your goal, talk with him. Even devout vegans may say phooey to tofu after a taste of his vegetarian menu!

Rates for these luxurious indulgences are easily what one would expect to pay any 4 or 5 star/diamond resort, with an (50 minute) hour massage ranging from $85 to $145, plus gratuity. Body therapies start around $70, again for an hour treatment. Expect to pay more or less, depending on the length of the treatment. Spa packages, including room and spa treatments, as well as access to the fitness center, vary in price depending on the season and the accommodations. Look for special price breaks during the summer and early fall.

Who Flies: Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air Jamaica, Alaska Air, America West Airlines, American, American Trans Air, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Midwest Express, Northwest, Scenic Air, Southwest, Sun Country, United Airlines, and US Airways all fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Lufthansa started nonstop service from Frankfort in March 2001

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