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A Weekend Spa Vacation within the Misty Costa Rican Mountains
Written by: Megan O’Neill
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Published on: November 24, 2022
They say 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 modern marble, and massive 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 while you order a cocktail—I requested for one thing faintly smoky and negroni-ish—it arrives in what appears like a steam-shrouded jewellery field. Within an hour of touching down (the 30-minute non-public aircraft experience to the property from the airport is an exhilarating solution to expertise Costa Rica’s lusciously inexperienced panorama), I used to be firmly in trip mode, utterly untethered from my earthly worries.
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B Yoga
The B Mat – Strong 6mm
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Anissa Kermiche
Jugs Jug
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J’Jute
Allora Diagonal Basket – Large
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Perhaps 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 vegetation and colourful blooms. (Just the stroll to get there out of your casita is sufficient to make you fall in love with the place, particularly at night time, when there are a trillion stars glinting above you.) The supreme pampering begins while you step into Casa de Agua, the serene, sky-high-ceilinged epicenter the place you’ll be able to 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 domestically 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.
How to Do Hydrotherapy and Exfoliate for Glow at Home
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Foaming Body Polish for Supple Skin
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GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant Glow Body Polish
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Psyche-Soothing Magnesium-Salt Bath
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Soothe Bath Soak
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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-Level) Hair Mask
Crown Affair
The Renewal Mask
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Replenishing Face Mist
Mary Allan Skincare
Infused Beauty Water Regenerating Mist
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Ultimate Skin Detox
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G.Tox Ultimate Dry Brush
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Radiance-Boosting Secret Weapon
Radiance-Boosting Secret Weapon
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GOOPGLOW Microderm Instant 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 following hour earlier than my scheduled remedy 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). Just after I thought I couldn’t luxuriate any tougher, 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 Well at Hacienda may need ceaselessly ruined me for all different spas. Fortunately, The Well has areas in Manhattan and Washington, Connecticut.)
Grano—one in all 5 on-site eating places—is cozy and fantastically adorned with plush pillow-padded cubicles, large home windows, fairly wallpaper, and a virtually prehistoric-size cornucopia of Costa Rican fruits which you can’t assist however marvel at (and fondle) while you stroll in. The vibe is modern 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.
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The menu itself is motive sufficient to return to Hacienda. South African chef Liezl Odendaal will get 90 p.c of the menu’s ethically sourced substances from Costa Rica (sure areas are categorized as Blue Zones). Every dish that comes out of her kitchen explodes with flavors and textures but nourishes deeply and is usually 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 typical 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 sometimes used medicinally.) Odendaal additionally makes the in-room snacks—decadent nut-and-honey bars, purple-corn bizcochos, and sunflower-seed cocoa truffles. (Note: If you need to learn to prepare dinner like her, the lodge runs superb culinary workshops.)
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goop Home
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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Secret Garden 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, something smoky, sweet but also savory, and strong but not hangover-forceful?”) into an imaginative, utterly authentic drink you’ll need to re-create at dwelling.
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Tom Dixon
Tank Whiskey Glass, Set of two
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Reflections Copenhagen
MAYFAIR SHORT CRYSTAL GLASS,
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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 sizzling chocolate (as thick because the chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) whereas steeping in a secluded, vine-tangled river tub, a carved-from-the-rocks pool stuffed with fire-heated, herb-infused water from Rio San Ignacio, which meanders by means of the property. I by some means forgot my bikini and ended up skinny-dipping (you’ll be able to simply inform the spa attendant to maintain the world non-public).
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Clevr
Sleeptime TremendousLatte Kit
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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 beautiful Mercado (Hacienda can be a espresso farm). Two phrases: tahini espresso. So silky and subtly candy, it’s now my favourite solution to make espresso at dwelling. 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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Fair Trade Specialty Coffee
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Pala Ceramics
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Pinstripe Mug
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What different habits did I carry again with me from Costa Rica? I take longer pauses to hearken to the birds exterior my window. I make a batch of chef Odendaal’s honey-nut granola bars on Sundays so my family is provided 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 dwelling—are a fantastic necessity.
My Spa-Vacation Packing Essentials
It’s liberating to carry only a carry-on, so I take solely issues that may sail proper previous TSA.
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Vintner’s Daughter
Active Botanical Serum
goop, $195Replenishing after a jungle hike and glow-boosting. This is the one face oil I would like—on trip and past.
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Tower 28 Beauty
ShineOn Milky Lip Jelly in Pistachio
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YINA
Divine Bio-Cellulose Mask
goop, $85Delivers 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, $30The solely brush that may slice by means of my curls and snarls. I apply it to moist hair within the bathe. And it’s lighter than you’ll be able to imagine.
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MAKANAI
Hand-Crafted Face Soap
goop, $40This beautiful charcoal cleaning soap is unimaginable for greasy pores and skin sorts like mine. And the beautiful wrapping could be reused in case your cleaning soap isn’t too moist.
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GOOGLOW Dark Spot Exfoliating Sleep Milk
goop, $98/$89 with subscriptionI easy this on proper earlier than mattress and—at all times—get up with noticeably clearer, smoother pores and skin.
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