This diminutive spa's unusual treatments offer respite from LA's corporate, assembly-line spas.

The deliberately incorrect French—"Le" is masculine, but "Petite" bears a feminine ending—the name implies a balance of male and female, and epitomizes the attention to detail at this small, extremely well-appointed spa housed in a restored Spanish-style building. The spa offers couples several different soaking baths and massages in a private, peaceful environment. Solo visitors line up to let specialists walk up and down their spine and stick suction cups on their backs; if their name is Brooke Shields, they prefer the deep-tissue "Tree of Mauritius" massage; another specialty includes a massage with hot and cold stones. Though the spa is indeed petite, it didn't feel too crowded on a recent Saturday, and the sauna—so perfect as a precursor to a treatment—was empty.