Page 71 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

healing programs and “hippie hot springs,”
the array of retreats will dazzle even the
most experienced serenity seeker. Here are
some of our favorite spots for the new
R&R: Retreat & Reinvigorate.
area’s natural mineral waters, and today’s
spa menus overflow with treatments using
grape seeds and skins, rich in antioxidants
and polyphenols. For first-class pam-
pering, lavish accommodations and a
three-star Michelin dinner, visit the spa at
Meadowood and order the Cabernet Crush,
a warm grape-seed body wrap, followed by
a grape-seed oil massage or facial.
But it’s not all about grapes in wine
country. At Sonoma’s Osmosis, an innovative,
Taking the Waters
Home to numerous large geothermal areas,
California has for centuries been a cele-
brated mineral springs destination, with
myriad spas statewide. Two hours inland
from Los Angeles, Desert Hot Springs offers
dozens of options, from the glamorous,
sprawling Two Bunch Palms (featured in the
movie The Player) to cozy boutique inns like
Hacienda Hot Springs. The Central Coast
also boasts famous baths, such as Esalen
(equally known for its extensive list of alter-
native-education workshops) and Tassajara,
the first Zen monastery built outside of Asia.
But small, funky Calistoga in the north is the
state’s oldest spa town, renowned not only
for hot springs but also abundant volcanic
ash used for therapeutic mud treatments.
Eight thousand years ago, the Wappo
Indians named the area “Ta La Ha Lu Si,”
meaning “Beautiful Land” or “Oven Place,”
and today spa facilities run the gamut from
luxurious to laid-back. The oldest in Calis-
toga—and likely California—is Indian
Springs, opened in 1862 by Sam Brannan, the
first Gold Rush millionaire. The property fea-
tures an Olympic-size heated mineral pool
(complimentary with spa treatment on
weekdays; $30 extra on weekends), an
adults-only saltwater pool, mud baths, steam
rooms steeped with eucalyptus, and a medi-
tation pond. (Tip: in the winter season, book
a hotel stay between October 26 and March
26 and get two free mud baths.)
SONOMA MISSION INN & SPA:
Yoga Studio, top; Watsu pool, middle;
couple’s spa treatment, bottom.
Wine Country Wellness
Californians are known to soak up a lot
more than wine in Napa Valley and
Sonoma. Residents have long enjoyed the
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