Cal-a-Vie Health Spa

The Andaz was originally built as part of the 1913 World’s Fair, and today, it’s one of the swankiest places to stay in downtown San Diego. All 159 rooms are sleek and modern, but if you can swing it, the Cabana Suite, with its private outdoor pool, is the way to go. The hotel has a great restaurant, STK (if you’re smart, you’ll get the Parmesan truffle fries), and an even greater rooftop bar, which has flatbread pizzas, burgers, fries, a killer drinks menu, and an astounding view of the city.

If staying at the Fairmont Grand feels like staying at the home of an eccentric millionaire friend who lives on the Mediterranean, that’s precisely the point. The hotel is in Del Mar, which is about half an hour from downtown San Diego, but between the hotel’s Center for Wellbeing (a world-class spa), eighteen-hole golf course, and in-house restaurant, Addison (the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the city), any commuting you have to do is worth it. The 249 rooms and suites have marble bathrooms, enormously inviting bathtubs, balconies, patios, stellar views, and

The first thing to know is that everyone calls this 130-year-old resort on Coronado, across the bay from downtown San Diego, Hotel Del. Dropping the last word will make you sound like a local. The rest of what you need to know about Hotel Del centers around the fact that this is the historic, destination, grande dame hotel. Three discrete stark white buildings with striking red roofs, twenty-eight acres, half a dozen restaurants (ranging from fine dining to a taco stand), cabanas, golf, a salon, a spa, ballrooms, events, and lawns so vast and manicured as to be called grounds—Hotel Del is the rare enormous resort that maintains a sense of history, dignity, and elegance. And all of that on one of the most pristine stretches of Southern California beachfront. The kids will love it as much as their parents.

Palisociety’s first San Diego property is housed in the Gaslamp Quarter’s century-old Hotel St. James. You’ll likely hear the buzz of the city from your room, but you’ll also be within walking distance of the waterfront and dozens of restaurants, bars, and shops. (Ask the incredibly warm and helpful staff if you need recs.) We suggest stopping by the in-house restaurant, Saint James French Diner, at some point during your stay to enjoy homey French classics—we’re still thinking about their perfectly airy chocolate soufflé.

Tucked into the hills overlooking some the lushness of the California coast, The Park Hyatt Aviara is the kind of staycation destination that feels entire worlds away. And while the nearby town of Carlsbad and surf-friendly ocean are worthy draws, the resort has made it its business to offer guests every creature comfort imaginable, so there's no need to venture far. The immaculately manicured Spanish-style property is home to an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, multiple tennis and pickleball courts, two pools (the kid's pool plays host to themed activities, movie screenings, and more), and a fully decked out fitness center. If you’re looking for a more intensive approach to incorporating wellness rituals into your life, the Miraval Life in Balance Spa employs a knowledgeable team of fitness and wellness instructors who run a daily roster of private and group classes, from aerial yoga to sound bowl meditations and guided hikes.

Originally opened in 1963, the hotel has gone through many updates, expansions, and iterations since. Today, the Rancho Bernardo Inn includes 287 rooms, an eighteen-hole golf course designed by William Belle, and a handful of open-air bars and cafés. But it has a wonderfully intimate side, too. Avant, the star restaurant here, focuses on a local, artisanal food. Guest rooms have private balconies and patios, custom artwork, and beds to rival the softest in the world. And then there’s the spa with its poolside cabanas, private outdoor casitas, a saltwater waterfall, a tranquil garden (perfect for a light lunch from the spa menu), and all the natural and organic treatments you can imagine.

Forty-five pristine, highly manicured acres of gardens, olive groves, and luxury: That’s Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in a nutshell. The forty-nine suites are more like private casitas. And the amenities are plentiful: private gardens and patios, fireplaces, beds with astronomically high thread counts, espresso machines, marble bathrooms, plunge pools, the paper delivered to your door, and gorgeous views of the surrounding canyons (if you can call Mother Nature an amenity). The food is spectacular, the spa is one of the best we’ve ever tried, the private cabanas are dreamy, and everything about the resort—which is the only Relais & Châteaux hotel in Southern California—is truly sublime.

The rooms at this downtown boutique hotel are on the small side, but the design is so chic and the level of luxury so high, you won’t care. The building dates back to the 1920s and has all the romantic details of the era. Inside, the space is modern and inviting but in a way that respects its past. The Guild Bar and Luca, the hotel’s fantastic restaurant, are the kinds of places you want to dress up for (craft cocktails, red velvet lounge chairs, gilded details). But the star of the hotel may be the Grace Garden and courtyard—a charming place to forget you’re in the middle of downtown.

