Tucked inside Island Resort & Casino in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Drift Spa at Island Resort & Casino offers something increasingly appealing to resort travelers: a place to slow down without having to make relaxation the entire purpose of the trip.

That makes Drift particularly well suited for couples and groups with different ideas of the perfect getaway. One guest can spend the morning on the golf course while another books a facial or massage. Afterward, there’s the casino, dining and entertainment or another trip back to the spa.

Located on the second floor of the resort’s Palm Tower, Drift is a full-service spa and salon built around nature-based treatments and Native American healing traditions. The experience extends beyond the treatment room with tranquility areas and access to resort amenities including an indoor saltwater pool, sauna and steam rooms.

The Golf + Spa Getaway

Golfers have an especially good reason to discover Drift.

Island Resort & Casino is home to two distinctive Paul Albanese-designed golf courses. Sweetgrass Golf Club is located at the resort, while Sage Run Golf Course provides a contrasting experience highlighted by elevation changes and the rugged terrain of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

That creates an easy formula: golf in the morning, Drift in the afternoon.

Drift has even offered treatments specifically geared toward golfers. Its Tee Relief massage was created to address the shoulders, arms and lower back—the areas that take much of the punishment from the repetitive motion of the golf swing. Therapeutic and targeted massage options also make sense after 18 or 36 holes.

Red light therapy adds another recovery option. Drift promotes the treatment for inflammation, pain and recovery, including a pulsed option favored by athletes.

For a golf couple, the resort solves an age-old vacation negotiation rather nicely: one can chase birdies while the other chases bliss and both can meet afterward for dinner and the casino.

Signature Experience: Sweetgrass

If there is one treatment that connects Drift Spa to its Upper Peninsula surroundings and Island Resort's golf identity, it's Sweetgrass.

Drift's Signature Sweetgrass Body Treatment combines a body scrub, full-body massage, warm treatment and aromatherapy elements in a 90-minute experience. The spa has also featured a Signature Sweetgrass Facial.

The name is particularly fitting at a resort whose golf centerpiece is Sweetgrass Golf Club. It gives travelers an opportunity to experience Sweetgrass twice, once with a putter in hand and again on the massage table.

Float Away

One of Drift's more distinctive offerings is Float Therapy.

Guests float in skin-temperature water containing approximately 1,000 pounds of Epsom salt, creating a nearly weightless environment designed to minimize outside stimulation. The experience can be customized: guests may leave the tank open, keep lights on, listen to music or opt for a more complete sensory-deprivation experience.

For golfers, the appeal is easy to understand. After walking, swinging and concentrating for several hours, an hour where gravity - and your scorecard- temporarily disappears sounds pretty good.

More Than Massage

Drift's menu goes well beyond traditional massage. Current offerings include therapeutic and deep-tissue massage, hot-stone treatments, body treatments and scrubs, customized facials, HydraFacial treatments, manicures and pedicures, head spa services, float therapy and red light therapy.

The salon side makes Drift particularly useful for couples' weekends, girlfriend getaways, weddings and special occasions. Day packages and treatments for couples can turn a single appointment into a larger part of the resort experience.

The spa also emphasizes locally sourced, natural and clean beauty products, another element that reinforces its nature-inspired approach.

Casino + Spa: Two Different Ways to Escape

The other obvious pairing is casino and spa.

Island Resort & Casino allows guests to move between two completely different environments without leaving the property. Spend the evening enjoying gaming, dining or entertainment, then trade the energy of the casino floor for Drift's tranquility rooms, massage tables and float tanks the following day.

That combination also makes the property appealing when traveling with someone who isn't interested in spa treatments or golf. Instead of designing the entire weekend around one activity, everyone can build their own itinerary.

And that may ultimately be Drift Spa's greatest strength.

It isn't simply a spa attached to a hotel. It's one component of a larger Upper Peninsula resort experience where championship golf, gaming, dining, entertainment and wellness coexist under one vacation umbrella.

Play Sweetgrass. Take on Sage Run. Try your luck in the casino. Then let Drift Spa take care of the rest.

Drift Spa at a Glance

Drift Spa is located inside Island Resort & Casino in Harris, Michigan, about 13 miles west of Escanaba. The spa is currently open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time and is closed Sundays. Appointments are recommended.