And even though the town sits south of Rome on a part of the island that gets blisteringly hot in August (when we visited) the sea air and the proximity of the water are never far away.

FORBES: Daily Travel Flashback: Positano, Italy

"Here golf is still king, " explains spa general manager Jim Root. (Sea Island offers four golf courses on its various properties.) The current chairman of the International Spa Association (ISPA), Root joined Sea Island in 2005 from Tucson's innovative Miraval, and he admits that the move from a progressive spa environment to a conservative one has not been without its challenges.

FORBES: The Old South rises again at the Spa at Sea Island, Georgia.