There's a special synergy between bustling urban energy and laid-back California cool found in downtown San Diego, and this hotel—a completely fresh boutique concept emerging from the Montage’s luxury umbrella—occupies a corner spot that's right in the middle of it all. Moderately sized with a totally non-corporate feel, the bedrooms are done in a spectrum of beachy patterned blues and textured whites: azure plaid sofas against light-blue drapes and crisp bedding, for example. This retreat-like aesthetic is brought home by luxe touches like silky Lunya bathrobes and particularly beautiful subway-tiled bathrooms. The Pendry is within walking distance to some of the city's best restaurants and bars. If you don't want to leave the grounds over the weekend, the picture-perfect rooftop pool offers some of the best views in the city, while the adjacent restaurants, Lionfish and Provisional, serve up excellent seafood and steak, and fresh California dishes, respectively.

The US Grant was built in 1910 and still has the imposing manner and enormous, stately grandeur of an earlier era. The rooms and common areas are comfortable and spacious, if a touch impersonal (don’t expect a lot of original artwork or photography books piled on coffee tables here). Located smack in downtown San Diego, the US Grant is the perfect launchpad for an evening strolling the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s vibrant and buzzy downtown district. The hotel’s Art Deco Grant Grill is a solid choice for dinner, but in this neighborhood, the whole point is to venture out.

The Born and Raised website is a single picture of a raw T-bone. That’s it. In other words, if you’re a vegetarian, skip ahead to the next listing. On the other hand, if you enjoy caviar, a New York strip, a side of crispy smashed potatoes, and a cold martini, this is a meal for the ages. Born and Raised is an event—the place seats 250 people. But it’s somehow intimate at the same time: leather banquettes, marble tabletops, brass details, all with a cool Art Deco vibe. Then there are the tableside carts where servers prepare things like beef tartare or another round of martinis in front of you. It’s as decadent as it gets. After a night here, we always feel like watching L.A. Confidential again.

A night in Little Italy can easily start (and occasionally end) at Craft & Commerce—and that’s a very good thing. The gastro pub has a hipster Brooklyn vibe down to the exposed-brick wall, wood-beam ceiling, well-stacked bookshelves, and ambitious displays of taxidermy. Chef Ted Smith has created a menu that’s heavy on meat and vegetables (this is not a seafood place), and the charred eggplant dip, wood-fired carrots, and burrata and goat cheese tart are all fantastic. The drinks and desserts are all stellar, but save room for an after-dinner drink at the hidden tiki bar False Idol. Just open the steel door to the walk-in cooler. You’re getting warmer.

Chef Brad Wise has made this Mission Hills restaurant a destination among people who really care about eating well. The menu is one part raw bar (oysters, clams, Alaskan King crab) and one part things that can be cooked in the wood-fired oven (branzino, grilled prawns). There are more-conventional plates as well, but watching an order of carrots blister and blacken in the open oven is a big part of the magic here. Come on a winter’s night, sit at the bar, and let the fire warm you inside and out.

Herb & Wood is as much the name of this Little Italy restaurant as its design ethos, with its wooden plank ceiling (inside and out), generous greenery, and plant-forward menu. To be fair, the menu is pretty fish- and meat-forward, too, which means this place suits everyone. Chef Brian Malarkey’s menu changes frequently, but expect things like crispy potatoes with lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan as well as mushroom truffle pizza with goat cheese and a festive drink menu with feisty cocktails like a Bourbon & Honey with chili oil. Then expect to stay a while—Herb & Wood makes for a delightful evening.

If you are the Michelin-starred chef behind the best restaurant in Calabria, the only logical next step would be to open in San Diego, right? Well, sì—at least if you are Luca Abbruzzino. Abbruzzino brought the first Michelin star to the toe of Italy with his skill in taking classic Calabrian ingredients and turning them into modern works of art. And now he and his father, Antonio, are taking that same approach to Il Dandy—as in spaghetti with sea urchin, cherry tomatoes, and Calabrian chili and sea bass with escarole, capers, and lemon. Il Dandy, with its high ceilings, airy feeling, and ocean-blue accents, is elegant but not stuffy, and a meal here is next-level—the quality of the food and presentation aren’t things you see every day (or really, every year). Although San Diego and Calabria may be unintuitive sister cities, they actually have a lot in common, specifically: a beautiful coastline, a lot of seafood, and now, an award-winning Italian chef.

