The resort business, built around spas — actually, mud baths at the outset — dates from 1840 on Estonia's largest island, Saaremaa.
Sometimes called Spa-remaa, according to a local guide, the island of 32,000 people on 1,050 square miles boasts eight spa hotels.
Americans account for a miniscule part of the spa business here, but the untapped potential is promising.
During a press trip sponsored by the Estonian Tourist Board, I sampled spa services at the 91-room Georg Ots Spa Hotel. My treatment, a massage and honey wrap, was one of several selections that pamper the customer and provide a sense of well-being. The facilities were modern and relaxing and my therapist professional and able.
The hotel's restaurant boasts that it uses products from local farms. At our lunch, the dessert, sea buckthorn sorbet, was one example, made from local berries of the same name.
The 10-year-old property installed a new pool, sauna, restaurant and lounge in 2014 and will upgrade rooms in 2015.
Agents are directed to the sales department at [email protected] to book commissionable rates that, depending on time of travel, start at about $88 to $170 for a double room.
Sampling Estonia, from Tallinn to Saaremaa
Located in Kuressaare, the island's only city, the hotel faces Tori Cove and has views of the city's 14th century Episcopal Castle, the Baltic fortification that has best kept its original medieval form. The castle is a few minutes away via footbridges crossing the water-filled moat.
Seven of Saaremaa's eight spa hotels are in Kuressaare, some that have a medical focus but offer standard spa services, too.
Kuressaare is the capital of Saaremaa County, which encompasses the neighboring 80-square-mile island of Muhu. The two are linked by bridge, and both have ferry access across the Baltic to the mainland.
The county's ninth spa is at Muhu's Padaste Manor, a Small Luxury Hotels of the World property.
The island's historical spa business was almost nonexistent during the Soviet era, when there was one medical spa and everyone needed a visa to visit because of military installations then on the island.
For most of today's long-haul travelers, the spas are one of several reasons to come to Saaremaa and Muhu.
Our group had a look at rural tourism, literally dipping our hands in during a soap-making workshop led by Ea Velsvebel Greenwood, co-owner with her husband of GoodKaarma, an eco-farm on Saaremaa that makes organic soaps.
We also lunched at the restored Nautse Mihkli Farm, a Muhu B&B. Ingrem Raidjoe, head chef and co-owner of the business with her husband, teaches cooking classes, specializing in locally raised ostriches and game (elk, red deer, roe deer and wild boar) that she and her husband hunt seasonally. Our main course was roebuck fillet.
Other attractions range from historical buildings, windmills and lighthouses to a summer opera festival, Muhu folk dancing and souvenirs of juniper wood.
The islands also offer biking, hiking, cross-country skiing as well as an orchid festival and bird-watching.
This isn't a destination for the party animal, although, we discovered, it is for the connected: According to the tourist board, 98% of Estonia is wired for free WiFi access, and on Saaremaa, WiFi is even available in the woods!