Treatment we had: Spa Pedicure, $65.
What we loved: This sleek, white health club/spa with pops of tangerine and cobalt would be at home in Architectural Digest. Upbeat nail technician Sheryl Elliott treats feet and toes with reverence. Her touch is deliberate and ultra-gentle, even when she pumices soles and tidies up cuticles. (She’s a believer in pushing and trims very sparingly.) The pearls-and-mink price includes exfoliation with a gritty lavender-walnut scrub, a heartfelt ten-minute foot massage, a cooling foot mask, and alpha-hydroxy cream on the heels, which made mine smoother than they’ve been since I was 12.
What you should know: The snug nail area—a pedicure chair alongside a manicure table—is in a curtained alcove off the lobby rather than in the low-lit spa upstairs with its chaises, pitchers of orange-scented water, and savory and sweet snacks. Head up there pre- and post-treatment for a more relaxing experience. (The magazines are more interesting, too.) Manicures and pedicures are usually offered only Friday through Sunday. Other treatments such as massages, facials, and waxing are available.
Bottom line: If you have the time and money, this pedicure is gentler and more thorough than most—my hourlong pedicure was closer to an hour and 15 minutes—with every inch of your feet getting expert attention. Elliott has been doing nails for a couple of decades, and it shows.
SomaFit, 2121 Wisconsin Ave., NW; 202-965-2121; somafit.com.
