Casey Hatfield-Chiotti Special Projects Portfolio

Voyager

WELLNESS RETREATS

THAT WORK

DESIGN'S WILD WEST

VIA FERRATA ROUTES

KIDS CAN DO

WHERE TO SHOP IN PORTLAND (RESPONSIBLY)

HEALING HORSE EXPERIENCES

CaseyHatfield-Chiotti

Travel Editor I Project ManagerI Journalist IWriter

I’ma creative and curious travel editor with apassion for hotels. I have more than 15 years of mediaexperience and havemanageddigital and printprojects for Forbes, Sunset, and MarinLiving.I love looking at destinations in new ways through sharp angles and visually engaging storytelling that appealsto families, design lovers, and wellness seekers. I want to tell stories that encouragereadersto have moremeaningful travel experiences and booktrips.

EXPERIENCE

TravelEditorandJournalist MediaandBrands

FEB.2012-PRESENT

-Writefive-pagetravelcolumnforaward-winningMarinLivingmagazine.

-Pitch,research,report,andwritehundredsofprintanddigitalarticles, includinglong-formfeaturesfor TheNewYorkTimes, Forbes,AFAR, Travel+Leisure,Sunset, Departures,RobbReport, Airbnb,Rosewood Hotels&Resorts,InterContinentalHotelsGroup,MarriottBonvoy,Hilton Hotels,Yahoo, VirginAtlantic,CultureTrip,ThePointsGuy, BonAppétit, SanDiegoMagazine,ModernLuxurySanDiego,CultureTrip,andHip Paris. CNN andSmithsonianMagazinesyndicatedT+L World’s Most-VisitedCastles story.

-EditedprintanddigitalguidesforFodor’sand AFAR

-FeedbackthatDeparturesfeatureonAsburyParkwent“deeper”than typicaltravelstories.

ContributingTravelEditor Forbes

MAY2022-JAN.2023

-Assignedandeditedhotelroundups,Airbnbguides,andmore.

-Managedateamof20+freelancewritersaroundtheworld.

-WroteandassignedupdatestoimproveSEO.

-Sourcedandselectedhigh-resolutionimages.

-BuiltstoriesintheForbescontentmanagementsystem.

-Two-monthprojectextendedtoninemonthsbecauseexecutiveeditor saidIwas“doingagreatjob.”

ClientServicesManager MarinLiving

JAN.2021-OCT.2022

-Managedproductionofspecialprintsectionsandintegratedmarketing campaigns,includingprint,digital,andsocialmedia.

-Copyeditedproofs.

-Collaboratedwithdesignersonlayoutsandimagesfortentpoleslike GroundbreakingWomen.

-ManageddailyworkflowsandassetsintheMagHubCRMsystem.

SoCalInsiderGuideEditor Sunset

AUG.2016-JAN.2019

-EditedSunset's SoCalInsider guidescoveringdining,shopping,andarts andculturenews.

-Dutiesincludedliaisingwithpublicistsonindustrynewsandpackaging contentcreatively,likecomparisonchartsandsidebars.

caseyhatfieldchiotti.com

casey@travelproper.com

(303)859-4453

Instagram:@travel_proper

SKILLS

Editing

TravelWriting

Pitching

DigitalContent

APStyle

Fact-Checking

SEO

AliateMarketing

Copywriting

CopyEditing

Video

Photography

WordPress

GoogleAnalytics

SocialMedia

InDesign

AdobeAcrobat

Photoshop

Lightroom

ADDITIONALINFORMATION

Coveredcrimeandeconomic developmentasabroadcast newsreporterinIdahoand Oregon.

LivedinParisfrom2014to 2016.

Photographyhasbeen publishedbyAFAR,Bon Appétit,MarriottBonvoy, andModernLuxury.

FoundedTravelproper.com

in2011tohelptravelers interestedinfood,wine, wellness,andfamilytravel.

EDUCATION

UniversityofColorado

Boulder

BS,BAJournalism, Anthropology,DanceMinor

ADDRESS

359CanalSt.Apt.#1

NewYork,NY10013

SOCAL INSIDER

Upstate style

Founded in the Hudson Valley, Hawkins New York’s home goods merge Scandinavian minimalism with East Coast country living. But that hasn’t kept the brand from winning over Southern California, thanks to their Row DTLA outpost that opened in June. Past an industrial garage door, the bright 4,000-square-foot shop displays original designs—from copper flatware to patterned porcelain bowls—alongside items from other makers. There’s plenty of room for mixing and matching jewel-toned linen pillows or arranging unique place settings. hawkinsnewyork.com.

Hawkins New York

NEW

LAGUNA BEACH

STAY / Some hotels just beg you to stay in and chill. A few, like the Hotel Joaquin in Laguna Beach, take it a step further. At the 22-room resort right off the Pacific Coast Highway, rooms are outfitted with turntables instead of flat screens. And it’s easy to shrug off the urge for a Netflix binge in the rooms’ stone bathtubs—or while checking out the locals’ favorite beach, Shaw’s Cove. Peckish but hesitant to stray too far from your room? Saline, the onsite French restaurant, slings oysters, avocado confit, and memorable cocktails. From $359; hoteljoaquin.com.

LOS ANGELES

EAT / After an ardent following developed around their artisan bread, Tartine Bakery’s Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt became full-on restaurateurs, first at San Francisco’s inventive Bar Tartine and later at the larger Tartine Manufactory. But

they’ve saved their most ambitious project for Los Angeles. At nearly 40,000 square feet, their Row DTLA emporium, called The Manufactory, is a dream-team collaboration with chef and pizzaiolo Chris Bianco of Phoenix’s acclaimed Pizzeria Bianco. The trio have known each other since the early ’90s, and their new food hub brings together a bakery; a market selling coffee, pastries, and ice cream; an all-day cafe; a coffee lab; and a dinner-only restaurant called the Alameda Supper Club. But it’s first and foremost a production facility, and design firm Studio BBA has made sure the renovation of the 1920s building, once part of L.A. Terminal Market, is both beautiful and functional. Passersby can peek in at the coffee roasters in the basement, and patrons can watch as bakers knead dough behind large windows. tartinebakery.com/los-angeles.

DO / Ruth Bader Ginsburg once proudly pointed out the similarities between herself and the

Courts of appeal

Little Italy Food Hall littleitalyfoodhall.com

OPENED

July 2018

VIBE

Located off a piazza in Little Italy, this food hall feels industrial yet sophisticated, with lofty exposed ceilings and an oval bar with a geometric wood pattern that serves as the focal point.

VENDORS

Six stations include the Milanstyle pizzeria Ambrogio15 and the Japanese donburi restaurant Single Fin Kitchen. Not Not Tacos by Sam the Cooking Guy (an Emmy award–winning chef) features tacos filled with unexpected ingredients like meatloaf, pastrami, and smoky pork mac ‘n’ cheese.

MUST-TRY DISH

The Salmon 360 Donburi at Single Fin Kitchen presents a kaleidoscope of salmon preparations—sashimi, tempura, tartare, and more—in a dish that’s a major step up from typical food-hall fare.

DOWNTOWN L.A.

The Fields LA thefieldsla.com

OPENED

August 2018

VIBE

Adjacent to the Banc of California Stadium on Figueroa, this sleek space was made to feed hungry soccer fans, but it’s so good, many people go even without tickets.

VENDORS

Chi Spacca alum Chad Colby is behind Piccolo Antico Pizzeria Focacceria, where he’s making Roman-style pies and focaccia sandwiches.

Top Chef star chef Shirley Chung is turning out dumplings, noodle bowls, and fried rice at Ms Chi. Tim Hollingsworth, who helms the kitchen at Otium, has the fried chicken sandwich spot C.J. Boyd’s Fried Chicken.

MUST-TRY DISH

The Especial Burrito at Burritos La Palma is an essential L.A. meal: a homemade tortilla filled with shredded beef and green chile pork sauce.

SAN DIEGO

DINE

The region’s best chefs forgo sit-down establishments for the food hall.

Little Italy Food Hall

rapper Notorious B.I.G. (both, for example, were born and bred in Brooklyn) after a popular Tumblr blog first made the comparison. The biography that followed, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has now been transformed into an exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center. The galleries split the difference between playful and educational; each is titled after the late hip-hop artist’s lyrics—think “Stereotypes of a Lady Misunderstood” and “Don’t Let ’Em Hold You Down, Reach for the Stars”—and R.B.G.’s briefs and writings are woven throughout, including some of her most searing dissents. Through March 10; skirball.org.

VENTURA

DO / When the Thomas Fire roared through Southern California last December, the Ventura Botanical Gardens was in its destructive path. Flames scorched the 109-acre garden behind City Hall, killing many young plantings and badly damaging others. The gardens will reopen by December after a yearlong closure that included major repairs and replanting, plus the addition of a welcome center in repurposed shipping

containers. Because the site was planted with fire-adaptable species from South Africa, Chile, Australia, the Mediterranean, and California, many specimens miraculously survived—like a Chilean palm that was already showing splashes of green just a month following the conflagration. After witnessing all the rebirth, follow a milelong pathway—also newly restored—to a high point that overlooks the city, the sea, and the distant Channel Islands. venturabotanicalgardens.com.

ORANGE

EAT / A block and a half from Old Towne Orange’s historic plaza square, the new comfort food restaurant Buttermilk

Fried Chicken has landed on an addictive mix of sleek design and nostalgic cuisine. Resembling a modern farmhouse with white brick walls and rustic wooden high-top tables, the restaurant is inspired by the cooking of chef and owner Ryan Adams’s grandmother. (Not just any grandmother, either—Mary Adams cooked at San Francisco’s Stars and One Market restaurants.) The fried chicken is a well-guarded family recipe applied to free-range, air-chilled, dry-cured meat.

