A Weekend Spa Trip within the Misty Costa Rican Mountains

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Last updated Nov 26, 2022

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A Weekend Spa Trip within the Misty Costa Rican Mountains

Written by: Megan O’Neill

Printed on: November 24, 2022

They are saying it takes a complete week to completely unwind on trip, however clearly “they” have by no means spent a weekend at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, a spa lodge excessive within the thick-with-mist Talamanca Mountains of Costa Rica. You sleep in a country casita—a fantasy of large slouchy baskets, artisanal ceramics, wooden accents juxtaposing prospers of glossy marble, and large home windows overlooking 180 acres of flowering panorama overrun with hot-pink hummingbirds and uncommon butterflies. You maintain head-clearing Ashtanga poses in a stunning open-air yoga pavilion. And whenever you order a cocktail—I requested for one thing faintly smoky and negroni-ish—it arrives in what seems like a steam-shrouded jewellery field. Inside an hour of touching down (the 30-minute personal airplane trip to the property from the airport is an exhilarating approach to expertise Costa Rica’s lusciously inexperienced panorama), I used to be firmly in trip mode, fully untethered from my earthly worries.

Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts

B Yoga
The B Mat – Sturdy 6mm
goop, $96
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Anissa Kermiche
Jugs Jug
goop, $460
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J’Jute
Allora Diagonal Basket – Giant
goop, $268
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Maybe nothing put me proper into the second like floating within the rejuvenating waters at The Well, the property’s spa paradise perched on the high of a winding path edged with espresso crops and colourful blooms. (Simply the stroll to get there out of your casita is sufficient to make you fall in love with the place, particularly at evening, when there are a trillion stars glinting above you.) The supreme pampering begins whenever you step into Casa de Agua, the serene, sky-high-ceilinged epicenter the place you may splay out on colossal slabs of heated marble in your bikini whereas a spa attendant slathers you head to toe in an exfoliating natural concoction and regionally sourced mineral-rich clay. I lay there like a lizard on a sun-warmed rock, getting up every so often to sip some backyard tea and pop gooseberries into my mouth; somebody had stealthily positioned a bowl of them close to my gown.

Methods to Do Hydrotherapy and Exfoliate for Glow at Dwelling

Foaming Physique Polish for Supple Pores and skin

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GOOPGLOW Microderm On the spot Glow Physique Polish
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Psyche-Soothing Magnesium-Salt Bathtub

de Mamiel
Soothe Bathtub Soak
goop, $96
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Pink-Salt Shampoo for Shiny Hair

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G.Tox Himalayan Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo
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(Salon-Stage) Hair Masks

Crown Affair
The Renewal Masks
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Replenishing Face Mist

Mary Allan Skincare
Infused Magnificence Water Regenerating Mist
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Final Pores and skin Detox

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G.Tox Final Dry Brush
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Radiance-Boosting Secret Weapon

Radiance-Boosting Secret Weapon
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GOOPGLOW Microderm On the spot Glow Exfoliator
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When the herbs and clay had labored sufficient of their skin-smoothing magic, I rinsed off and spent the subsequent hour earlier than my scheduled therapy oscillating between the heated jet pool and the massive, cooler tranquility pool. It seems hydrotherapy is a robust antidote to email-body (the stiffening of the limbs from an excessive amount of time hunched over a pc). Simply after I thought I couldn’t luxuriate any more durable, my therapeutic massage commenced: a 90-minute haze of hurts-so-good kneading and euphoric scalp therapeutic massage. Afterward, I stumbled—blissed out—to the aromatherapy steam room, earlier than heading again to dress for dinner. (Warning: Going to The Effectively at Hacienda may need perpetually ruined me for all different spas. Fortuitously, The Effectively has areas in Manhattan and Washington, Connecticut.)

Grano—one among 5 on-site eating places—is cozy and superbly adorned with plush pillow-padded cubicles, large home windows, fairly wallpaper, and a virtually prehistoric-size cornucopia of Costa Rican fruits which you could’t assist however marvel at (and fondle) whenever you stroll in. The vibe is glossy for positive, however there’s no want to decorate to the nines—I felt vacation-chic in a swishy skirt with a contact of smudgy eyeliner and dabbed-on sheer lip coloration.

