Don’t Waste Your Time With a Mediocre Spa Weekend – Go All Out and Experience True Rejuvenation

Feeling a bit stressed or a tad burnt out? In the need for a weekend escape to a place where your cares and woes will just melt away into a zen feeling of wellness and relaxation?

Well, we’ve got the answer for all of you Southern Californians: at these extremely luxurious places found not far from home (but far enough) that will twist your brain and body into a whole new outlook – no treatment or luxurious experience is spared.

DESERT DELIGHTS

What is it about the desert that makes it a perfect place for high-end spas? We think the warm, dry air combined with hot spring waters do make for a swooningly great experience. These are the ones that we love, with terrific spas and often much more to bring your blood pressure way, way down.

The Spa at Séc-he
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians spent a long time creating this incredible spa located right in the center of Palm Springs. The tribe has held stewardship over the Séc-he hot springs for generations and recently completed the journey to create this 73,000-square-foot oasis of hot mineral water treatments. Take in those hot waters in a private tub room, go on to a signature treatment that can include a sound bowl ritual done right on your belly. Then take a soothing salt room break, a dip in the swimming pool and end up in the serenity room with your feet elevated and all those stress toxins just flitting away. Sleep at the nearby Hotel Zoso or the Avalon Hotel, which film stars made famous in the 1930s, and do it all again the next day.

The Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa
Indian Wells has long been known for world-class golfing and tennis tournaments, with the Hyatt Regency Resort central to those experiences. But there’s a less competitive way to experience this desert delight, at its combo Agua Serena Spa and Kalologie Medspa. Combine therapeutic massages with a B12 IV hydration drip and you’ll feel great and ready to take on their new HyTides Waterpark, with its tallest waterslides in the desert, or maybe to just jump into the lazy river and relax some more.

Murrieta Hot Springs Resort
Head southeast down the 15 freeway to the edge of the Riverside County desert to discover the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort, established in 1902. Geothermic hot springs have always been here, infused with natural minerals like sulfate, boron, calcium and more – healing waters that today combine physical relaxation along with revitalization along with lowering heart rate and blood pressure. Stay overnight in one of the resort’s classic spots, like the circa 1920 Stone Lodge or the 1960s Hillside Suites; all are modern-yet-retro and include 24-hour soaking access to the hot pools, cold plunges, saunas and more. Add in dinner at Talia Kitchen, their new locally sourced eatery, or head over to The Chef’s Grille for delicious wood-fired hearth entrees. You’ll want to add a quick Temecula wine-tasting trip to nearby Wilson Creek Winery’s pretty garden, too, so perhaps staying for a weekend is in order?

Pechanga Resort and Casino
Temecula’s got wineries galore and one luxury resort/casino designed by the Pechanga Band of Indians. That resort was created to combine gaming and entertainment with pure relaxation. The 25,000-square-foot spa uses native botanicals (especially acorns and prickly pears) in signature treatments that turn your body into one big puddle of bliss. With a golf course and casino, you can find more bliss (or perhaps some aggravation!) and top it all off with delicious dining in the Great Oak Steakhouse, 1882 Cantina or Journey’s End, where seriously decadent Bananas Foster French Toast is served until 3 p.m., which should perfectly cap off a weekend getaway.

THE LAP OF LUXURY, DUE SOUTH

Looking for some cooler weather and flower-filled resorts with memorable spas created expressly to make your brain shut off? That’s what you’ll find by driving south towards San Diego, so don’t pass by these three favorites.

Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Miraval Spa
The Aviara Resort in Carlsbad has long been a perfect place for a getaway, with its challenging golf course and tranquil setting above the Batiquitos Lagoon. With the recent addition of the Miraval Life in Balance Spa, they’ve taken weekend wellness to a new level with that iconic destination spa brand. Along with the expected facials, massages and body treatments, indulge in aerial yoga, singing bowls, floating meditation, culinary classes and even bootcamp, if somehow, that helps you relax and reset.

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa
La Costa opened in Carlsbad 60 years ago and was the immediate must-go place, with gorgeous Spanish Colonial architecture and two superb golf courses; today, it’s just as beautiful as when it began. The spa was the world’s largest back then and the first in the USA to be endorsed by the AMA. It had an extensive remodel this year and remains a delightful, adults-only place to surrender yourself to a few days of bliss filled with luxe treatments, plus saunas, steam rooms, a spa swimming pool and Roman showers. And the resort also has yoga and meditation classes, a famous tennis center and plenty of pickleball courts, too, letting you round out your wellness escape with some exercise.

Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa
Move into a casita at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in Rancho Santa Fe and you may never go home. The Mediterranean architectural style and signature Spanish tiles found everywhere are gorgeous, especially in the spa, where private treatment rooms open into small gardens with picturesque copper tubs, small pools and/or outdoor showers. Specialized wellness therapies add more to traditional massage/body treatments; augment your internal system with a vitamin IV infusion or injection; do Pilates and yoga; change your attitude with a sound bath meditation; and end it all with the Hand & Foot Nirvana experience. That’s truly the ultimate escape day (or two).

-Jenny Peters