The sides are smart takes on very traditional dishes: creamed corn and green chile–cheddar cornbread. buttermilkfc.com.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

DO / On December 1, the Orange County holiday tradition Christmas at the Mission in San Juan Capistrano is aiming to be a more tranquil affair than in years past. For the first time, festivalgoers will have to purchase tickets ($7) as part of

organizers’ efforts to cut back on ballooning crowds. They’re also doing away with the fake snow and replacing it with a candlelight procession and a tree-lighting ceremony in the ruins of the hauntingly beautiful Great Stone Church, a California landmark that dates back to the 18th century. There will still be plenty of holiday merrymaking to go around. The lighting of the tree, an environmentally friendly “faux”

SMACKDOWN

Best coast getaways

NorCal and SoCal go head-to-head with two stays near the beach.

Northern California Harbor House Inn

WHERE: Elk

VIBE: Much of the waterfront property is devoted to an edible garden that the on-site restaurant whips into a specialoccasion tasting menu. The redwood-clad lodge is filled with artifacts from the 1916 inn’s past, updated with details like cashmere throws that put some polish on Mendocino County’s earthy aesthetic.

ROOMS: 10

MADE FOR INSTAGRAM: Down a staircase, a private cove beckons with abalone shells and sea caves.

RESERVATIONS: From $395; theharborhouseinn.com.

Southern California Belmond El Encanto

WHERE: Santa Barbara

VIBE: With its private bungalows and breathtaking views of the ocean from the pool, this spot at the base of the Santa Barbara hills oozes Old Hollywood glamour. The accommodations themselves are understated yet refined; most of the flash comes by way of deep soaking tubs, shaded verandas, and the sheer square footage of the rooms.

ROOMS: 34

MADE FOR INSTAGRAM: Lazyday hammocks are scattered around the property, swaying beneath palms.

RESERVATIONS: From $260; belmond.com.

Ventura Botanical Gardens

Douglas fir that stands 30 feet tall, will be accompanied by live music, including a mariachi band, a local orchestra, and Dickensian carolers, plus sideshows like cookie decorating for kids. Missed the big show? Don’t worry; there’s a treelighting and music program every evening at 5 p.m. through January 6. missionsjc.com.

HIT LIST

CARLSBAD

EAT / At Campfire in Carlsbad Village, nearly all the dishes are cooked on the wood-fired grill or incorporate a live-fire component. Even the decor celebrates the outdoorsy spirit: Kids can play in a custom

12-foot tipi, while parents relax on stools fashioned from tree stumps. thisiscampfire.com.

CULVER CITY

SHOP / When the West Coast’s most prolific party planners

Paige Appel and Kelly Harris sold their famed business Bash Please a couple of years ago, they turned their attention to a new venture. Now Midland Shop stocks ethically made clothing, from jumpsuits to caftans, plus leather sandals and straw hats. Homewares range from locally made ceramics to fair-trade baskets. The duo also just released three new unisex signature scents, including Hinterland, inspired by chaparral, cocoa, cypress, and mountain rain. shop-midland.com.

Blinking Owl Distillery

NEWPORT BEACH

SHOP / The new home line featured at Orange County’s first Jenni Kayne nods at the designer’s faves: Scandinavian and California-modern furnishings, primarily in white oak. The shop is also stocked with her signature seasonal readyto-wear collections, like lambskin mule slides, cashmere fisherman sweaters, and ivory and oatmeal classic button-up flannels. jennikayne.com.

EAT / Tucked along Newport Beach’s picturesque coast, Marché Moderne is run by husband-and-wife-chef duo Florent and Amelia Marneau. The menu features polished French fare with Florent’s everchanging interpretations, from

a rich coq au vin to decadent seared foie gras and pristine preparations of seafood. For the ultimate winter comfort food, split a whole Jidori chicken with truffles tucked under the skin. Then try Amelia’s signature macarons and crowd-favorite apple tarts. marchemoderne.net.

SANTA ANA

SIP / At Blinking Owl Distillery, Orange County’s first craft distillery, the grain-to-glass spirits are made with local water and organic Californiagrown grains and fruits. Guests can tour the distillery and enjoy flights of the vodka, gin, aquavit, and their newly released whiskey along with craft cocktails in its tasting room, a

glammy mix of art deco and ’70s decor featuring oversize black-leather channeled sofas parked among swivel stools on brass pedestals and Mongolian lamb’s wool–topped ottomans. Yes, their bottled spirits are available for purchase. But the interior design ideas (and there are plenty of them) are free. blinkingowldistillery.com.

VENICE

SHOP / The sibling of San Francisco’s beloved General Store feels just as at home on California’s southern shores as it does on the state’s northern half, with its beachcombinginspired wares, handmade ceramics, vintage clothes, and a collection of coastal coffeetable books. There’s also no

shortage of gifting opportunities, from children’s straw hats to floral smudge sticks and local honey. shop-generalstore.com.

WEST HOLLYWOOD

SIP / Some mornings you need a double espresso; others, a fresh-pressed juice. Checking both of the aforementioned boxes is Joe & the Juice, founded in Copenhagen and currently multiplying at a stunning rate across the world. At its first SoCal location in WeHo, you can choose from a rainbow of power shots and juices like the C-Shot Sweet (red bell pepper, apple, and lemon) or opt for a healthy shake or smooth cappuccino. joejuice.com.

edited by casey hatfield-chiotti

CLIMB ON UP

VIA FERRATAS MAKE MOUNTAIN CLIMBING EASY

BY CASEY HATFIELD - CHIOTTI

A SUMMER CAMP FOR KIDS WHO LOST LOVED ONES

BY CHARLEY LOCKE

WHEN ARJAY MILLS, 14 , lost his dad during the pandemic, he felt really lonely — as if he were the only kid in the world going through something so hard. That changed when he went to Camp MAGIK, a place for young people dealing with the kind of sadness that happens with loss. It’s called grief. ‘‘I never really talk to my friends about losing my dad, because I don’t know how they’ll react to it,’’ says Arjay, who lives in Lawrenceville, Ga. ‘‘People at camp could relate.’’

Every year, thousands of kids in the United States go to special camps like this one, which have gotten more attention since Covid. (More than 250,000 kids lost a parent in the pandemic.) For many, it’s the first time that they’re able to really talk about what they’re going through.

Jada and Jacori Bradstreet were nervous when they first went to Camp MAGIK last year. At school, they had wanted to talk about losing their dad, but were afraid of being bullied. But at camp, the other kids were kind. It helped the sisters open up. Jada, 10, felt brave enough to talk about her dad after doing another brave thing — learning how to canoe. Jacori, 12, learned how to deal with anger by screaming as loud as she could with the other campers out in the woods. ‘‘It felt good,’’ she says, ‘‘because I got to get all of the angry feelings out of my body.’’

Camp isn’t only about emotions, though. Isla Alexander, 11, looks forward to going to Camp Erin, in Idaho, every year. She can open up about her mom, who died when Isla was 6, while doing other fun activities: making s’mores on a campfire, zip-lining and doing archery (her favorite). When thoughts and emotions about her mom come up, Isla can just share them. ‘‘It feels safer,’’ she says, especially since many of the camp counselors have also lost loved ones. ‘‘They actually understand.’’

Even though camp usually only lasts a few days, kids keep in touch. Almost a year later, Arjay still plays video games with friends he met at the program. And Jacori and Jada are more comfortable talking about their loss now, both with friends they made at camp and friends at school. They want to help other kids feel the same way. Now, the sisters are hoping to start a support group. ‘‘Listening makes you feel even better,’’ Jacori says.

‘‘You can heal together.’’ ◊

MORE THAN 100 years ago, during World War I, the Italian military had a problem: It needed to move troops more safely through the Alps, the highest mountain range in Europe. Their solution? A system of rungs and ropes attached right onto the rock.

Voilà! A path through the mountains.

After the war ended, people in Europe eventually realized that these routes could be climbed for fun, too. Via ferratas, as the routes are called (via ferrata means ‘‘iron path’’ in Italian), became a big summertime activity there. Now via ferratas are being built in the United States, too. More than 20 routes have opened here in the past few years.

The best part is that you don’t even need experience: Via ferratas are safer than traditional rock climbing and a lot easier for beginners. There are metal hand and foot rungs glued and bolted deep into the rock. Bungeelike lanyards and carabiners connect your harness to a sturdy cable throughout the route. ‘‘If you fall, they open up, spring out and catch you,’’ explains Bodhi Kiparsky, 12, who recently visited a via ferrata route that just opened in Ouray, Colo., his hometown.

6 VIA FERRATAS THAT WELCOME KIDS

JACKSON HOLE VIA FERRATA, Teton Village, Wyo.

BONUS: Treasure spotting

All the routes in Jackson Hole (shown above, top) start at altitudes over 9,000 feet, so the views are great — if nerve-racking. ‘‘My favorite part was when we crossed the cable bridge — it was fun to face my fears,’’ says Hannah Calder, 12, from Wilson, Wyo., who visited last summer. There are also things like a helix-shaped ladder and a horizontal ladder across a deep, dark opening in the rock face. Keep your eyes peeled for the sparkling quartz crystals scattered along the beginner and intermediate routes.

OPEN TO: Kids 10 and up

TAHOE VIA FERRATA, Olympic Valley, Calif.

BONUS: Funny guides

At the Palisades Tahoe Resort (shown above, bottom right) there’s a giant slab of rock called Tram Face that people once thought was unclimbable. (It has a crumbly surface that is difficult for rock climbers.) But it turns out to be perfect for via ferratas. In addition, the guides here have led

climbs at some of the highest peaks in the world, so they know how to put visitors at ease. Expect lots of jokes.

OPEN TO: Kids over 3 feet 11 inches tall

GOLD MOUNTAIN VIA FERRATA, Ouray, Colo.

BONUS: Old-timey history

Ouray was established by miners looking for gold and silver during the 1800s. This via ferrata (shown above, bottom left) follows their footsteps through the red cliffs north of town. Along the route, you can visit a more-than-100-year-old blacksmith shop and a real mine. ‘‘I loved learning about the history,’’ Bodhi says.

‘‘In the old blacksmith’s hut, there’s an old furnace, and they showed us how they used to make their drill bits.’’

OPEN TO: Kids 7 and up

ADVENTURE TRAIL AT AUSABLE

CHASM, Adirondack Mountains, N.Y.

