THE NEW YORK TIMES

"La Casa Day Spa, a Gramercy Park health spa, comes close to magical realism in a 90-minute "body polish." After scrubbing your body with a bristle brush and massaging it with a "detoxifying" clay, your gentle esthetician, rubs you down with a paste of Dead Sea salt and essential oils that tones, exfoliates and gets your blood moving. To warm you up, you're wrapped in foil, and just as you're beginning to feel like a barbecued chicken, you're massaged again and told to hit the showers. On your return, you're coated with a marine algae lotion that softens and moisturizes and leaves you feeling otherwordly."

ALLURE MAGAZINE

The salmon-colored walls, trickling waterfall, and banana tree in this apartment-turned-spa reminded us of a Miami mall at first, but we soon succumbed to La Casa's cozy, tropical charm. Among many delicious sounding therapies, we opted for the body polish and were tickled with soft-bristle brushes, slathered in mud, wrapped in foil blankets, and left to bake like an Idaho potato; later we got a sea-salt-and-oil rubdown that turned our skin velvety soft. By the time we finished our 60-minute soak in a tub seasoned with 800 pounds of Epsom salts, we were floating—physically and spiritually.

QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY

"What a gem of a place. New York's best-kept secret."

10003

"an experience I shall not soon forget"

PAPER

"You leave with a newly uncovered layer of velvety skin you haven't felt since your third birthday. Better than just shaving your legs, girls!"

NEW BODY

"New York's haven of nirvana..."

THE VILLAGER

"A taste of luxury... an oasis where guests may escape from everyday urban stress... a myriad of spa choices...a center for rejuvenation... feels as though we spent a few days away in the tropics...the epitome of glowing health and tranquility."

OUR TOWN

"Spa-tacular Massages... ... Special! Promises and delivers the very best in life affirming body and soul treatments... one-stop holistic shopping for anyone who takes their health seriously."

THE NEW YORK TIMES

"La Casa de Vida Natural, a new Gramercy Park health spa, comes close to magical realism in a 90-minute "body polish." After scrubbing your body with a bristle brush and massaging it with a "detoxifying" clay, your gentle esthetician, rubs you down with a paste of Dead Sea salt and essential oils that tones, exfoliates and gets your blood moving. To warm you up, you're wrapped in foil, and just as you're beginning to feel like a barbecued chicken, you're massaged again and told to hit the showers. On your return, you're coated with a marine algae lotion that softens and moisturizes and leaves you feeling otherwordly."

THE MIDTOWN RESIDENT

" has transport(ed) the exotic natural spirit of the island spa to the big city...an urban oasis... the perfect detox.... I was on a cloud...."

SELF

" ...presses fatigue and tightness from your body."