FOUNDATION SPA

RESTORATIVE RETREAT FOR BODY + MIND

Foundation feels like a secret club when you walk through its doors on the garden level of the Harbor Grand Hotel. A host with a soothing voice guides you to a softly lit room with moss-green walls, private changing rooms, and black lockers where a plush robe and slippers await.

The well-written menu of services focuses on facials, body treatments, and massage (sorry, no manicures or pedicures) orchestrated by spa director Jonathon Richards, who’s fine-tuned every detail from the essential oils in the air to the lighting. (And he’s experienced every treatment for quality control—tough job if you can get it.) The spa’s massage therapists and estheticians have a warm, comforting presence that signals you’re in good (strong) hands, whether receiving a collagen-stimulating facial or prenatal massage.

If you’ve arrived an hour or so before your appointment, you have time for a complimentary soak in the hotel’s saltwater pool or hot tub—definitely recommended. Afterward, sip on infused water or tea in the spa’s marina-facing lounge, where big, comfortable chairs offer guests a place to linger and watch the sailboats drift by.

Not sure where to begin? Customize the Haven massage to your needs, say, if your hamstrings are tight from a long Lake Michigan dune hike. It opens with calming aromatherapy and warm towels enveloping the feet and finishes with optional add-ons like tingly CBD balm to soothe especially sore spots. Muscles melted to jello, you’ll likely leave thinking: Why don’t I do this more often?

Local Tip: During the summer season, book weekend treatments 2-3 weeks ahead; appointments during the week are easier to come by.

words Alex Beggs
images Dan Kelleghan