BONUS: A white-water river

The sound of a roaring river will help calm your mind (or test your nerves) as you tackle this via ferrata in upstate New York.

It’s made up of six cable bridges that are more than 50 feet high and cross rapids on the Ausable River. The route also has a cargo-net climb and edge walks along

the cliffs, which were carved out by the river and melting glaciers around the end of the last ice age.

OPEN TO : Kids 8 and up

SOUTHEAST MOUNTAIN GUIDES

VIA FERRATA, Red River Gorge, Ky.

BONUS: A waterfall

This route goes along a rugged cliff, and at one point you can even climb behind a waterfall. The views are amazing, says Josiah Walter, 10, from Zeeland, Mich., who recently visited: ‘‘When you look down, there’s this beautiful landscape, like a jungle almost.’’ (Tip: Clip a water bottle to your harness. ‘‘There will be times where you will get on a ledge, and you will be thirsty,’’ Josiah says.)

OPEN TO: Kids 10 and up

ABOVE ZION VIA FERRATA, outside Zion National Park, Utah

BONUS: Desert views and big birds This via ferrata is in a red-rock desert. Walk along sandstone cliff faces and climb up and down rungs that feel like ladders. Keep an eye out for wildlife like endangered (and huge!) California condors along the way. And if you aren’t too afraid of heights, stand on what guides call the ‘‘scary rock’’: It’s got 1,000-foot drops on three sides. OPEN

THOUSAND

The number of fireworks that were set off during the Macy’s Fourth of July show in New York City last year.

The annual celebration is the largest fireworks display in the United States.

It’s so big that organizers begin planning it about a year in advance.

Clockwise from top, via ferratas in Wyoming, California and Colorado. The cables and handholds make rock climbing a breeze for beginners — if they’re brave enough to try.

GRUNGE GROWS UP

PORTLAND, OREGON, has cultivated major creative cred thanks to giants like Nike, Adidas, and the ad firm Wieden + Kennedy, as well as a host of independently owned businesses around town that capture the Pacific Northwest’s idiosyncratic aesthetic (raw yet modern, spare with an edge) to a T. To get that eclectic style, shop these boutiques for a mix of Native American crafts, Japanese imports, and regional goods.

TWIST

The founders of this wellcurated jewelry store “only carry things we really believe in,” says Paul Schneider, who first opened his showroom along with wife, Lauren Eulau, in 1994. The gleaming industrial space offers one-of-a-kind pieces like Harwell Godfrey’s 18-karat-gold inlaid-diamond pendants and Japanese ceramist Yuta Segawa’s whimsical glazed miniature pottery. twistonline.com

ODESSA

Owner Susan Tompkins gravitates toward quality pieces from sustainabilityminded labels such as Gallego Desportes and Belgian designer Sofie D’Hoore. New finds include indigo-dyed bedding by Tensira and Sultan Wash, a company that

repurposes vintage European military uniforms into chic workwear. odessaboutique.us

THE GOOD MOD

This downtown showroom housed in an early-1900s automotive building has an impressive collection of modern furniture and art, both international (a pair of Ubald

Klug Terrazza sofas from the 1970s) and local (rustic sculptures by Orcas Island woodworker Aleph Geddis). thegoodmod.com

FRANCES MAY

At its new location adjoining an outpost of Brooklyn’s In God We Trust, this boutique carries avant-garde fashion ranging

from high-waisted Kamm pants to sculptural black dresses by Totême. The shop also carries its own Houseline collection, which features prints inspired by owner Pamela Baker-Miller’s Indigenous Karuk ancestry. francesmay.com

CANOE

Simple, beautiful, and functional is the credo at this showroom selling natural, and often austere, artifacts with a Pacific Northwest aesthetic. Don’t miss the elegant handmade ceramics from Eso Etso, or the Spruce Apothecary, Canoe’s modern upscale beauty-shop-within-a-shop. canoe.design

UNA

Set behind an unassuming façade on SE Ankeny Street, this is the place to pick up exceptional fashion and home finds from obscure Italian and Japanese brands. The shop has a loyal fan base that clamors for its timeless pieces, like a voluminous drop-waist dress in delicate ecru jacquard or a putty-colored, calf-leather handbag by Massimo Palomba. unanegozio.com

SPARTAN SHOP

This Eastside Industrial District boutique is beloved for its impeccably curated selection of home goods, furniture, lighting, and fine art. Browse among new additions like a curved white-oak chair made by local studio Campagna and vintage rugs from Morocco. spartan-shop.com

Clockwise from far left: The Good Mod showroom; Spartan Shop; porcelain canisters at Canoe; sustainable fashion at Odessa.

ART + DESIGN

Beyond annel shirts and mountain bikes, Portland’s shopping scene has cemented the city as the design capital of the Northwest.

by Casey Hat eld-Chiotti

Newton Vineyard

Get to know a mountainside vineyard with a rich legacy and exceptional wines.

What unique wines are you ofering for the holidays?

For us at Newton Vineyard, the holiday season is always about celebrating the release of the latest vintage of our hallmark wine, The Puzzle 2018. For winemaker Andrew Holve, crafting The Puzzle is always an incredible challenge. “The Puzzle is a historical wine for us, made since the early ’90s. This 2018 vintage is a revelation of our Spring Mountain estate, and a testament to the combined efort of the winemaking and vineyard team to work in coordination.”

How are you helping patrons make the most out of their gift giving and holiday gathering experience?

This year, we have compiled a special holiday selection catalogue featuring a trio of The Puzzle 2018 and our best wines that can be ordered via our webstore. We also now have the option to gift a membership to our wine club, The Newton Circle.

Now that guests can come visit your establishment again, how are you making them feel welcome?

As we rebuild our winery and tasting room atop Spring Mountain, we are currently welcoming guests for private experiences at Brasswood Village, St. Helena. This was an important step for us to stay connected to our community and continue to share our wines.

Newton Vineyard

1040 Main Street, Ste 201, Napa, CA 94559

707.204.7423

winery@newtonvineyard.com

www.newtonvineyard.com

@newtonvineyard /newtonvineyard

Newton Vineyard winemaker Andrew Holve

The New Farm to Table

Three next-level farm stays ofer eco-conscious luxury and unforgettable meals.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

The phrase “farm-to-table” is used so frequently that a culinary getaway with a farm hardly seems like a novel concept. Still, some hotels continue to push the idea of a sustainable farm stay further and in new directions by becoming true agrarian utopias where nearly everything guests devour is grown or raised on property (or nearby). And guests can truly get immersed in the pastoral setting. The perks that come with a stay at these stepped-up experiences might include meals consisting entirely of handmade pantry items from farm-grown ingredients, clean bath and body products made with propertygrown herbs and forals, and hikes through ranchland where prized Charolais cows graze. Here are three of the best — a Europeaninspired inn in Oregon Wine Country, a Georgian manor–style hotel in the English countryside with a Michelin Green star (earned by restaurants at the forefront of the industry when it comes to their sustainable practices), and a coastal ranch stay just a few hours north of Marin in Mendocino County.

A SENSE OF PLACE

Tributary Hotel and ōkta

Chef Matthew Lightner has worked everywhere from Mugaritz in Spain to the two-Michelin-starred Atera in NYC’s Tribeca, but he chose to open his dream project in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, just under an hour’s drive from downtown Portland. Lightner is chef and partner at ōkta, the restaurant that is part of the eight-suite Tributary Hotel (from $950 per night; www.tributaryhotel.com). Ōkta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover and a ftting name for a restaurant in the heart of the mosscovered valley known for producing pinot noir. The restaurant’s soul, ōkta farm, is a 25-minute drive away on a picturesque hillside surrounded by vineyards. Before the restaurant and hotel design were complete, work had begun on the farm, where there’s a kitchen, lab, wood-fred bread oven and larder. All culinary essentials (oils, tamaris, dried spices) chefs use at the restaurant are created using local ingredients, like a fruity habanada vinegar made with sweet, farm-grown habanada peppers.

George Barberis

Duck egg custard with peas at ōkta Evan Sung

Tributary Hotel

“I’ve always had an addiction to nature. I grew up in Nebraska. Books created a fre inside me to explore these things, so when I got the opportunity to be in Oregon and go to the ocean and forage, I had a heightened sense of appreciation for it,” says Lightner, who also worked at Portland’s Castagna.

Dinner at ōkta is a feast for the senses. The sleek restaurant has a bustling open kitchen and furniture and fxtures by Portland artisans, such as sculpted sconces made by ceramicist Lilith Rocket that cast a warm glow over the dining room. Dinner is composed of 14 to 15 bites such as a black trufe tart with Butterbloom cheese and caviar with blue kuri squash and coconut milk curry. Depending on the season, Lightner says, 20 to 90 percent of ingredients used for the menu come from the farm. The duck, purple sweet potato and spigarello dish I sampled during my visit is an example of meticulous sourcing. A local farmer raised the free-range duck specifcally for the restaurant, and chefs lacquered the ōkta farm-grown purple sweet potato with a molasses-y type syrup made in the lab by inoculating local purple barley with koji.

Guests of the inn, where suites are named for Oregon river tributaries, get to experience luxurious accommodations with freplaces and large spa-like bathrooms and indulge in what can only be described as a lavish continental breakfast (included in the room rate). More than half a dozen dishes are wheeled to guest rooms on a cart and arranged on a cofee table and can include sourdough bread, pain au chocolate and a salad with sweet peppers and turnips in an herby sauce. It’s a cuisine inspired by the region and in a class of its own. “It’s not for us, ‘this is Japanese,’ ” says Lightner when asked how he would describe the cuisine at ōkta. “This is what we want to cook with the ingredients that inspire us.”

