The spa's calming lounge area.
Photo: fourseasons.com

Every May, Conde Nast Traveler releases its Hot List, a collection of the best new hotels, spas, restaurants, and nightspots. Check the Daily Traveler every day for a new post from this year's list.

In this 5,500-square-foot spa addition to the lakeside Four Seasons hotel, a stone waterfall trickles by at check-in, and the furnishings' blue, green, and brown palette echoes the Hill Country landscape. Massages are tailored to rev you up or calm you down, and the Sage and Ginger Aromasport massage ($130) aims to soothe sore muscles by including lymphatic drainage techniques to detoxify (it smells great, too). Best of all, there's a half-hour massage ($70), thoughtfully included for guests who are just blowing through town on business (massages, $120-$140).

Further reading:
* Hot List 2008
* Look what else we're doing in Texas.