Berdyansk (Ukrainian: Бердя́нськ, translit. Berdyans’k, Russian: Бердя́нск, Berdyansk) is a port city in the Zaporizhia Oblast (province) of south-east Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Berdyansky Raion (district), the city itself is directly subordinate to the oblast, and is located on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov.

The current estimated population is around 125,000 (as of 2001).

Berdyansk is known in Ukraine due to its sea port and industries. It is also home to a health resort with mud baths and climatic treatments.

The climate of Azov coast is unique: the summer is hot and dry, the winter is soft and warm. The resort Berdyansk is located along coast of east part of the Berdyansk gulf of sea of Azov. Unique possibilities of health improvement are created by the nature. It is a cocktail from a sea breeze generously sated with ozone, bromine, iodine and a warm wind with honey aroma of steppe grasses. Temperature of sea water off Berdyansk is higher than that of the Black Sea coast of Crimea and the Caucasus. Already in May the water is warming up to 22, and in June - up to 30 degrees Celsius.

Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.

According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

A destination spa is a short term residential/lodging facility with the primary purpose of providing individual services for spa-goers to develop healthy habits. Historically many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or sources of mineral waters. Typically over a seven-day stay, such facilities provide a comprehensive program that includes spa services, physical fitness activities, wellness education, healthy cuisine and special interest programming.

Some destination spas offer an all-inclusive program that includes facilitated fitness classes, healthy cuisine, educational classes and seminars as well as similar services to a beauty salon or a day spa. Guests reside and participate in the program at a destination spa instead of just visiting for a treatment or pure vacation. Some destination spas are in exotic locations or in spa towns.

Destination spas have been in use for a considerable time, and some are not used actively, but rather are historically preserved as elements of earlier history; for example, Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs in California is such a historically used spa whose peak patronage occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century.