WHOLLY HOLISTIC Heckfeld Place

Heckfeld Place (from $559 per night; www.heckfeldplace. com), opened in Hampshire, about an hour southwest of London, in 2018 as an ambitious country house hotel meets farm stay, has continued taking regenerative hospitality to new heights. The 400-acre-plus property’s organic farm achieved biodynamic certifcation in 2021 (it’s considered the U.K.’s frst biodynamic hotel). Growers use only natural fertilizers in order to build rather than deplete the soil, and provide ingredients for the house whenever possible, from fowers to vegetables, dairy to honey. Heckfeld Place farmers raise livestock like Guernsey cows and British Saddleback pigs and grow a vast array of herbs and heirloom fruits and vegetables, fowers and trees in its seven greenhouses and gardens — the walled garden has trees planted in the 19th century by pioneering horticulturist William Wildsmith. Heckfeld Place has so much fabulous produce it sometimes hosts markets that are open to the public.

Award-winning chef Skye Gyngell runs the “root-to-plate” culinary program. Gyngell and executive chef Michael Chapman’s eforts were rewarded with a Green Michelin Star for sustainable dining at the restaurant Marle.

Farm-grown-and-raised ingredients shine in dishes like Heckfeld lamb with roasted beetroot and sauce vert and beef carpaccio with poached baby farm leeks. At Hearth, located in the estate’s former stables, most dishes are cooked over open fame, and at Moon Bar, cocktails are inspired by lunar phases.

Guest rooms — resembling rooms in the most refned farmhouses — feature natural materials like Georgian timber furniture, handmade ceramic lamps, and raw linen and wool fabrics. Heckfeld Place also produces bath and beauty products on the estate from farm-grown ingredients, and the sustainable Bothy Spa will open later this year. The hotel’s wellness program, Farm Fit, challenges guests with circuit training using ropes, hay bales, logs and weighted milk churns. Everything gets reused at Heckfeld Place.

THE RANCH REBORN Inn at Newport Ranch

California ranch living and cuisine are alive and well at the Inn at Newport Ranch (from $650 per night; www.theinnatnewportranch.com), a luxurious nine-room inn and 2,000-acre working cattle ranch along a rugged stretch of Mendocino coastline in Fort Bragg. The ranch’s seven microclimates ofer abundant foraging opportunities. New executive chef Patrick Meany, who has worked with Thomas Keller and recently completed a stint at twoMichelin-starred Harbor House Inn in Elk, is rolling out a new sustainable culinary program, which will include foraging tours throughout the year. This spring, guests will be able to search for fddlehead ferns and California nutmeg, and Meany, who has been known to make kombucha from Douglas fr and wild honey, will cook up a gourmet dinner, including some of your own fnds. When the stormy weather sets in in the fall, guests should pack rain boots for a guided mushroom foraging

Courtesy of the Inn at Newport Ranch Courtesy of Heckfeld Place

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Heckfeld Place

The Inn at Newport Ranch

excursion. The Inn at Newport Ranch has a mushroom farm surrounded by redwood forests. Deeply committed to being stewards of the land, management plants at least one redwood tree per guest.

Meany’s elevated ranch-style cuisine includes a diferent three-course menu each night featuring local ingredients like the ranch’s own Angus and Charolais beef cooked over a live fre fueled with alder, fr or apple wood. The inn also has several bountiful hilltop kitchen gardens flled with plump squash, bright berries, brassicas, alliums and herbs (depending on the season). About half of the accommodations have full kitchens and outdoor grills, including the Newport Suite, which has redwood trunk columns supporting the high ceilings. The ranch-style breakfast — served in a wood-paneled room with views of the blue-green sea — featuring thick-cut bacon and fresh-baked pastries provides sustenance for full days exploring the area, including the ranch’s 20 miles of hiking trails, wineries, beaches and a large section of the Cannabis Trail. Often overlooked Mendocino County has it all.

Courtesy of the Inn at Newport Ranch

Meet Joy Chopra, a San Francisco Bay Area native, who is in the tech world by profession but her heart and passion lies in discovering the city’s trendiest restaurants, cocktail bars, hotels and jazz clubs. Follow her foodiethemed Instagram @dinewithjoy for her recommendations and reach out to her if you are interested in a bespoke dining experience at some of the hottest restaurants in the city.

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The Inn at Newport Ranch

Portugal’s Golden Age

It’s time to explore Portugal’s cities, landscapes and surprisingly afordable culinary attractions.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

Lisbon’s Remodelado tram

DO YOU HAVE a Europe-loving friend heading to Portugal this summer?

If so, you’re not alone. Travelers to popular destinations like France, Spain and Italy have learned that Portugal is the continent’s best-kept secret and the natural next step for those looking for great food, wine, access to the outdoors and reasonable prices. Portugal, once one of the world’s most powerful countries because of its maritime infuence, is also one of Western Europe’s least expensive destinations. Despite its small size — Portugal is less than a quarter the size of California — the country has diverse landscapes, including clif-lined beaches and verdant river valleys. Visitors will encounter unpretentious locals while exploring everything from sophisticated cities to windswept coastal villages.

FOR CITY LOVERS: Lisbon

Portugal’s coastal capital city, Lisbon, has seven hills and suspension bridge views and is a nice alternative to other European centers of culture.

What to Do

An earthquake, fre and tsunami in 1755 leveled much of Lisbon, but the neighborhood of Alfama near the Tagus River escaped with minor damage. Travelers can ride the retro yellow Remodelado trams to the picturesque district and admire the pastel-colored and tiled buildings.

Visitors can also tour Belém Tower, a UNESCO-protected landmark just west of the city center. Nearby, Pastéis de Belém (www.pasteisdebelem. pt) has been serving pastéis de nata, Lisbon’s beloved cinnamon-dusted custard pastry, since 1837.

If you like palaces, the royal sanctuary of Sintra is a must-visit. The resort town in Sintra-Cascais Natural

Park, about 40 minutes by train from Lisbon, has sea clifs, pine forests and many villas and palaces, including the whimsical Palace of Pena (www.parquesdesintra.pt) built for King Ferdinand in the mid-1800s.

Where to Eat

Ten-table Belcanto (www.belcanto. pt) in Chiado is one of only a handful of Portuguese restaurants honored with two Michelin stars; dishes are inspired by Portuguese culture and history. Try the Classics tasting menu for a snapshot of the restaurant’s most emblematic dishes like carrot with pine nut milk and olives and suckling pig with peppercorn sauce and orange puree.

Palace of Pena in Sintra

The nose-to-tail restaurant Prado (www.pradorestaurante.com) serves shareable plates like bluefn tuna belly with tomato and acorn-fed Alentejano pork with turnips in a buzzy industrial space with greenery dripping from the soaring ceiling.

At Tasca Da Esquina (www.tasca daesquina.com), chef Vitor Sobral reinvents and elevates petiscos (Portuguese tapas) like octopus salad with sweet potato and coriander.

Where to Stay

Named for a famous 19th-century Portuguese explorer, The Ivens, Autograph Collection (from $467 per night; www.marriott.com), pays tribute to the spirit of Lisbon during the 1800s. The building was the city’s frst warehouse for luxury goods. Spanish interior designer Lazaro Rosa-Violán added famboyant touches (dark wood parquet foors, foral chairs) to public spaces, while the 87 guest rooms are more understated.

The modern Memmo Alfama (from $201 per night; www.memmohotels. com) hotel contrasts with the neighborhood’s historic buildings like the medieval Sao Jorge Castle and the 12th-century Lisbon Cathedral. The hotel has minimalist guest rooms, a wine bar and a rooftop pool and terrace with views of the sea and the red tile roofs of Alfama.

Once the home of a wealthy Lisboa family, the Palácio Príncipe Real (from $422 per night; www.palacioprincipe real.com) is an oasis in the center of the city. It has just 28 rooms, a large garden, a heated swimming pool and a dedicated wellness area.

FOR WINE CONNOISSEURS: Porto and the Douro Valley

Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city, is worth a stop for its walkable downtown, excellent cuisine and port wine–tasting rooms along the river. The UNESCOprotected Douro River Valley, an hour-and-a-half drive east, is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world.

What to Do

Visit the neo-Gothic Livraria Lello & Irmão (www.livrarialello. pt) bookstore in Porto. Author J.K. Rowling frequented the shop when she lived in Porto in the ’90s, and the hourglass-shaped staircase may have inspired the shifting stairs in the fctional Hogwarts Castle.

Wine tasting in the Douro Valley is an adventure, and this is one of the few places where it’s easier to go by boat or train. Terraced vineyards cascade down steep hillsides on either side of the Douro River. The roads are so wind-y that driving from winery to winery can

take hours. Winery staf are usually happy to pick up guests from the boat and train stops along the river.

Family-owned Quinta do Crasto (www.quintadocrasto.pt) is one of the more well-known names in Portuguese wine for a reason. The winery’s sloping vineyards produce excellent old vine red, white and port wines. Winery visits are appointment only but can include a guided tour, tasting of fve wines, and lunch. Quinta do Bomfm (www.symington.com) and 300-year-old Quinta do Vallado (www.quintadovallado.com) are also reliable places to taste.

Courtesy of Grupo José Avillez (top left)

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The “bacon from heaven” dish at Belcanto

Where to Eat

Stylish locals like to meet up at industrial Cantina 32 (www.cantina32. com) on Rua das Flores, one of Porto’s trendiest streets, for a lively lunch of quail egg croquettes, steak in garlic and white wine sauce, and spritzy port and tonics.

Ode Porto Wine House (www. instagram.com/odewinehouse), in a character-flled space with stone walls and wood-beamed ceilings near the river, serves aged steaks, oysters, fufy cheese tarts and one of the best selections of Portuguese wines and aged ports in town.

In the Douro, make reservations at DOC (www.docrestaurante.pt) in Folgosa for chef Rui Paula’s refned take on regional cuisine. If the weather is warm, try to get a seat on the terrace.

Long lunches are practically a religion in the Douro Valley. At the pop-up

restaurant Casa dos Ecos (open for lunch Friday to Sunday through October 2023; www.casa-dos-ecos. com) at Quinta do Bomfm winery, wine lovers can take their time as they enjoy pork ribs with crushed corn and cold oxheart tomato soup.

