Waiting to exhale, San Franciscans endure long, stressful work days while dreaming of the calm and comfort of an urban spa. Offering healing treatments, skin care, and, often, exercise and yoga venues, city spas are designed to be resources for wellness, and retreats from the rigors of everyday life in the metropolis.

The city's day spas are also catering ever more to the metrosexual who takes time for skin-, hand- and foot-grooming treatments that have a positive impact on business and personal life; a third of spa-goers are men, and that number is growing fast.

Exotic therapies are comprised of human touch, aroma, sound and even colored light. From heart-pounding Shiatsu to calming Ayurveda to a bracing salt glow, it's not your grandpa's back rub.

A sleek new addition to the Embarcadero waterfront, the Hotel Vitale hides a rooftop oasis, the Spa Vitale. In a bamboo garden with bay views, soaking tubs are spiked with herbs, essential oils, or goat's milk. The Bathing Ritual drains away cares while the Stress Buster Deluxe banishes neck and shoulder tension (8 Mission Street, www.hotelvitale.com).

Local celebs and politicos are spotted at International Orange Spa Yoga Lounge, a chic, airy bubble of yoga classes and spa offerings in Pacific Heights. Settle in for two hours of "Organic Rejuvenation," promising deep purification, exfoliation and rehydration with exotic flower essences and wild herbs (2044 Fillmore Street, www.internationalorange.com).

Don't be shy. Try an authentic Japanese communal bathhouse experience at Kabuki Springs and Spa. Scrub down, soak in the steaming hot pool, brave the cold plunge, and finish off with a Shiatsu "finger pressure" massage or a Ginger Glow wrap. Blissed out? Say arigato (thank you). (Japan Center, 1750 Geary Boulevard, www.kabukisprings.com)

In the Huntington Hotel at the Nob Hill Spa, locals and hotel guests swim in an infinity pool in a glass-walled atrium with skyline views. Recline on a rose petal-covered table for a Bali Ginger Spice Scrub, or get your Qi flowing with "ScenTao." You can pay $35 on weekdays to indulge in the pool, sauna, steam room, sun deck, exercise room and yoga studio (1075 California Street, www.nobhillspa.com).

In the swanky St. Regis Hotel on the MOMA block, Remède Spa is dressed in pale limestone, exotic woods and iridescent tiles; champagne, truffles and cashmere throws set a lavish tone. French/Swiss Laboratoire Remède formulas are used for skin and body products, such as the white marble exfoliating powder in the luscious Sweep Body Softening Scrub (125 Third Street, www.remede.com).

As whimsical, as cool and contemporary as the W San Francisco Hotel in which it stands, Bliss Spa is the first West Coast incarnation of the trendy Bliss spa chain. Watch a movie during your manicure; establish a hair-free zone with the Brazilian Bikini Wax; bliss-out with blues tunes on the heated terrace; nibble on brownies while your toes are sugar-scrubbed and hot chocolate soaked (181 Third Street, www.blissworld.com).

Escape winter winds in the Tropical Rainforest Room at Tru, a modern, minimalist haven in the Financial District. Your cares will fall away with a coconut- and kukui nut scrub and a shea butter sheen, while a misty waterfall warms your bones. Treatment rooms are aglow in colored light--fiery red, cool blues and greens, sunny yellow, your choice (750 Kearny Street, www.truspa.com).

Tented silks and antique chandeliers at Kamalaspa Day Spa and Salon on Union Square recall a long-ago palace in Rajasthan. Among treatments based on Ayurvedic practices are the Abhayanga Four Hands massage and the Shirodhara, where warm oil is poured on the third eye chakra(240 Stockton Street, www.kamalaspa.com).

For over two decades the day spa of choice for the city's beautiful people, Spa Radiance is co-owned by third-generation aesthetician, Galina Umansky, the creator of novel treatments such as the Grande Luxe cellulite buster, an invigorating Buzz Buzz Coffee Scrub, self-tanner glazes and more skin and body enhancements (3011 Fillmore Street, www.sparadiance.com).

Metrosexuals on a mission to slough off city grime and maintain professional polish find that Spa Fusion and Health Club at the Hilton San Francisco offers speedy solutions. "Express" manicures and pedicures are fast and thorough, while the Lunchtime Peel cleanses, refines and moisturizes the face. Eastern healing traditions are on the menu, too: acupuncture, cupping and reflexology (333 O'Farrell Street, www.spafusion.com).

In an historic building behind Lucasfilms' Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio, the 13,000-square-foot, $4 million SenSpa opens in 2006 as an East-meets-West holistic spa, healing and wellness center featuring Ayurvedic therapies, cupping, elaborate tea rituals, and a full menu of Western treatments, microdermabrasion, and microcurrent and ultrasonic facials (1161 Gorgas Avenue, www.senspasf.com).