West Hartford, CT Health and Fitness

Banner Country Club's 18-hole public course rolls across 6,015 yards of Connecticut countryside, challenging golfers of all stripes with diverse, player-friendly terrain. The course's emerald corridors roam through a combination of open pastures and tree-lined areas, letting golfers unsheathe muscular drivers on forgiving holes before forcing them to whisper words of confidence to timid long irons when aiming through arboreal alleys. The picturesque par 72 invites aces to hunt birdies across its relatively short layout, while offering a training ground for club-toting cadets still trying to perfect their swing or wield modified canes as golf clubs.

Course at a Glance:

18-hole, par 72 course

Length of 6,015 yards

Course rating of 68.9

Slope rating of 118

In his more than 35 years of maintaining families' oral health, Daniel M. Segal, DMD, has witnessed many advancements in the areas of dental research and treatment. To stay on top of industry trends, Dr. Segal remains passionate about continuing education for himself and his team. He is a member of the Connecticut State and American Dental Associations, and serves on the peer review and ethics committee of the Hartford Dental Society. His modern office offers the latest technology, including metal-free crowns, panoramic radiographs, implants, and custom whitening kits.

During exams, Dr. Segal uses an intraoral camera that allows him to take a digital tour of the mouth and point out potentially haunted wisdom teeth. Patients can enjoy radio headsets, cable TV, and a large collection of movies during their treatment.

At Rocky Hill Dental Care, Drs. Howard S. Korn and Grace Lo combine their skill sets to maintain smiles with expert preventive and cosmetic dental care. Dr. Howard culls his cosmetic specialties from nearly 40 years of experience and more than 1,000 hours of continuing education. Dr. Grace’s general dentistry expertise resulted in the invention of Tooth Tissues, a 99% naturally disposable wipe for babies and toddlers.

Rocky Hill Dental Care’s dentists promote a preventative approach to oral health with a strong dedication to safety and continued education to learn the most current dental technology and practices. In addition to extending the life of precious chompers, the polyglot staff⎯with proficiency in English, Spanish, French, Bosnian, and Cantonese⎯easily accommodate any patient, family, or UN meeting.

Reiki master Maryann Lonergan didn't learn reiki as a hobby or a career. She took up the art of reiki in an effort to help ease her mother's progressive Alzheimer's disease. The holistic healing technique is designed to help bodies heal naturally from a range of ailments, including stress and chronic pain. In treatment rooms, Maryann places her hands over specific nodes in the body and attempts to balance personal energy and calm patrons with strategic touches.

Paul Carson and Jack Banks started teaching fitness classes 30 years ago in a small abandoned dairy. Since those humble beginnings, they built Malibu Fitness—a modern gym where they help people build rippling muscles. Their trained group fitness instructors lead classes in yoga and Pilates, as well as more high-energy Zumba classes that set Latin dance moves to international tunes. Meanwhile, you’ll hop on a stationary bike for the spinning classes, which rely on intense climbs and sprints to elevate heart rates and burn calories. There’s also the option of one-on-one workouts with personal trainers, who can tailor workouts that shed girth, strengthen muscles, and improve athletic performance.

There are a number of nice bonus amenities at Malibu Fitness—it has flat-screen TVs, locker rooms, and a SunDome stand-up tanning booth. And if you’re hungry after a workout, there’s a shake bar that doles out Island Oasis protein shakes. The well-staffed team here even provides child care for kids ages 6–9 years old. And each year around Thanksgiving, the owners sponsor a road race that donates thousands of dollars to charities to offset America's turkey footprint.

Helmed by studio owner Carolyn Phillips, Fit Behavior's certified instructors help clients to reach health goals through group classes, weight-loss programs, and personal-training services. They lead guests of all fitness levels through dynamic and challenging exercises, drawing on experience in gymnastics, bodybuilding, and Afro-Cuban dance to jazz up boot-camp sessions, Pilates classes, or elementary-school talent shows. The wellness emporium's specialty class, 30Fit, stitches together a fabric of plyometrics, kettlebells, rope work, TRX-suspension training, and cardio kick to show lethargy and monotony the door over the course of 30 intense minutes.