19 www.CharlestonWomenPodcast.com | www.ReadCW.com | www.Instagram.com/CharlestonWomen If I could carve a tiny piece of the South of France right off the map — perhaps some space of the Old World in the warmer months between Eze and Ville de Franche — I would do it. I would slice it off, put it in my pocket and bring it home. To sweeten it, I would sprinkle a dash of mid-century Palm Beach, complete with striped umbrellas and white cast-iron furniture on top. That’s the dream. I didn’t expect to find shades of that dream nestled on a barrier island on the banks of the Kiawah River, so close to home, but I did. The day started with one of my favorite scenic South Carolina drives through the Live Oaks on Bohicket Road on Johns Island. Passing through the dripping moss, already rubbing my shoulders in anticipation, I looked forward to my massage at the new spa Aster Spa, an Auberge spa, at The Dunlin in Kiawah River. I’d been to the community in the marshes, toured Southern Living’s idea house featured there and enjoyed the ambiance of the modern South’s white houses dotting the greenery on other occasions. However, I hadn’t yet been welcomed to the 72-room Dunlin which features the boutique spa. When I did, I felt like I’d stepped into someone’s home — a large, luxurious dream home — but a warm abode, not a hotel. The massage speaks for itself; it was delivered by a true professional with perfect pressure in a room that smelled like nature and clean linens. The temperature was perfect. The hospitality was above and beyond. Those are standards of excellence one expects in a spa atmosphere, but it was the environment which set this experience on Discover The Dunlin Discover a Dream BY LORNA HOLLIFIELD Charleston Women in Wellness The highest quality spa products are used. Is it Palm Beach or a Fitzgerald novel in France? Charm is everything.
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