GOLDEN DOOR PO Box 463077
Escondido, CA 92046 3077
Tel. 760/744-5777,
Fax 760/471-2393,
ToIl-free reservations 800/424-0777,
Web: www.goldendoor.com
Golden Door runs a Sunday-through-Sunday, all-indusive program; the normal weekly rate is
$6,275 per person; selected holiday and summer weeks are $6,025. All major credit cards accepted. Transfers provided from San Diego Lindbergh Field.
Great spas seem very much to be a family affair. Few would disagree that both Canyon Ranch and Golden Door are among the finest; both have sister properties, both have their own caring parents. From Meland Enid Zuckerman, it was first Canyon Ranch in Tucson, and then later a sister property, Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires. From Edmond and Deborah Szekely, we saw first Rancho La Puerta, and then the ever-laudable Golden Door. And now, with both big names opening day spas at luxury resorts around the world, the metaphor seems to continue with grandchildren. As much as these satellite spas have to offer, at the Golden Door in Escondido one thing seems clear:
there’s really nothing quite like the intimate focus and concentration of a world-class destination spa.
The Golden Door experience in Escondido is limited to just 40 guests per week; most weeks are exclusive to women. At their disposal is a 377-acre swath of luxurious serenity, including organic gardens, avocado groves and citrus orchards, and some 20 miles of on-site hiking trails. Inspired by the old honjin inns of Japan, the Door prides itself in being ultra-sensitive to your every need and desire. The goal of this meticulous form of hospitality: anticipate these needs and desires, and know them before you yourself do.
At the honjin inns, the travelers were weary; the innkeepers, in turn, were carefully restorative in their reception. Their formula for restoration is echoed here at the Golden Door, with reverberations being felt throughout the industry: massage, therapeUtic baths, foods for wellness, and a high level of individual attention combining toward a salubrious synergy.
Mornings here have a varied cadence, but are surely busy. Most choose to set up breakfast with a vigorous morning hike, finding various metaphors for life among the challenges of the local mountain. Among a host of morning classes available after breakfast, the slow, methodical movements of T’ai Chi serve to mix up the powerful thrust of such movements as Cardio Box. Inner-personal sessions occur in the afternoon, as do other options in fitness and meditative opportunities. Throughout, multiple hours are set aside for indulgent and therapeutic treatments of the body, skin, hair, hands and feet.
Sustenance comes mostly from the gardens, groves and orchards. Seafood and poultry is of a local free-range source or from the local seas. While chefs here are magical in their manipulation of such staples, they are eager to share their tricks: throughout your week at the Door, you’ll have several opportunities to participate in classes in cooking, nutrition and mindful eating, among others. Like so much else that you’ll experience here, this bit of wellness will not remain behind when you leave; rather, it will join you in your journey beyond.
Golden Door Services and Options |
