UNPLUG
Echo Valley Ranch & Spa
It’s a well known fact of modern life that we’re joined at the hip (or should that be finger tip?) to our iPads, Blackberrys and Kindles. If we’re not Facebooking, we’re tweeting or posting on Pinterest between downloading the latest on-line box set. How did our work, social lives and even holidays get so plugged in? If you fancy switching off from the digital world for a week or two, Small Luxury Hotels of the World has some incredible hideaways to make you forget you ever owned a laptop, all guaranteed to reconnect you to nature’s superhighway. Canada is well known for its wide open spaces and wilderness. Out west the Cariboo region of British Columbia is rich with history of the gold rush and is Canada’s cowboy country. Echo Valley Ranch & Spa is located in its own private valley surrounded by the rolling Cariboo Mountains with scented pine
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forests, hidden lakes, craggy peaks, breathtaking canyons and golden grasslands – and not an internet café in sight! Switch off your mobile on the scenic 50-minute flight from Vancouver and leave it in your suitcase for the holiday duration. There are so many activities here that you won’t miss your daily fix of emails. Horseback riding with a picnic in your saddle bag, hiking, gold panning, 4X4 safari, bird watching and fly fishing are all on the agenda. Guests stay in Dove Lodge, Lookout Lodge or private cabins, all in a luxury log cabin style. Or you can soak up a little Eastern Zen when you stay in the Baan Thai Suite with its traditional Thai architecture. Spa treatments are the perfect way to unplug and here guests have a choice of the Western style Cariboo Spa or the Eastern Thai Spa. You can detox inside
and out and explore how to eat for your blood type with Dr. Peter D’Adamo. On the eastern side of Canada, Trout Point Lodge is a glorious ecoboutique hotel, deep in the Nova Scotia wilderness. As National Geographic Traveler reported, it's the perfect idyllic retreat to unwind, power off the iPhone and get back in touch with nature. After the three-hour drive from Halifax, guests who really want to unplug should check into the main lodge made of Eastern Spruce logs and chiselled granite and sandstone where all suites have river views, handcrafted furniture and no TVs or WIFI. Tiffany lamps and oriental rugs add to the luxury lounging in the Great Room and library.