Every year, Milwaukee residents spend thousands of dollars on homes, cars, clothes, sports equipment and countless other material items for the supreme purpose of improving the quality of their lives. But, do these things really make us happy?

Jean Kolb is banking on you answering "no."

"In this hectic world we live in, we tend to overlook one very important thing -- taking care of ourselves," says Kolb, director of the Kohler Waters Spa, a health and wellness facility located at The American Club in Kohler. "Sometimes it's nice to just be quiet for a while and start listening to your body. We all need time to just sit back and let someone take care of us."

The spa, which opened in December 2000, features 13 treatment rooms, a 96-degree central tiled pool with an eight-foot cascading wall of water, men's and women's lounge rooms, a boutique and a finishing spa for hair styling, makeup and nail treatments.

The spa's unique interior design, which boasts black and white checkered floors, a soothing waterfall fountain, a warming fireplace and lounge area on the first floor, invites guests to experience a revival of the senses. As you venture down the staircase to the main spa area, welcoming cracked marble floors, wicker accents and relaxing aromas put your mind in a state of calming rejuvenation. And that's before you even begin your services.

"The spa is designed in a way that sets the mind at ease," says Joan Rogers, supervisor of guest services and membership, of the Los Angeles meets Louisiana décor, including celery green- and butter-colored walls throughout. The spa even created its own line of bath products, in two scents -- hollyhock and tsunami. "When the town of Kohler was first established, Hollyhocks were planted all around the city," says Joan. "We knew, to stick to the idea that this spa would be a reflection of the city, we needed to include hollyhocks in our scent."

Another unique feature of the spa is its strictly Kohler Co. products. For instance, in each of the four rooms specifically designed for water services, state-of-the-art Kohler bathing products are used. "The spa is all about water, and we use the most cutting edge Kohler products available," says Jean. In fact, Jean's favorite spa service is the Tsunami, which was specially designed for the spa. "At the Kohler Testing Center, we just began using water in every way possible for therapy, and eventually developed the Tsunami," she says.

Tsunami, which is a water massage that stimulates the entire central nervous system, is one of the five signature services offered at the spa. The others include Fleurs facial, a pampering facial and aromatherapy back massage; Still Waters, a gentile gel massage that follows with guests enveloped in a warm water flotation bed; Watsu Massage, where the body is stretched and massaged while a therapist cradles you weightless in a spa relaxation pool; and Great Lakes Stone Massage, that combines massage and heated stones for deep muscle relaxation.