Hershey spa offers sweet therapy

The Hotel Hershey, located in the headquarters city of the Hershey Foods Corp., opened a new $7 million spa opened this week featuring such treatments as chocolate baths and fondue wraps.

Guests can step into whirlpool baths mixed with one-eighth cup of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder and one-third cup of instant nonfat dry milk. Or they can have themselves coated in rich dark mud mixed with cocoa essence in a room with burning chocolate-scented candles.

"Certain components of chocolate have physical benefits," says Caroline Koefoed, a spokeswoman for the spa. She notes that cocoa contains antioxidants like vitamins A and E and that cocoa butter moisturizes and soothes chapped skin.

For $265, visitors can indulge in the three-hour Chocolate Escape -- a whipped cocoa bath, cocoa butter scrub, chocolate fondue wrap and a choice of massage or facial. A 25-minute cocoa bath costs $45.

Food-related spas have been popular in Asia and Europe for years, wrapping clients in mixtures of milk, saffron and honey. Similar spas have been popping up more recently in the United States.

The Crescent Court Hotel in Dallas offers a Texas barbecue wrap, using a mix of honey, tomato paste, spices and cayenne pepper. The Arizona Biltmore gets chefs from its kitchen to extract cactus juice for its Cactus Flower Wrap.

Chocolate helps draw more than 1 million visitors to Hershey each year. The main attractions are an amusement park and a simulated chocolate factory.<