Booking a vacation or weekend escape? Hold that thought. Sixty-eight percent of Shape readers travel for leisure every year, and we know that you're looking for certain things when you head out of town: service, plenty of exercise and activity options, a spa (or other way to chill out), good food, and value. Because finding the perfect escape to meet all your criteria can be time-consuming (and even frustrating), we did the footwork for you. We interviewed experts throughout the travel and fitness industries--including our own staff who have hiked, biked, kayaked, rafted, dined out, and de-stressed on massage tables across the country--to bring you the short list: our 19 favorites. Okay, now you can plan that vacation.

The awe-inspiring bluff-top setting overlooking the Pacific is enough to make you never want to leave. Add the five-star service and relaxed yet luxurious ambiance, and this resort is a slam dunk for the ultimate spa-away-from-home. Splurge on the pricey three-night Surrender Retreat and you get two hours each of spa services and personal training a day. Fortunately, a flexible schedule leaves time for beach boot camp, hip-hop yoga classes, kayaking, a Thalassic Beach Walk (a fast-paced stroll through deep sand and water to increase circulation, followed by meditation and yoga), and just sitting and watching the waves.

In addition to daily guided outings ranging from one-hour nature walks to all-day treks, this resort was the first in North America to offer Nordic walking--hiking with specially designed poles that provide greater stability on the trails as well as a better cardio and upper-body workout. For advanced hikers there's a weekly guided ascent of a fourteener--one of nine 14,000-foot peaks the center has permits to climb. Book it Mid-June through Labor Day scheduled group hikes are $42 to $128 per person; private hikes.

"Green" is the buzzword these days, but Sundara is one of only a few places that do it without making you feel like you're sacrificing luxuries, good food, and atmosphere. The resort's eight new Lifestyle Villas were constructed with recycled materials and outfitted with energy-efficient appliances. Serving a menu that's 90 percent organic, Sundara recycles and has composted leftovers and food scraps from day one. And when you get a spa scrub with Sandstone Body Polish, you'll be exfoliated with Cambrian sand excavated.
The name says it all at this mountain retreat, where you'll finally master that backhand. Topnotch is one of the first facilities to use the Dartfish computer program, which compares your form with a pro player's, so you can see onscreen where you don't quite measure up. With a 3-to-1 student-teacher ratio, you're guaranteed plenty of one-on-one instruction. Sign up for a three-hour clinic ($120), or book a tennis academy package that includes room, instruction, and a workshop with a sports psychologist to improve your mental game.
Whether you're a beginner or just looking to lower your score, no other facility offers this dream team of instructors: Mike Shannon, a putting guru who has coached Davis Love III and who uses a laser to refine your aim; Morris Pickens, Ph.D., (aka Dr. Mo), one of a handful of sports psychologists who counsel Tour players; and fitness trainer Randy Myers, who worked with 2005 U.S. Women's Amateur Champion Morgan Pressel. When a lone bagpiper plays at sunset, you return to one of the island's two resorts, the Lodge or the Cloister, for some serious spa action.

any hotels cater to skiers, but few do it with the service, style, and verve that Four Seasons does. The Jackson Hole property boasts a ski concierge who arranges lift tickets, ski school reservations, and top-of-the-line equipment rentals--while ski valets provide in-room boot fittings and meet you at the lift with your gear. Pool attendants hand you heated towels and robes, hot chocolate, s'mores, and peppermint-scented hot face cloths. Look for the chain's Vail outpost to open in 2008.