Where to Stay

In a city known for colorful tiled buildings and opulent Baroque architecture, the stately 16th-century facade of Porto’s new Casa da Companhia, Vignette Collection (from $237 per night; www.ihg.com), feels unassuming. Inside, the posh getaway spoils guests with a courtyard, an indoor pool and a spa with Turkish baths and saunas.

The upscale Six Senses Douro Valley (from $1,239 per night; www. sixsenses.com), surrounded by old-growth forests and vineyards,

has a design that includes a 19thcentury manor and contemporary architecture. In the stunning spa, where treatment rooms have garden views, guests can book vinotherapy, craniotherapy treatments and more. Accommodations include bedrooms with panoramic river views, spacious suites with private balconies and new one- or two-bedroom villas with private swimming pools.

Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, known for interesting wines like the Burgundy-style white Mirabilis, is one of the oldest wineries in the Douro wine region. Its small Relais & Châteaux boutique hotel, Quinta Nova Winery House (from $279 per night; www.quintanova.com), feels like a Portuguese family home. Guest rooms have views of terraced vineyards, cypress trees and a centuries-old chapel.

Exterior of Six Senses Douro Valley near the Douro River

FOR SUN SEEKERS: The Algarve

Portugal’s sunny southern coast has whitewashed fshing villages and sandy coves. The area between Lagos and Faro is lined with hotels, villas, bars and restaurants and can be crowded in the summer. Travelers who go inland or to the Western Atlantic Coast will fnd more solitude.

What to Do

Surfers should check out Sagres at the far western edge of the Algarve. The laid-back town has a long golden beach called Praia da Mareta, a 15th-century fortress and a working harbor.

Hike the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail (www.visitalgarve.pt) from Praia da Marinha to Praia de Vale Centeanes to see the Algarve’s most beautiful coastal views. Never dull, the three-hour walk takes you through Aleppo pine forests, up and down ravines, and past delicate arches and bright blue inlets.

Tavira has an intriguing mix of Moorish and Christian architecture; the spires of 37 churches punctuate the city’s skyline. It also has beautiful beaches and is near Ria Formosa Natural Park, where visitors can spot birds like famingos, waders and other wildlife.

Where to Eat

Travelers to the Algarve should enjoy meals with a salty breeze and a sea view. The seafood restaurant Rei das Praias (www.restaurantereidaspraias. com) is on a beach with bright blue water and sculpted sandstone clifs. Diners can dress fresh Atlantic fsh with the bottles of zippy local olive oil on the table.

At Villa Joya Sea (www.instagram. com/vilajoyasea) at the upscale Vila Joya hotel, guests in linen shirts and fowy dresses dine on sea bass nigiri and sip mojitos beneath wicker lamps and coir-rope blinds.

Where to Stay

Hoteliers in the Algarve have perfected the art of the bohemian farmhouse hotel. Octant Vila Monte (from $409 per night; www.vilamonte. octanthotels.com) is an idyllic retreat in the hills about 10 minutes from Fuseta. The buildings are inspired by traditional Algarve architecture and contemporary lines. Interiors incorporate decorative pieces made of traditional fabrics and mat grasses by local artisans. The Garden of Eden–like grounds are planted with fragrant citrus trees, pink bougainvillea and olive trees.

On the Algarve’s Vicentine Coast near Aljezur, Praia do Canal (from $327 per night; www.praiadocanal.pt) doesn’t look like a typical family-friendly resort, with its minimalist architecture and sleek infnity pool. But families love the activities from hiking to horseback riding, surfng to sunset hot air balloon rides, and Praia do Canal’s sunny two-bedroom Family Suites can sleep up to six people.

Benagil Beach

Octant Vila Monte Farmhouse Courtesy of Octant Vila Monte Farmhouse (above); Carlos Duarte-Algarve Promotion Bureau (this page)

Design’s Wild West

The scenic Central Coast wine region is putting a sophisticated, sustainable spin on Wine Country architecture.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

Paso Robles, the town and viticultural region four hours south of Marin on Highway 101, has always had a certain disregard for rules. Co-founded by outlaw Jesse James’ uncle Drury James, who came to California looking for gold in the late 1800s, the wine industry’s “Wild West” (and the state’s fast-growing AVA), is unbound by the tradition found in more

rigid regions like Bordeaux and Napa. Independent winemakers have planted a dizzying array of grapes — from jammy zinfandel to acidic albariño — on the golden rolling hillsides dotted with twisty oak trees. (Rhône varietals and innovative blends are also hallmarks.) Lately, it appears this ingrained experimental spirit is infuencing local design. Acclaimed

architects and designers from places like San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles have been commissioned to design hotels inspired by environmental awareness and the region’s rustic landscape. Guests at these properties can enjoy everything from a stay in sleek industrial upcycled shipping containers to an equestrian-inspired getaway.

page and opposite: Paul Vu Photography, courtesy of Geneseo Inn

Geneseo Inn

Cass Winery’s new boutique hotel (from $325, www.casswines.com) is an impressive feat of modern engineering. Incorporating a matrix design concept, the buildings, all recycled shipping containers, are located in three clusters with diferent orientations, producing an interesting play of light and shadow. The luxury bed-and-breakfast’s eight guest rooms, including a larger bridal suite, are raised above the vineyard on steel pilotis to create covered parking areas and unobstructed views. Twelve-foot-high cathedral ceilings with multiple windows open up the lower spaces and enhance natural ventilation. The ceilings and foors in the guest rooms are made of materials recycled from a winery barn. Architect Walter Scott Perry, the founder of Los Angeles–based Ecotech Design, has been a sustainable design leader since the ’70s and pioneered the use of shipping containers in architecture.

White Water

Paso’s design renaissance is spilling over to the coast. A 40-minute drive from Paso in Cambria, White Water (from $299, www.whitewatercambria.com), the frst luxury-minded boutique hotel on the mile-long stretch of Moonstone Beach, opened in August. This is Los Angeles–based designer Nina Freudenberger’s frst hospitality project, and the hotel sports a dark, of-black exterior with olive accents referencing native Monterey pine trees. The lobby and common area mix Scandinavian design and California bohemian vibes. A wall of windows provides abundant natural light and coastal views, while an intimate library is stocked with

National Geographic magazines from the 1970s. Cabin-inspired guest rooms have Baltic birch wood, vintage fabrics and modern lighting.

Stables Inn

The 18-room Stables Inn (from $155, www.stablesinnpaso.com), near Paso’s verdant Downtown City Park, was a labor of love for owners Robert and Sherry Gilson. The equestrian-loving couple, who also own Paso’s storybook Hotel Cheval, re-created the whitewashed stables found in Great Britain and furnished the inn with antiques found on their travels. Originally a midcentury roadside inn, the Gilsons added cupolas to the roof and cladding.

Sliding doors and farmhouse furnishings, like simple white bed frames in guest rooms, add a western touch. The stunning Tack Room, a common space with woodbeamed ceilings, black-and-white photos and a galvanized metal windmill tail vane from the early 1900s, feels plucked straight from a Ralph Lauren ad.

The Piccolo

Open since October 2019, this luxury boutique hotel (from $409, www.thepiccolo.com) has been a welcome addition to Paso’s historic downtown; much of the architecture dates back to the turn of the century. Designed by San Luis Obispo–based Ten Over Studio, the

White Water photo by Shade Degges

four-story property with a brick facade would be right at home in New York City. Guest rooms, including 23 luxury king rooms and a two-bedroom suite, resemble urban lofts with foor-to-ceiling glass windows, wide-planked dark wood foors and custom chandeliers by local blacksmith Hans Duus. Communal spaces mix urban sophistication with Paso style. Nature and local culture inspired the courtyard’s large hand-painted mural by California artists Hennessy Christophel and Sofa Lacin. The cozy library features locally sourced materials, while the Tetto Rooftop Bar, the frst of its kind in downtown Paso, has contemporary slate gray couches and modern fre pits beneath a covered trellis.

Design-Centric Wine Stays

Sophisticated design in Paso also extends to the region’s wineries and shops.

Paso Market Walk

The 16,000-squarefoot Paso Market Walk, which opened August 1, is an innovative mixed-use development that includes a restored Victorian house and contemporary structures. The detached buildings house a mix of merchants including a Mexican restaurant, wine shop and experiential plant nursery. The project also includes the Lofts, six suites that are available for short-term stays. www.pasomarket walk.com

Law Estate Wines

The modern tasting room and winery Bar Architects created for sustainably minded Law Estate blends seamlessly into the landscape. Perched on the edge of Peachy Canyon, the functional winery

has solar panels, a slanted rainwater collecting roof and an outdoor freplace. www.law estatewines.com

Saxum

This lauded winery, built in 2016, features some of Paso Robles’ most beautiful modern architecture. Saxum’s spare-looking winery and tasting room, made of rusted steel, was designed by award-winning Lake/ Flato Architects, while Clayton & Little designed the modern pole barn. The winery is only open to wine club members.

www.saxum vineyards.com

Epoch Estate Wines

Lake/Flato Architects also took on this project, which combines a historic structure and modern architecture. Established in 1882,

the frst winery on the California coast operated until 2001. New owners bought it and opened it as Epoch Estate Wines in 2016. The state-of-the-art tasting room has original bricks and wooden pillars as well as new foor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors, steel beams and concrete walls. www.epochwines.com

Booker Wines

This winery’s new wine cave and angular tasting room with sliding glass doors will open later this year; the 11,000-square-foot cave will be carved into a vineyard-laced hillside. Booker winemaker Eric Jensen, who thinks many of the white wines in the region are too tart, makes rounder white blends from roussanne and viognier grapes. www. bookerwines.com

Law Estate Wines photo by Phil Pfunder

Law Estate Wines

White Water

Marcy Holthus is shaping the future of travel—via a 250-yearold French château.