French food through the lens of Southern California: That’s the gist of Jeune et Jolie. The food is like the space: beautiful, thoughtful, and special. Make a reservation and come early. That way you can grab a seat at the raw bar, order some oysters and mussels, and peruse the drink menu. They call their cocktails “exploratory,” but don’t be scared—they just want you to know the drinks are inspired by the Belle Epoque. If you’re feeling it, order from the absinthe menu and brace for impact. Equally exciting is something called a Madagascar (a concoction built on peanut butter brandy and vanilla honey), or play it safe with the wine list. When it’s time to eat, we highly recommend the pain et beurre (yes, the bread and butter—but not just any bread and butter: rich, pillowy milk bread and perfectly executed baguette with a side of Normandy butter). Then try the scallops with sunchokes. And don’t leave until you get the mille feuille au chocolat or the citron vacherin. Oh hell, get them both—and the vin santo. This place is that special.

A hidden tiki bar sounds like something you’d find at an amusement park, but designer Ignacio Gonzalez took every step to make sure that the False Idol tiki bar was cool, thoughtful, and anything but cheesy. But first you have to get there. The entrance to the bar is hidden within Craft & Commerce. (Look for the steel door to the walk-in cooler—the human skulls inside really set a mood—then open the second door, which is the actual entrance.) The inside will leave you speechless—and make you feel as if you’re underwater thanks to the colorful glass buoys suspended from the ceiling in a fishing net. Then there’s the waterfall, the authentic Polynesian art and memorabilia, the elaborate wood carvings, the skulls on spikes, and the occasional fireballs: It’s an inspired sensory overload. And we haven’t even mentioned the cocktails. If you’re overwhelmed, order a Panther’s Fang (rum, honey, lime, club soda) and take it all in.

Tucked into Mission Hills, Heartwork is a neighborhood coffee bar. It does its own roasting and leans heavily into small-batch, locally made pastries and snacks. The vibe is quiet and chill, perfect for a stop if you’re passing through the area. Before you leave town, grab a bag of the beans—the Costa Rica blend is a favorite.

A hipster, industrial space with a garage door, free Wi-Fi, and a highly curated, artisanal approach to coffee—that’s the essence of this coffee shop, which would be just as at home in Brooklyn as it is in Encinitas. The space is small, but it has its own roastery, and the baristas are highly knowledgeable about all things coffee. Stroll in on the later side if you can: It may be in a sleepy little beach town, but this place gets packed in the morning. Image courtesy of Kai Diaz.

Having a drink at Raised by Wolves feels a little like you might be having a drink at the Gare du Nord a hundred years ago. The marble floors, antique cash register, domed glass ceiling, gilded barstools, velvet armchairs in the library, moody lighting: It all conspires to make you feel as if you’re in an Agatha Christie novel and there’s a steam engine train nearby. The drink menu is extensive—over a dozen pages before you even get to the wine—so if you’re overwhelmed, ask one of the skilled bartenders for a suggestion. Or keep it simple and order a glass of champagne.

We were captivated by the heavy wooden door and almost heavier lion’s head knocker. But once we came inside, we were in love. There’s something very creepy cool about The Lion’s Share—the moody lighting and velvet drapery, the taxidermy and unsettling paintings of animals presented in an uncanny-valley sort of way (like the water buffalo wielding a knife). Even the menu, with its old-fashioned, vaguely haunted imagery, sends a shiver down our spine. Try the County Cork (twelve-year-old whiskey, sherry, Grand Marnier, and orgeat) and a meat and cheese board. That’s only to start—the food is out of this world, so leave time for a few courses.

The view from the Nolen is so vast, it’s hard to be believe you’re only fourteen stories above downtown San Diego. On a clear day (which is most days here), you can see the Gaslamp district, Petco Park, and all the way to the Coronado Bridge. But the Nolen is worth it even in the rain: The drinks game is solid (we love the Damnit Janet—a mix of vodka, rose water, watermelon, and lychee), and the warm, salty, delicious snacks will inspire you to make a night of it. Or a day, in fact. The Sunday brunch is one of the best in San Diego.

If you’re gluten-free, cover your ears. There are bakeries, and then there is Wayfarer. Wayfarer is the creation of Crystal White, who worked at Tartine in San Francisco before opening what is arguably the best bakery in San Diego. Small-batch loaves (olive, sourdough, baguette, the usuals) and pastries (apple jam and hazelnut croissants are as good as they sound) are the raison d’être here. But there’s also a selection of sandwiches and salads, and every Wednesday is pizza night. Plan accordingly, people.

