The Spa at Norwich Inn, Norwich, Connecticut
Sweat your way to happiness.

From the March 24, 2003 Issue of New York

A weekend at a New England inn is typically a sedentary affair, with lots of rich food, plenty of reading and sleeping, and maybe a stroll here and there. But at the Norwich Inn, working out is as important as chilling out. The southeastern Connecticut inn offers enough exercise classes—body sculpting, cardio, Pilates-inspired “mindful movement”—to satisfy the most obsessive fitness nut. One favorite: the Connecticut Workout, a 50-minute aerobics-and-dance class. If you prefer getting sweaty outdoors, Norwich offers tennis, golf, and swimming in a 25-meter indoor pool. Meditation, relaxation, and yoga classes—plus dozens of spa treatments such as Ayurvedic Shirodhara, which includes mas-sage and a drip of heated, scented oil—can help you wind down. The rooms are country chic, with dashes of wicker. The house restaurant, Kensington’s, specializes in dishes like scallops with shallots and maple-smoked bacon finished with truffles and crème fraîche, and ginger-and-mint-rubbed lamb brushed with honey thyme and brandy. Not exactly spa cuisine, but, hey, that’s what all the exercise is for.

-- Beth Landman Keil