Queen of the Castle

By Casey Hat eld-Chiotti

PHOTO BY PUXAN

During the mid-1700s, back when neoclassicism was considered the height of modernity, Baron Jacques III Pineau de Viennay was quite the man of re ned taste. As a con dant of King Louis XV, he partied with royalty—and had more than enough means to support his every indulgence. So it came to pass that he envisioned the Château du Grand-Lucé, an estate that would be the picture of moneyed excess. The baron commissioned murals by Jean-Baptiste Pillement, classic chinoiserie paintings, and boiserie walls. The king even threw in a few housewarming gi s—most notably, eight marble sculptures to grace the 80 acres of proper French gardens. It was to be, in no uncertain terms, the Loire Valley’s greatest modern treasure.

But when the property was nished some years later, the baron’s joy was remarkably short-lived. As the legend goes, he arrived at his new Xanadu for the rst time, passing through the towering iron gates and beneath the carved pediment bearing his family crest, and dropped dead right there at the threshold. Perhaps all those years of aristocratic carousing had nally caught up to him. Or maybe the beauty of his own creation was just too much.

That was hardly the end of Château du GrandLucé. It had a long life a er Pineau de Viennay’s untimely death, serving as a getaway for luminaries from Voltaire to Mozart and as a hideaway for the Louvre’s most precious artworks during World War II. But this year, the property will begin a new life, helmed by Marcy Holthus, a California-based investor and mother of ve. Though Holthus is separated from the baron by several generations (and at least a couple patriarchies), her vision for the château—which she plans to open as a hotel this June—isn’t so di erent from her predecessor’s.

Wearing cat-eye framed bifocals and a white silk blouse, Holthus is entirely in her element inspecting the château’s classical gardens decorated with manicured boxwoods and topiaries. She fell in love with the estate by accident: In 2016, she caught wind that the interior designer Timothy Corrigan, who had been using the property as a vacation home for more than a decade, was considering unloading the he y piece of real estate. A er a bit of research, she was captivated.

“[The château] is older than America. Captain Cook hadn’t discovered Hawaii yet,” she says. “The history here makes me feel grounded. It adds relevance.”

So Holthus took a leap of faith, making her plea directly to Corrigan. She would turn the château into what may be the world’s most elaborate boutique hotel—not the sort of standardized accommodation that seems to be taking over the world these days, but the kind that, by her own description, “transports.”

“I feel like today we’re looking for a story and a sense of place. Where do we t?” she asks. “There is a whole class of luxury traveler that can’t nd what

INSTANT CLASSIC

As the new master of Château du Grand-Lucé, Marcy Holthus (shown on previous spread) has reimagined the grand castle inside and out, from the manicured French gardens to the ornate salons, now furnished with a mix of new and original decor.

they’re looking for at the big-box hotels. I am the target market.”

Holthus’s storied acquisition—which she has been renovating for nearly two years—is the impetus for her new hospitality brand, Pilot Hotels. The name is a nod to her family’s competitive hobby of sailing. Just as pilots steer ships in dangerous waters, Holthus hopes to do her own trailblazing in the eld of luxury hospitality, where she has frequently lamented a lack of authenticity. During stays at a reputed brand’s hotels in Chicago and Shanghai, for instance, she was surprised to nd the same interiors at both locations.

With that in mind, Holthus aims to make Pilot the anti-hotel-brand hotel brand, creating curated properties for the most discerning travelers. When the château opens this summer, it will be the second hotel in her newly formed collection, joining the Washington School House, a 19th-century Park City, Utah, schoolhouse, which she transformed into a 12-room mountain retreat. The property is another product of her love for a juicy backstory: The old limestone building survived the city’s Great Fire of 1898 and lived on as a dance hall before becoming a modest bed-and-breakfast. Holthus gave it a faithful restoration—with a modern twist—when she debuted it as her rst hotel in 2011.

“Everything is intentional,” she says as she walks the grounds of her estate, which she has renamed the Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé. The baron’s former retreat is a mammoth 45,000 square feet, yet Holthus has recon gured it to have just 17 guest rooms. The property’s stables—which once held that secret cache of Louvre masterpieces—have become a grand ballroom with custom Pierre Frey velvet drapes, herringbone oors, and crystal chandeliers hung from 21-foot-tall ceilings. The chapel has become a bar and lounge, and the baron’s bedroom is now a suite that includes a private library and its own salon. The original Jean-Baptiste Pillement chinoiserie paintings—many discovered behind painted wood panels erected to hide them from Nazis—have been faithfully repaired. But amid all that restoration is reinvention, too. Eighteenth-century portraits hang next to abstract French oil paintings from the 1950s, and a gilt bergère, located in one of the Pied-à-Terre Suites, has been upholstered in a vivid contemporary oral print by Jean Paul Gaultier. The chinoiserie paintings, meanwhile, are the backdrop to minimalist sofas by French furniture brand Roche Bobois. “I want guests to feel like a nobleman in a nobleman’s home,” says Holthus. “I’m also trying to translate the Baron de Lucé’s vision for the 21st century.” It’s as if the baron and Holthus are kindred spirits— with the latter evolving the work of the former. “I think we would have gotten along quite well,” she posits. Only, in this version of the story, the château’s master is sticking around long enough to enjoy it. ■

Hotel Château du Grand-Lucé, chateaugrandluce.com

THE BARON LIVES ON Hotel Château du GrandLucé is lled with artifacts of the historic estate’s past, from original chinoiserie paintings to a dashing portrait of the baron himself.

“THERE IS A WHOLE CLASS OF LUXURY TRAVELER THAT CAN’T FIND WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR AT THE BIG -BOX HOTELS.”

The Mane Event

From equine meditation to happy hour with a herd, horse experiences are the new wellness craze and have tremendous healing benefts.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

Riding the trail at Unbridled Retreats at The Alisal

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THERE’S NO DENYING THE BOND between horses and humans runs deep. There’s evidence ancient people began stabling and riding horses more than 6,000 years ago, and, one could argue, no animal has been more key to our survival. Horses have been used in war, hunting, as a means of transportation and for companionship.

As prey animals, horses survive through being alert, intuitive and sensitive to their surroundings. As a result, experts insist, they’re among the most intelligent and empathetic creatures on earth.

While using horses for therapy is not a new practice, it’s become more mainstream in the last fve years. Practitioners and wellness resorts ofer activities where clients get out of the saddle and onto the ground to interact with horses in more meaningful ways than a typical trail ride or lesson. Experiences like a horse painting exercise or an emotional one-on-one coaching session in a round pen can help heal fear and trauma, even spark creativity.

According to Devon Combs, founder of the Coloradobased Unbridled Retreats program for women, it’s natural to fear a 1,200-pound being. Still, when humans let down their guard and show vulnerability, horses almost always respond kindly. “A yoga mat’s not giving you feedback, but a horse can,” she says.

Here are four ways to experience the healing power of horses, from a day trip to Sonoma to a family-friendly program at a pastoral Central California resort.

Miraval Arizona

At Miraval Arizona’s (from $1,009 a night per person; equine experiences from $105; www.miravalarizona.com) picturesque

Purple Sage Ranch, surrounded by the Sonoran Desert and the coral-tinged Catalina Mountains, guests are greeted by friendly, free-roaming horses. A pioneer in incorporating horses and wellness, the renowned destination spa outside Tucson has ofered equine experiences for 25 years.

The program has evolved over the decades, and in all activities, horses have “a voice and a choice,” says Miraval

Arizona Equine Program Manager Lucinda Vette, a lifelong horse lover who realized she needed to make a career change after working as a stressed-out attorney.

“Horses invite us to face our fears, to connect with our deepest joys and sorrows and to feel it all,” says Vette. While classes are scheduled, most take place without restraints and encourage interacting with horses in their natural state. Some oferings include horse painting (guests use the side of a horse as their canvas), equine meditation where clients are invited to emulate a horse’s mindful presence; and the private or semiprivate Cadenced Connection class. While on a horse, guests will learn to guide and communicate — all without reins — and achieve physical, emotional and psychological balance.

“When we learn to listen to horses, it is really about hearing ourselves more deeply,” Vette adds.

Unbridled Retreats

Unbridled Retreats (from $2,995 per person for a shared room; www.unbridledretreats.com) founder Combs, who struggled with eating disorders and depression during her teens, says equine therapy saved her life. Combs grew up around horses, but it was a one-way street; she showed them to get a blue ribbon. At a treatment center in Arizona that ofered equine therapy, a therapist welcomed Combs into a round pen with a horse loose in the middle. Combs strutted in confdently, and the horse turned away.

“The therapist said, ‘Stop trying so hard; stop trying to control the situation. Just breathe,’ ” recalls Combs. She began crying uncontrollably. The horse locked eyes with her, walked toward her and put his head against her chest.

“When I was messy and imperfect. That’s when the horse connected,” says Combs. At the deeply immersive threeand four-night retreats she ofers, she’s seen moments like this play out time and again. “This is for people who want something with emotional healing, transformation and fun,” says Combs.

Retreats take place at partner resorts such as the family-owned White Stallion Ranch near Tucson, an authentic “dude ranch” where activities might include rounding up cattle, Santa Barbara’s Alisal Guest Ranch, which has cottages and suites with stone freplaces and luxurious linens, and starting in 2022, the adults-only Sensei Lanai, a Four Seasons Resort in Hawaii.

Guests can participate in hands-on group activities, one-on-one coaching, line dancing and social hour, and horseback riding (although entirely optional). Combs says whatever you learn on the ground can be taken into the saddle as well. The next Unbridled Retreat takes place February 17 through 20 at White Stallion Ranch.

Carmel Valley Ranch

Helping people feel joy again after the trauma of the last two years is part of Carmel Valley Ranch’s new Equine Experiences program’s mission (from $325 a night; equine experiences from $135; www.carmelvalleyranch.com). Launched this past June and led by Robert G. Magnelli, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist known as “the Horseman,” and his wife Nancy, a pediatric nurse, several programs are ofered daily.

James Baigrie Courtesy of The Alisal

Unbridled Retreat at The Alisal

A labyrinth at Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa

In “Getting to Know the Herd,” children and adults observe how horses socialize and interact, then make a nutritious treat out of carrots and apples to present to the ranch’s fve friendly therapy horses, Valentina, Bella, Diva, Vincenzo and Geronimo, before departing. During the 21-and-over “Equines and Wine,” guests let their worries dissolve while spending time with the herd, glass of robust red wine in hand. Ranch guests often choose to hike up to the hilltop barn and corral, with views of green rolling hills blanketed with organic gardens and vineyards. Magnelli earned his certifcation from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association in 2003 and has helped thousands of children, teens and adults fnd new emotional health tools through working with horses. He marvels at how guests often arrive hesitant and standofsh but leave grinning from ear to ear.