G. Label by goop
Devin Crop High
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Rigby Circle Skirt
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Jillian Dempsey
Khôl Eyeliner
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Westman Atelier
Lip Suede
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The menu itself is cause sufficient to return to Hacienda. South African chef Liezl Odendaal will get 90 % of the menu’s ethically sourced components from Costa Rica (sure areas are categorized as Blue Zones). Each dish that comes out of her kitchen explodes with flavors and textures but nourishes deeply and is generally freed from refined sugar and gluten (Odendaal depends on plantain, yuca, coconut, and chickpea flours). Get the arroz con pollo—pan-fried natural rooster breast with creamy cashew-nut sauce, black beans, and rice crisps made with turmeric rice—and the seared Pacifico linefish with savory coconut choka and lemony oxalis leaves. The steamed blue-corn rolls had been by some means pillowy and healthful (for as soon as, I didn’t miss standard flour), and the avocado ice cream got here bathed in mariola honey. (Stingless mariola honeybees are distinctive to Costa Rica and Central America; their honey is especially excessive in antioxidants and infrequently used medicinally.) Odendaal additionally makes the in-room snacks—decadent nut-and-honey bars, purple-corn bizcochos, and sunflower-seed cocoa truffles. (Notice: If you wish to discover ways to cook dinner like her, the lodge runs wonderful culinary workshops.)

goop Dwelling
10-Piece Cookware Set
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La DoubleJ
Apron
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Il Buco Vita Assisi
Nested Oval Platters, Set of three
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goop x Social Research
Secret Backyard Dinner Plate
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The cocktails are their very own little masterpieces. There’s a menu, however the mixologists can actually off-road, translating an incoherent request like mine (“Mmmm, one thing smoky, candy but in addition savory, and powerful however not hangover-forceful?”) into an imaginative, fully unique drink you’ll need to re-create at house.

Tom Dixon
Tank Whiskey Glass, Set of two
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Reflections Copenhagen
MAYFAIR SHORT CRYSTAL GLASS,
SET OF 2
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One morning we set off down a jungly path on a bird-watching hike; the yellow-headed caracara and grey-cowled wooden rail had been beautiful, and the caña agria, with its ruffled magenta head, was essentially the most showstopping blossom I’ve ever seen. On one other morning, we sipped mugs of the creamiest cashew-milk scorching chocolate (as thick because the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing unit) whereas steeping in a secluded, vine-tangled river bathtub, a carved-from-the-rocks pool full of fire-heated, herb-infused water from Rio San Ignacio, which meanders by way of the property. I by some means forgot my bikini and ended up skinny-dipping (you may simply inform the spa attendant to maintain the world personal).

Clevr
Sleeptime SuperLatte Equipment
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Mazama
Crater Lake Mug
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My husband then went off to a serene poolside restaurant for exquisitely seasoned ceviche, whereas I did a espresso tasting on the attractive Mercado (Hacienda can also be a espresso farm). Two phrases: tahini espresso. So silky and subtly candy, it’s now my favourite approach to make espresso at house. I make a cup of espresso (the pour-over set from Pala, under, is sensible, and the country sample lights up any kitchen), let it cool barely, and dump it, together with a tablespoon of natural tahini—I just like the one from Seed + Mill—into my blender. The ensuing frothy, caramel-colored caffeinated elixir doesn’t even want oat milk.

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Honest Commerce Specialty Espresso
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Pala Ceramics
Carafe & Pour Over Espresso Set
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Richard Brendon
Pinstripe Mug
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What different habits did I carry again with me from Costa Rica? I take longer pauses to take heed to the birds exterior my window. I make a batch of chef Odendaal’s honey-nut granola bars on Sundays so my family is supplied with healthful snacks for the week. I’ve dipped additional into gluten-free baking. And I remind myself day by day that breaks and trip—whether or not which means stopping work early to do yoga in my bed room or just instating a no-phone rule for my subway commute house—are a stupendous necessity.

My Spa-Trip Packing Necessities

It’s releasing to carry only a carry-on, so I take solely issues that may sail proper previous TSA.

Vintner’s Daughter
Lively Botanical Serum
goop, $195
Replenishing after a jungle hike and glow-boosting. That is the one face oil I want—on trip and past.
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Tower 28 Magnificence
ShineOn Milky Lip Jelly in Pistachio
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Sheer, moisturizing, and glossy however not too shiny, and with the cutest packaging.
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YINA
Divine Bio-Cellulose Masks
goop, $85
Delivers a surge of hydration—it’s essentially the most soothing pores and skin rehab after a day within the solar.
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Manta
Pink Hairbrush
goop, $30
The one brush that may slice by way of my curls and snarls. I apply it to moist hair within the bathe. And it’s lighter than you may consider.
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MAKANAI
Hand-Crafted Face Cleaning soap
goop, $40
This beautiful charcoal cleaning soap is unbelievable for greasy pores and skin varieties like mine. And the attractive wrapping will be reused in case your cleaning soap isn’t too moist.
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GOOGLOW Darkish Spot Exfoliating Sleep Milk
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I easy this on proper earlier than mattress and—at all times—get up with noticeably clearer, smoother pores and skin.
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