BEST HOT STONE MASSAGE

Dena Dalquist, Sharmaine´s Salon & Day Spa

They´re not just any old stones. These are special ones, brought in from Arizona -- smooth, oblong, nearly black and in a variety of sizes. They sit in a warmer. You could simply place these beauties around your body and have a perfectly sensual experience, but it´s in the hands of Dena (pronounced ¨d´NAY¨) that they really come to life. She moves them in slow, sweeping motions all over the body (save for private parts, of course), and then lets them sit while she uses her hands to knead tense muscles. She´ll do deep-tissue and pressure-point work, for which you do not even have to beg. Dena also has terrific tableside manner -- if you´re a gabber, she´ll gab along; if your thing is to shut up and bliss out, she´ll oblige with silence. A tip: Leave a few minutes for afterward. Emerging from a euphoric stupor is not the sort of thing you want to rush.

Sharmaine´s, 483 Mandalay Ave., Suite 209, Clearwater Beach, 777-447-2025, www.sharmaines.com.