I'll confess, there was a tiny stab of guilt as I lounged in a white robe and slippers in the middle of the day at The Met Day Spa & Salon on St. Armands Circle. Awash in sunlight, the waiting area smelled intoxicatingly of lavender and vanilla, and I could hear the delicate sounds of trickling water and that soft, nondescript music of flutes and chimes that seems to blend all the mysterious cultures of Asia. Other customers, like white-robed monks, padded about silently on their way to the treatment rooms.

"This is just way too indulgent," I thought, as I headed off for a body polish after an hour facial that left my skin pink and glowing-and an hour massage before that. Fortunately, my pedicurist quieted any self-doubts a bit later when she pointed out, "This is not pampering. This is maintenance. You take care of your car, don't you? This is taking care of yourself." Guilt be damned. Day spas are marvelous!

And apparently I'm not the only one to throw off the cloak of shame and fold myself into a fluffy robe. The spa industry is thriving. Once considered the province of the rich and famous, "spas have gone mainstream," declares Lynne Walker McNees, the executive director of the Lexington, Kentucky-based International Spa Association (ISPA). There are 9,632 spas in the United States, a number that's been doubling every four years since about 1995. A 2002 study by PriceWaterHouseCooper (commissioned by ISPA) says that the spa industry generates more money than theme parks-$10.7 billion at spas as opposed to $9.6 at parks. By far, the largest category in the industry is day spas.

You don't have to ponder too deeply to figure out why day spas have become so popular. People feel harried these days, juggling stressful professions while racing kids to activities and taking care of the home. Who has time to fly off to a resort spa in Utah or Thailand? And in these days of belt-tightening, who has the money? Some speculate that while Sept. 11 may have dampened our enthusiasm for lavish vacations in exotic locales, it's increased our need for safe escapes. But now, instead of going to happy hour after work, we're meeting friends and heading to a spa for a manicure, a massage or a facial. Many places will even serve you that chilled chardonnay or glass of champagne while you wait.

Five years ago, only a handful of spas existed in Sarasota. But when we combed through the Sarasota Yellow Pages recently, we found at least 20 that claimed to offer spa services. Some, like The Met, are clearly spas-beautiful, hushed, spacious retreats that transport you to another world where a $90 facial is worth every penny. Others are simpler, often hair or nail salons that are transforming into salon/spas, fulfilling their customers' desire for a one-stop shopping destination for hair stylists, manicurists, aestheticians and massage therapists. Are these less-than-luxurious settings where you walk through the chatter and smells of a hair salon to get to your treatment, truly spas? The more our editors debated that issue, the more we liked McNees' definition: If you walk away feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, then you're at the right spa for you.

Using printed guides to local services and our own savvy experts on personal care, we canvased the city for day spas. Here's the low-down on the places we uncovered, but the way spas are proliferating, more are probably out there, so we suggest you supplement our research with your own. Happy hunting! - Susan Burns

A Dodge Concept Salon and Spa

5370 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Longboat Key

(941) 387-0773

Adodgeconceptsalon.com

Longboat ladies-and men-love walking into this salon/spa at The Centre Shops on Longboat Key. Just about every spa service you could want is here: skin care, body treatments, massage as well as hair and nail services. Stay one hour or an entire day. They even have an Aryuvedic practitioner who performs Aryuvedic body treatments, using hot soothing herbal oils chosen just for you.

Ana Molinari Salon * Spa * Gallery

201 Gulf of Mexico Drive

Longboat Key

383-0065

Hip, chic and vivacious, Ana Molinari, the founder and owner of three eponymous salons, stays on the leading edge of beauty. Only her Longboat Key location (at the Charthouse) offers spa services. Clients walk past hair stylists to the spa treatment areas in back. As usual Molinari brings her demanding clients the latest in skin and body care (like pulse light skin care and microdermabrasion), massage (hot stone therapy) and most recently, an air-brush tan called sunless tan.