Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Spa indulgence in Brittany

Have I?! I went for the first time in 2003 and now am totally addicted and spend a week every January by myself at thalassotherapie spas in Bretagne. Here they are in the order that I liked them:

Dinard - the treatments are good, pretty standard but the location is what bowled me over! All rooms face the ocean and it is stunningly beautiful. The one big drawback for me is the pool - it is a regular swimming pool that slopes down to a deep end. Difficult to fit more than six people in the shallow end for aquagym classes. And there are no jets or whirlpools which I love. There is a stone walk from the hotel into the village where there are wonderful little shops and at that time of the year I was able to take advantage of the sales. I took the bus to Saint-Malo twice and loved that town too. The whole area is stunning. Plus they organize tours and had one to Mont Saint-Michel that I signed up for but it had to be cancelled as the ocean was too high and wild for us to get out there.

Pornic - the spa is incredible. I am not joking, I lost 11 pounds in one week and it has never come back. The treatments are pretty much the same as Dinard but the pool was so good that I would go to aquagym classes a couple of times a day. It had a circular section where they had us walk around and then turn and go in the other direction against the current. Good workout. Plus they had swan jets for the neck and back and underwater jets for the hips and feet. The area is pretty, a nice walk along the sea but not much in the village is open in the winter and I got a bit restless. Tours were organized but I didn't sign up.

Carnac - Again a beautiful area but there was absolutely NOTHING open in the village except a church (which I loved) and two bakeries. I always take longs walks in the non-treatments times but didn't enjoy walking out to the menhirs because there is no sidewalk most of the time and you are walking on the road and on pavement. I ended up turning back before seeing everything as it was getting dark and I didn't want to be walking on the road.

Right now I am torn between going back to Dinard or Pornic for January 2007. I am leaning towards Dinard because of the stupendous ocean views (I can just picture myself on my morning tea break watching the Ferry leave for Guernsey and Jersey). If I go back to Dinard I will be able to sign up for that Mont Saint-Michel trip!