“There’s science behind it all,” says Magnelli, who points to research out of HeartMath Institute near Santa Cruz that shows a horse’s electromagnetic feld is fve to 10 times the size of a human’s.

“Being with animals, dogs, cats, horses, is healing, period. Our heart rate diminishes, but horses have greater power,” Magnelli says.

Equi-Sense

Marin residents can schedule a healing horse-centered day trip in Sonoma with Equi-Sense (hour-long sessions from $0 to $150 on a sliding scale; www.equi-sense.org) for a closerto-home option. Equi-Sense ofers horse therapy sessions for

individuals and groups at pretty farms throughout Sonoma County such as Giddy Up Ranch in Santa Rosa and Hillcrest Farms in Occidental. In this aviary sanctuary, fve rescued cockatoos and a parrot mingle with goats and equines.

Erica Tom, the director of Native American Studies at Sonoma State University, founded Equi-Sense in 2018; she’s had a passion for horses since she was young and even studied the positive impacts working with horses has had on prisoners and police ofcers. Her business has doubled in the last year as the pandemic has taken a toll on mental health and wellbeing. She serves a diverse clientele, from frst responders to foster children and everyone in between.

“Some clients come specifcally to process trauma, while others may be interested in learning more about horses, and ultimately, themselves,” says Tom.

Tom’s horse Indigo was rescued with the support of a sponsor after a family could no longer keep her. The American Paint with one blue eye and one brown eye is uniquely suited to her therapeutic role. Whether working with a small child or the elderly, Tom says, she is protective and drops her head low to watch over them.

“She’s had hard times in her life, too. It feels like an honor that she is still open and willing to connect with people. She has the biggest heart,” Tom says, adding that she also hopes to bring a wild mustang she’s working with into the program eventually. Sessions are diferent for everyone and might include grooming, deep breathing and body language, and riding.

Stephanie Russo

Equine Experiences at Carmel Valley Ranch

Homes Built for the Future

Round Barn by City Ventures, a new community of solar-powered townhomes for sale in Santa Rosa’s desirable Fountaingrove neighborhood, is surrounded by natural beauty. Combining farmhouse architecture with modern amenities, Round Barn plants homeowners in serene Sonoma County next to many places of employment, verdant vineyards and rolling hills, but with convenient access to downtown Santa Rosa.

Attainable

Unlike its pricey metropolitan neighbors, the Santa Rosa area is an affordable place to live. At communities like Round Barn by City Ventures, home buyers can find four-bedroom townhomes with amenities like a pool, trails, great schools and views of the surrounding hills for prices from the low $600,000s, making living here a very attractive alternative for young people, retirees and even those wanting a second home in wine country.

Sustainable

City Ventures Green homes are some of the most energy efficient on the market, and there is no extra fee to achieve low energy use. Round Barn townhomes have NEST Thermostats, ENERGY STAR Appliances and are pre-plumbed for ALL-ELECTRIC car charging. Residents with a green thumb will have access to a garden area. These homes are built for the future.

Communal

Round Barn is not just a home base, it’s a vibrant community with an outdoor space for guests to relax and spend time with friends. Nearby downtown Santa Rosa is undergoing a renaissance with the galleries and shops on Fourth Street, the coffeehouses and art galleries of South of A Street (SOFA) district and the antique shops and historic buildings of Old Town. Surround yourself with natural beauty and a communal feel in Santa Rosa.

Find community and a sustainable and attainable lifestyle in the heart of wine country.

Life Disrupted

These immersive retreats are giving guests the tools to make lasting life changes.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

Courtesy of SHA Wellness Clinic

THE WORD TRANSFORMATIONAL is thrown around a lot these days in the health and wellness space. Who doesn’t want to transform something in their lives, whether it’s their health, mental state, career or all of the above? The period of extreme change we’re experiencing collectively may have only exacerbated this desire. Many wellness resorts claim to ofer dramatic results through life-altering, immersive experiences and treatments, but how many of them deliver? Here are fve wellness retreats, and one soon to open, using everything at their disposal, from stunning natural settings to cutting-edge medical advances, to ofer guests the most profound gift, the opportunity to emerge a better, healthier and more balanced version of themselves.

Castle Hot Springs

Location: 50 miles outside of Phoenix

Healing philosophy: A digital detox retreat with therapeutic soaking. All accommodations are screen-free (even the Wi-Fi password “areyousureyou wantto” encourages unplugging), and Castle Hot Springs’ world-class mineral hot springs date back 13,000 years.

Atmosphere: Down a dusty dirt road against the Bradshaw Mountains, Castle Hot Springs (from $1,500 per night; www. castlehotsprings.com) channels the Old West. Wild burros roam the desert landscape strewn with steep canyons and saguaro cactus, and the yellow Cape Cod–style lodge, where JFK famously recuperated from injuries sustained in World War II, feels very turn of the 20th century. The hotel opened in 1896 and became the winter retreat of choice for America’s most famous industrial families such as the Vanderbilts, Astors, Wrigleys and Roosevelts, who came to soak in the healing thermal waters. With three bluish-green pools surrounded by lush palm trees, Castle Hot Springs feels like a hidden paradise. A fre shuttered the resort in 1976, and it remained closed until a Phoenix couple revamped and reopened it in 2019. The accommodations, 30 new cabins and bungalows, are midcentury-meets -Southwest with the exception of a 100-year-old restored cottage.

What to book: All the buzziest treatments are ofered, from energy healing

SHA Wellness Clinic

to gua sha, but Castle Hot Springs excels at customization. The signature massage is designed to address each guest’s specifc needs and preferences, and therapists will employ specialized techniques to achieve the desired outcome. Guests can add things like a stimulating scalp treatment and gemstone collagen mask designed to repair skin on a cellular level.

Other perks: There are telescopes outside rooms, bungalows for nighttime stargazing and outdoor stone tubs plumbed with hot springs water with all guest suites.

SHA Wellness Clinic

Location: Alicante, Spain, about an hour and a half south of Valencia

Healing philosophy: Achieving optimal physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing through healthy nutrition, holistic therapies and preventive medicine.

Atmosphere: Overlooking Altea Bay and a 13,000-acre conservation area known as Serra Gelada Natural Park, SHA

The Gold Standard of Wellness Coming Soon to Coachella Valley

Technology pioneer Larry Ellison and physician and scientist Dr. David Agus are opening their second Sensei retreat and frst mainland location later this year in Rancho Mirage, California. Sensei Porcupine Creek (www. sensei.com) will convert a 230-acre private estate next to the Santa Rosa Mountains into an ultra-luxury well-being experience. Like Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort in Hawaii, the retreat will have a state-ofthe-art diagnostic center, yoga and ftness pavilions, a swimming pool and the restaurant Sensei by Nobu. Preventive health science, data and research will inform treatments that aim to improve everyday living.

Wellness Clinic (from $4,390 for a sevennight program; www.sha wellnessclinic.com) is surrounded by the natural beauty of the Mediterranean. According to the World Health Organization, the region’s climate is one of the most optimal for good health. The clinic’s austere modernist architecture is softened with hanging gardens draped over terrace edges, and there are multiple water features, including a swimming pool with a waterfall. SHA is the result of a transformative personal experience. After years of medical issues, founder Alfredo Bataller Parietti recovered his health thanks to integrative medicine and healthy nutrition. The SHA method combines medical advances with dietary reeducation and natural therapies intended to improve longevity.

What to book: A bit of a commitment, SHA ofers a variety of health programs from seven to 21 days, including Optimal Weight and Healthy Aging and the more demanding Detox designed to purify the body of toxins. The program includes a personalized food and

Courtesy of The Wilde Resort

The Wilde Resort

health plan, bioenergy assessment, hydrotherapy and medical services like an oxidative stress test. SHA has also introduced a program for those who have recovered from COVID-19 but are still experiencing long-term efects.

Other perks: Healthy nutrition is at the core of the SHA experience. In the Chef’s Studio, guests learn to prepare veggie-flled, energy-boosting Japanese and Mediterranean meals that they can incorporate into their daily routine. The restaurant SHAmadi serves healthy haute cuisine where even desserts like carrot cake crumble with coconut cream contain zero sugar, dairy, egg or gluten.

Blackberry Mountain

Location: In the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, 40 minutes southeast of Knoxville

Healing philosophy: Using art, adventure and the healing environment of

the mountains to improve body, mind and spirit.

Atmosphere: On verdant Chilhowee Mountain, Blackberry Mountain (from $845 per night; www.blackberry mountain.com), the sister resort to famed culinary destination Blackberry Farm, comes with everything a mountain retreat might: mist-covered valley views, thickly wooded hillsides and a feeling of serenity. The Lodge and Hub (which has an art studio where activities might include pottery and basket making, a yoga loft and a climbing wall) are mid-mountain while accommodations are in various settings. There are Treehouses shrouded in a forest, Stone Cottages that hug the mountainside and Watchmen Cabins at the mountain’s peak near the Firetower restaurant in a restored 1950s lookout.

What to book: From LED light therapy to nervous system resets, treatments at Blackberry Mountain are anything but run-of-the-mill. At the spa, called the

Nest, therapies include perfectly paired experiences like Create, where guests try out aerial yoga and watercolor meditation and leave feeling freer and more joyful. The high-performance Alpha Beta + Vitamin C Brightening Facial aims to repair the efects of sun damage and reverse aging through a professional peel system and a collagen-building eye treatment.

Other perks: With 5,200 acres to explore, hiking is a must. Trails crest rocky ridgetops and snake down into cool, damp creek bottoms. For an adrenaline-fueled experience, the Arbor Adventure is a guided ropes course between three custom-built treehouses.

