Rancho La Puerta: Siempre Mejor Means Always Better
Rancho La Puerta, founded by Edmond and Deborah Szekely in 1940, is the original destination fitness resort and spa and remains family-owned and operated. Today's guests enjoy the very best resort spa experience, shaped by expertise developed over 65 years. So it should come as no surprise that Rancho La Puerta is a nominee for a Luxist Awards' Readers' Choice Award for Best Extended-Stay Spa.
Each week, some 150 guests share 3,000 acres of mountains and meadows beneath 3,885' Mount Kuchumaa and where the meandering Kumeyaay Creek meets the Tecate River. The peak straddles the U.S.-Mexico border, and Native Americans consider its slopes and summit a sacred place - so much so that it was the first geographic feature in the U.S. to be named a National Historic Site by the Department of Interior based on spiritual significance.
Rancho La Puerta, which is located in Tecate, Mexico (a 45 minute drive southeast of San Diego) offers 32 acres of gardens, hiking trails, an organic farm, several pools, extensive spa and fitness facilities, a salon, individual casitas for guests, a large dining hall, gift shop, and an intimate library -- as well as numerous inviting lounges and conference rooms.
All facilities and land are for the exclusive use of its guests who come for the week, arriving on a Saturday and departing on the next, ensuring the delights of a warm and welcoming community. Activities range from
Most of Rancho La Puerta's facilities and lodgings are sprinkled amidst world-class gardens. One of the world's first "eco" resorts, the Ranch practices sustainable organic gardening and resource conservation, and leads the way in environmental protection and education efforts in the region.
Within walking distance, is Rancho La Puerta's organic farm, Rancho Tres Estrellas, a six-acre farm that produces organically grown vegetables, herbs, and fruit used by Rancho La Puerta's chefs. Rancho Tres Estrellas also presses olive oil from organically grown olives, and distill or dry herbs for culinary, aromatherapy, and skin-care use. Nearby is Rancho La Puerta's new culinary center, La Cocina Que Canta and Las Piedras Environmental Education Center and Parque Professor (Professor's Park), both built by the Szekely family as gifts to the community of Tecate.
One unique feature that Rancho La Puerta offers is a personalized fitness concierge service. A health and fitness staff expert is available to meet with each guest at no charge soon after their arrival and will help plan the week. They will help the guest navigate the myriad of classes, exercise genres and regimens available during each guest's stay.
The resort offers what it calls "Fitness Weeks" which are different classes every hour on the hour, with four to 10 options every hour during a typical day. The variety of fitness classes and activities are unparalleled in the spa/fitness resort world. Evening entertainment and lecture series offers several options each night at 8:00 pm after dinner.
Rancho La Puerta is renowned for freshly picked produce and nutritious natural foods and offers a superb all-natural diet that is low in fat, sodium, and refined flour and sugar, while high in energy, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.
The Spa offers three health and beauty centers, each staffed by skilled estheticians and therapists who have been widely trained, often in several disciplines. Treatments use aromatic and medicinal herbs and other healing plants grown in the organic gardens at Tres Estrellas.
Guests stay in casitas, with no two being alike. Accomodations, which range in size from 470 square feet to 900 square feet are on ground level and open onto adjacent gradens and large patios. Accomodations include living room-like sitting areas, desks, fireplaces (in most), other standard amenities and are decorated with Mexican folk art. All rooms have a reverse-osmosis-filtered drinking water.
A "Fitness Week" plan includes seven nights/eight days, with arrival on Saturday, departure on the following Saturday. It also includes scheduled roundtrip transportation between San Diego Airport and Rancho La Puerta on Saturdays, and three gourmet spa meals plus two snacks and all beverages daily. Rates start at $2,980 per person, based on double occupancy, or $3,615 for single occupancy (February 20 through June 5, 2010. Rates start at $2,715 per person, based on double occupancy, or $3,290 for single occupancy (June 12 through August 28, 2010 while rates from September 4 through the week of December 25 start at $2,855 per person for double occupancy and $3,540 for a single.
Cast your vote for your favorite spa until March 31st. Winners will be announced on April 1.
Most of Rancho La Puerta's facilities and lodgings are sprinkled amidst world-class gardens. One of the world's first "eco" resorts, the Ranch practices sustainable organic gardening and resource conservation, and leads the way in environmental protection and education efforts in the region.
Within walking distance, is Rancho La Puerta's organic farm, Rancho Tres Estrellas, a six-acre farm that produces organically grown vegetables, herbs, and fruit used by Rancho La Puerta's chefs. Rancho Tres Estrellas also presses olive oil from organically grown olives, and distill or dry herbs for culinary, aromatherapy, and skin-care use. Nearby is Rancho La Puerta's new culinary center, La Cocina Que Canta and Las Piedras Environmental Education Center and Parque Professor (Professor's Park), both built by the Szekely family as gifts to the community of Tecate.
One unique feature that Rancho La Puerta offers is a personalized fitness concierge service. A health and fitness staff expert is available to meet with each guest at no charge soon after their arrival and will help plan the week. They will help the guest navigate the myriad of classes, exercise genres and regimens available during each guest's stay.
The resort offers what it calls "Fitness Weeks" which are different classes every hour on the hour, with four to 10 options every hour during a typical day. The variety of fitness classes and activities are unparalleled in the spa/fitness resort world. Evening entertainment and lecture series offers several options each night at 8:00 pm after dinner.
Rancho La Puerta is renowned for freshly picked produce and nutritious natural foods and offers a superb all-natural diet that is low in fat, sodium, and refined flour and sugar, while high in energy, fiber, and complex carbohydrates.
The Spa offers three health and beauty centers, each staffed by skilled estheticians and therapists who have been widely trained, often in several disciplines. Treatments use aromatic and medicinal herbs and other healing plants grown in the organic gardens at Tres Estrellas.
Guests stay in casitas, with no two being alike. Accomodations, which range in size from 470 square feet to 900 square feet are on ground level and open onto adjacent gradens and large patios. Accomodations include living room-like sitting areas, desks, fireplaces (in most), other standard amenities and are decorated with Mexican folk art. All rooms have a reverse-osmosis-filtered drinking water.
A "Fitness Week" plan includes seven nights/eight days, with arrival on Saturday, departure on the following Saturday. It also includes scheduled roundtrip transportation between San Diego Airport and Rancho La Puerta on Saturdays, and three gourmet spa meals plus two snacks and all beverages daily. Rates start at $2,980 per person, based on double occupancy, or $3,615 for single occupancy (February 20 through June 5, 2010. Rates start at $2,715 per person, based on double occupancy, or $3,290 for single occupancy (June 12 through August 28, 2010 while rates from September 4 through the week of December 25 start at $2,855 per person for double occupancy and $3,540 for a single.
Cast your vote for your favorite spa until March 31st. Winners will be announced on April 1.
