There's something about a hot tub spa experience that makes a person feel warm. Add another person in the equation and you have the perfect Valentine outing. You can steam up some romance while basking in the steam-or if you haven't had much time to talk lately. This is a terrific way to float stress away while muscles relax and you bask in uninterrupted time.

Here are three places I've been myself, and darn, I wish I lived closer to at least one of them. Our bathtub isn't big enough for two.

Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, New Mexico offers private hot tubs set out in the woods among the pinion trees. Everything is provided from plush robes to lotions to hair dryers after you soak for 55 minutes. Turn up the luxury factor by adding a massage or a spa treatment. You also can stay here. Not only are there Japanese style baths, but there are Japanese style accommodations.

At the Spring City Resort in Peitou near Taipei, you can rent a private spa room by the hour. The hotel website doesn't list the hot tub only rooms, but I know they are available. I've been there. I've been in the hot tubs. Articles about spas in Peitou, a premier hot spring area of Taiwan, also list Spring City Resort as having hot tubs so I know this is something I didn't imagine way back when. The mineral hot spring tub experience can be coupled with a feast afterwards. The buffet at the resort's hotel is superb. I remember the eating part as much as I remember the soaking.

Glen Ivy Hot Springs's Day Spa mineral baths aren't exactly private. You sit in your private bath while your honey (or friend) sits in another and other people soak in theirs. Even so, the romance can build because this is a destination place where you can swim in the pool, get a massage or some other spa treatment, slather mud on each other, rinse off and then soak some more. Named oof the top "25 spas in North America" by the National Geographic Traveler Magazine, this place is located in Corona, California , a doable easy drive from Los Angeles. Glen Ivy has other locations as well.

Filed under: Asia, North America, Taiwan, United States, Hidden Gems, Hotels and Accommodations, Holiday Ideas