The Wilde Resort

Location: Sedona at the base of Thunder Mountain

Healing philosophy: Rugged beauty and mysticism combine for a rejuve-

Courtesy of Cal-a-Vie Health Spa

Cal-a-Vie Health Spa

nating experience at The Wilde Resort (from $219 per night; www.thewilderesort.com), where East-meets-West spa treatments are focused on healing and spiritual growth.

Atmosphere: Formerly known as the Sedona Rouge, The Wilde reopened with a new look and name in September 2021. The lush green grounds with a labyrinth, gardens and courtyard planted with Italian cypress trees contrast with the red rock formations that surround it. The Wilde Haven Spa — where local healers perform specialty bodywork, lead meditation, qi gong and yoga nidra with sound bowl healing — has outdoor soaking tubs and seating areas for quiet contemplation. The 105 simplebut-tidy guest rooms sport jewel-toned colors and Southwestern motif pillows.

What to book: The mountains, vortex sites and local plants and vegetation inspire many spa treatments at The Wilde; it’s also a place to connect with your inner Zen. During the traditional Japanese Mountain & Sea bathing ritual, spa goers are bufed with wild cherry rice, followed by a soak in a

hinoki mint mineral bath and a massage with kinoxei lime and plum blossom. Other perks: Often a hub of activity, which may or may not be what you’re after, the Wilde ofers stargazing, cocktail classes, Native American fute blessing ceremonies and storytelling around the fre pits.

Cal-a-Vie Health Spa

Location: Vista, just north of San Diego Healing philosophy: Cal-a-Vie Health Spa (from $5,050 for three nights; www. cal-a-vie.com) combines luxurious European spa philosophies with the California concepts of ftness, health and nutrition to help guests achieve attainable goals and optimal health.

Atmosphere: The property’s owners are true Francophiles who want guests to feel they’ve been transported to the South of France. The destination spa’s 500 acres are planted with felds of fragrant lavender, citrus groves and vineyards. The proprietors even imported a 400-year-old chapel, parsonage and l’orangerie from Dijon, France (the space is used for events),

and furnished interiors with authentic French antiques. Cal-a-Vie ofers three-, four- and seven-night spa vacation packages, including gourmet cuisine, with over 160 ftness classes, hiking, beauty and spa treatments, mind-body awareness programs, lectures, guest speakers and accommodations in 32 private villas.

What to book: While the place doesn’t look like a medical spa, many Cal-a-Vie treatments go way beyond massages and facials. Guests can get wellness injections and try out Feldenkrais, a movement discipline that can help with pain relief. To go a step further, book a full-body cryotherapy treatment in which guests are immersed in a chamber fooded with extremely cold air for one to three minutes. The treatment help ease muscle pain and promote faster healing after injuries. The CBD-infused Cafe Noir Slimming Wrap exfoliates the skin to help reduce the appearance of cellulite and scars.

Other perks: Cal-a-Vie has pickleball courts and an antique store exclusively available to guests as well as an 18-hole golf course.

Courtesy of Castle Hot Springs

voyager.

Castle Hot Springs

A Guide to Growth

An innovative wellness brand’s one-of-a-kind desert retreat helps guests make meaningful change.

By Casey Hatfeld-Chiotti

Chris Simpson

AS I PASSED THROUGH THE TALL WOODEN GATE of Sensei Porcupine Creek (from $1,415 per night single occupancy with a two-night minimum, www.sensei.com), a new wellness retreat at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains in Rancho Mirage near Palm Springs, a man waiting at the entryway encouraged me to roll down my window and “breathe in the sights and sounds” as I made my way up to the resort’s Estate House. The babbling sound of water, the fresh pulmeria-perfumed air and lush green landscape — an emerald green golf course peeked out from behind 40-foot-tall date palms and foss silk trees with hibiscus-like pink fowers — immediately put me at ease.

I had come to Sensei Porcupine Creek in search of a more mindful health and ftness routine. My busy life had made workouts sporadic, and I yearned to be active like I once was. Sensei seemed like the right place to begin making changes. It was created by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Dr. David Agus, a leading physician and scientist who makes frequent appearances as a contributor on CBS News. The loss of a close friend brought the two men together on a path to form an evidence-based wellness brand that might truly help people live longer and healthier lives. Sensei Porcupine Creek general manager Julie Olif, who worked for several luxury hospitality companies before Sensei, confessed to me that she pursued the brand persistently before getting hired.

“I was looking for something with a higher calling. That’s what we do, ‘luxury with a mission,’ ” she says.

Sensei Porcupine Creek opened on Ellison’s former private estate, a 230-acre property with an almost mythical reputation, in November. Hikers could see what certainly appeared to be a mirage planted with more than 4,000 palm trees from the popular Santa Rosa Mountain trails above, but never enter. It was inviteonly, and tennis players like Rafael Nadal have played on the clay and hard courts built to match nearby Indian Wells Tennis Garden’s professional courts, and presidents have reportedly played on the stunning 18-hole golf course. Palm trees — there are more than 30 varieties at Porcupine Creek

— that are past their prime are simply moved but never discarded, and the golf course has more blades of grass per square inch then Augusta. “I went to University of St Andrew’s in Scotland, and that’s the holy grail of golf, but this golf course has a soul,” says Olif.

Sensei Porcupine Creek ofers retreat packages ranging from two-night stays to longer fve-night Optimal Wellbeing Retreats and 30-day long sabbaticals. More in-depth experiences begin with a My Intention session where a Sensei Guide discusses a guest’s well-being goals and collects baseline markers like blood pressure and body composition and does a functional movement screen. My guide, Nick, an upbeat physical therapist certifed in strength training and conditioning whose smile seemed to begin at the corners of his eyes, explained the Sensei philosophy of Move, Nourish and Rest are the three key pathways to establishing a healthy lifestyle. With a large graphic showcasing the paths on a screen, he described how one can have a “domino efect” on the others in both good and bad ways. He asked if there was one that was more of a catalyst for me, and I struggled to answer. I landed on “Rest” as being the most important, explaining that if I didn’t get enough sleep, I could be more sluggish and prone to eating poorly and skipping workouts.

While I’m not a morning person, I woke up the next morning at 6 to join Nick for a hike. We started by doing some basic movement like fexing and circling ankles, a step I nearly always skip. We trekked up a steep trail to a

Sensei Porcupine Creek’s inviting pool

lookout point where we could take in views of the Coachella Valley before heading back down. I felt energized at breakfast; the smooth cup of cofee and bright avocado toast with fufy egg whites sprinkled with za’atar seemed a worthy reward for my early morning eforts. In the afternoon I did a rigorous vinyasa fow class in a light-flled yoga pavilion next to the swimming pool, but the yoga instructor told me even short yoga and meditation sessions several times a week would help me establish a meaningful practice. After an omakasestyle dinner at the Sushi Bar — Sensei’s menus are a collaboration between Dr. Agus and chef Nobu Matsuhisa, whose celebrity-beloved brand is known for blending Japanese and Peruvian cuisine — my eyes futtered into sleep around 9 p.m., and I slept soundly and deeply.

The next day I had a VO2 Max assessment with Nick to evaluate my heart rate baseline and maximum, which I hoped would help me understand my ftness level and ways to improve. I wore a heart rate monitor and breathing apparatus hooked up to a high-tech Cardio Coach device and ran on a treadmill until I reached

my anaerobic threshold — the highest sustained intensity of exercise for which oxygen uptake accounts for the entire energy requirement. I went from a brisk walk to sprinting and was breathing heavily when I reach my threshold at around six minutes. My results showed that my body used oxygen efciently and was able to quickly recover. Nick explained, “Once your body has been there, it doesn’t have to work so hard to get back.”

Sensei Porcupine Creek is the frst retreat to be fully operated by Sensei. It’s more intimate than Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort, Agus and Ellison’s frst retreat, which opened on the Hawaiian island in 2019 with just 22 accommodations including guest rooms, casitas and villas. Low-slung buildings feel vaguely Tuscan on the exterior (terra-cotta tile roofs and stone walls), but more contemporary in the interior with high ceilings, hardwood foors and neutral cream and ivory textiles and furnishings.

While the Sensei Way is efective, it isn’t extreme or trendy. There is no green juice on the menu (Sensei experts say research shows juicing strips out

vital fruit and vegetable fbers). Menus can be customized but there isn’t a strict detoxing focus. “Everything in moderation” seems to be the Sensei motto and its superpower.

During my retreat there were many opportunities for nourishment, from the light-yet-favorful meals (melt-inyour-mouth toro carpaccio with capers and rib-eye sliders with Maui onions and honey trufe aioli were a few highlights) as well as mindfulness sessions like a sunset open-air meditation and rejuvenating spa treatments. During a gua sha facial a therapist rhythmically massaged my face with a cool rose quartz tool used to drain my lymphatic system and lift skin. The sublime Calming Body Cocoon began with dry brushing. Then my therapist massaged sweet and earthy scented melted sandalwood wax into my skin. While wrapped in blankets and towels with a soft heating pad on my stomach, I slipped into a deep state of relaxation. The thought-provoking art on the property also feeds the soul, including Robert Indiana’s “ONE through ZERO,” composed of 10 brightly colored six-foot-tall numbers representing the stages of life — the work’s intent is to encourage guests to ponder and enjoy every stage.

During my fnal session, Nick asked me if I had a better sense for which pathway was my frst domino and I said without hesitating, “Move.” It was clear that movement was essential in helping me establish healthier habits in all areas. It helped me sleep and eat better. The retreat had helped change my perception of what a workout could look like, and I realized more consistent but moderate movement — stretching for 10 minutes in the morning or a 30-minute jog at a moderate pace — were healthy and attainable goals for me to set.

When I got home, I enjoyed the weekend with my family, but also made an appointment to do a Sunday morning Pilates class, something I would have easily put of in the past. After class my mind felt clearer and my mood was elevated. I knew I had what I needed to tackle the busy day ahead.

Noah Webb (this page); Chris Simpson (opposite)

voyager.

One of the resort’s villas

An aerial view of the property