An essential component to the new Bellagio Spa Tower, which opened in December 2004, is the remodeled spa and salon which more than doubled in size, growing from 29,000 square feet to 65,000, an amazing amount of space for a day spa. The décor has been redesigned to reflect more of a European flavor with Zen meditation accents. The expansive area offers sleek, neat lines, combined with granite, bleached walnut and onyx complements to strike a balance between the contemporary world and natural elements.

Water is a major theme throughout the spa, with water-streaming walls, aqua-colored glass and a number of reflecting pools. The presentation is both inviting and tranquil. What has also been enlarged is the list of services offered. Spa Bellagio's menu now includes many world, new-age, holistic, and other avant-garde treatments, such as: Indian head massage, Ashiatsu massage, gem therapy, and The Golden Experience (an Egyptian-based ritual).

Being a fan of international spa treatments, I have tried quite a few with Ayurvedic or Indian influences, Thai, Swedish, or French techniques. So, I select two—the Jamu Bali Massage and Raindrop Therapy services. Alice, my therapist for my first treatment, finds me while I'm surveying the facility's new generous Fitness Center and Bamboo Studio (used for Pilates, yoga and kickboxing). She correctly assumes that I have no knowledge of the Raindrop massage and details its background while guiding me to one of the spa's 52 treatment rooms.

Raindrop therapy is a Native American massage said to originate from the Lakotan tribe and involves the mythical and mystical beneficial effects caused within the body when exposed to rain showers. It combines this theory with that of Aromotherapy–the studied use of essential oils for healing purposes. Lakota Indians practice this massage to elevate the mood, reduce back pain and increase energy. Essential oils are applied in a “raindrop” motion on the back and are followed by a lymphatic massage along both sides of the spine.

The oils are said to help align the spine, align the “energy fields” surrounding the body, and promote self-healing. All are purported to have properties that are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and which help support muscle, bone and nerve function. I'm impressed with Alice's understanding of the treatment and it turns out that her information is dead on. Specifically, the benefits of the nine oils used in Raindrop are said to include: better circulation, better parasympathetic functioning, drastic reduction of muscle pain, tissue healing, increased range of motion, and disease prevention.

Alice emphasizes that all the oils used—basil, marjoram, peppermint, oregano, wintergreen, and thyme—are quite necessary for the desired effect. These essential oils enhance the systems of the body, deeply energizing and detoxifying, as well as balancing the body's electrical frequency. The oils may continue to work for five to seven days after the treatment.

I feel Alice “sprinkle” drops of oil up and down my spine. This method is very different from the usual application of oil during a traditional massage where the therapist rubs the oil on her hands and then begins to knead the skin. After each of the nine oils is dropped on, Alice smoothes it across my back, making what appears to be a pattern. The first half of the treatment involves very little massage; it is much more about the precise application of the oils.