My visit to the Morongo Casino Resort and Sage Spa included a unique traditional European spa facial, a Shiatsu massage and tours of the beautiful desert valley which forms the backdrop for the modern highrise resort. The Morongo is in Cabazon, California, is about 20 minutes from Palm Springs and Palm Desert.

The Sage Spa at the casino is reached through a beautiful gift shop and spa reception area. For my spa visits, I checked in at the reception desk, and booked two treatments. I chose a 50 minute facial one day, and Vital Force Massage (Shiatsu), 50 minutes, another day.

Arriving 40 minutes ahead of my appointments allowed me time to shower, take a jacuzzi, chat, sip some cooling herbal tea and chat with other clients in the friendly jacuzzi area. I was given a plush white robe and slippers each day, headed for the spacious changing room, then time relaxing in the jacuzzi, steam and sauna area until my appointments. When it was time, my therapists greeted me then led me up one flight of stairs the separate treatment room areas where about a dozen rooms lined each side of the wide spa corridor.

Once inside my treatment room, my therapist used specially selected creams for my facial. I enjoyed creams rich in jojoba granules for exfoliation, then aloe Vera to soothe and geranium and sage to bring back the natural balance and glow to my skin. Before my treatment, I asked Heather to change the background music to jazz since I wasn't in the mood for the New Age melodies so I totally relaxed during my facial.

Another day I traipsed back upstairs for the Vital Force Massage, the Shiatsu type that employs ancient Oriental massage techniques to work out any tiredness in the muscles. After hiking around and sightseeing, my body needed this more vigorous massage, not that it is painful, just different from the traditional Swedish massage I usually adore.

Palm Springs, California, offers top spas, resorts, sunshine, glitz, glamor, golf, upscale shopping, nightclubs, tennis, great restaurants, horseback riding, mountains, the Follies Vaudeville Show, frivolity, fun, sunshine and outdoor activities. The hikable Mount San Jacinto and the San Gorgonio Mountains border these welcoming desert towns in Southern California’s unspoiled Coachella Valley.

It’s a two-hour drive east from Los Angeles. That’s why the quiet desert towns were a getaway destination for Hollywood stars back in the day when contracts stipulated they could only travel within 100 miles of Hollywood. Many stars still live here but I didn't see any although Liza Minelli was in town for a concert.

At the foot of the beautiful and San Jacinto Mountains, the Morongo Indian Reservation spans more than 32,000 acres and overlooks the vistas of the Banning Pass. We ate several meals here and the cooking was superb; The Vibe nightclub, off the casino floor, boasts a glitzy decor, dance floor and several tiers of balconies. Dancing here two nights was a fitting end to a day that featured a relaxing sauna, jacuzzi and spa experience. I felt so relaxed that I actually spun around the dance floor one night, totally unselfconscious.

Massage and a Traditional European Spa facial treatment helped me relax during a vacation week that included desert drives, tours at the Palm Desert Living Zoo (dined with a leopard), the Wild Palms Reservation in Palm Springs; a whirling ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram (dizzying at the 8500 foot top). On my tours around Palm Springs, friends and I drove by thousands of windmills providing electricity to the area.

For appointments at the Spa, call 1-877-SAGE. Prices change, but when I went my facial cost $135, and the Vital Force Massage was also $135. Many couples treatments are on the extensive menu, as well as body wraps, glycolic hand therapy and pedicare and manicure services.

The Sage Spa is in the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive
Cabazon, California 92230.