You’re only about seventeen miles from the border, a fact that is apparent everywhere from the food to the language. And one of the most authentic places to dive into Mexican culture is Artelexia, a boutique and event space that specializes in beautiful, highly curated wares from all over Mexico. Cookbooks, dishes, chocolates, textiles, toys, cutlery, ornaments, candles—it’s far more a lifestyle shop than a souvenir one. It hosts dinners and events all year (and can even help you plan a trip south of the border), but Artelexia really comes to life in the late fall during the Día de los Muertos festival.

You know those surf shops that make you consider being a surfer for a minute? Hansen is one of them. If you’re serious about the sport, you’re covered—from boards and leashes to wet suits and wax. If you’re more into surf culture than actually standing on a board, you’ve covered, too. Hansen also stocks shoes, hats, bikinis, and all the trappings of someone who spends a lot of time at the beach.

Pigment is one of those stores that makes us want to throw out everything in our home and start over. Beautiful artisanal candles you’d have a hard time finding anywhere else, elegant prints that would elevate any living space, pillows, throws, stationery, notebooks, cutting boards, cocktail glasses—Pigment speaks to the good life, and a well-curated one at that. But where Pigment really thrives is with its greenery. All manner of pots, plants, succulents, and flora that look more like pieces of art than pieces of nature. You can also design your own terrarium, which—no lie—was the most fun we’ve had in a long time.

A small floral shop in the North Park area of San Diego, Sage Sisters focuses on quality and seasonality over volume. The careful selection of flowers is constantly changing, and no two bouquets are ever the same. But the overall aesthetic doesn’t change: natural, unpretentious designs that lean into the season. The best part of Sage Sisters, though, is that any flowers that aren’t sold by the end of the day are made into arrangements and donated to local nonprofits.

Calling Balboa Park a park is like calling One World Trade Center an office building. These 1,200 acres include over a dozen museums, several performing art spaces, gardens, trails, and perhaps most notably, the famous San Diego Zoo. (The zoo doesn’t get the highest ratings for humane treatment of its animals, so we skip that part.) You can easily spend a morning, an afternoon, or both here. And if you’re with children, you can’t go wrong at the Natural History Museum or the Modern Railroad Museum.

The Gaslamp Quarter is not unlike a miniature New Orleans (and in fact, this is where the city throws its Mardi Gras parade): a historic pocket of downtown full of Victorian-style buildings, bustling sidewalks, late-night revelers, and restaurants that stand cheek by jowl next to bars that spill onto the street. This district is the epicenter of nightlife in this city. Given the fame and popularity of the Gaslamp Quarter, it can get pretty touristy, and one of the best places to take it all in is from a rooftop bar, like the one at the Andaz Hotel. Sit by the firepit, order a wild mushroom flatbread pizza and something called a Smoky Ginger (like a smoky margarita with ginger), and listen to the sounds of the city coming to life after sunset.

La Jolla Playhouse comprises three theaters on the campus of University of California San Diego. It’s basically a miniature Lincoln Center with a reliably good selection of plays and musicals. Many well-known actors—Matthew Broderick, Laura Linney, Neil Patrick Harris, and Billy Crystal to name a few—have gotten their start at the La Jolla Playhouse and the quality of the performances never disappoints. Go early to have dinner at James’ Place beforehand—the preshow menu is full of crowd-pleasing options. Whatever you’re seeing, we’ll wager it’ll be more enjoyable with a lychee elderflower martini and beet and blue cheese salad beforehand.

Picture 25,000 square feet of Maine lobster and craft beer and live music and New York pizza and food trucks and happy hour and art exhibits and handmade ice cream and picnic areas and Bangkok street food and Italian soda and fresh-made popcorn. Now you have scratched the surface of Liberty Public Market. The marketplace, a collection of local food vendors and artists, is in Liberty Station, a grand and imposing building in Point Loma. The space is as impressive as the shops that fill it—plan to spend at least an afternoon here.

One of the most pedestrian-friendly areas in San Diego, Little Italy is a charming jumble of bars, trattorias, shops, and markets—and it’s one of those rare neighborhoods that’s as lively during the day as it is in the evening. Spend the day window-shopping and checking out the local galleries, stop for a virtuous lunch at Café Gratitude, stroll down to Waterfront Park, and should the afternoon bleed into evening, you’re perfectly positioned to treat yourself to a cheese tray and a glass of Verdicchio at Enoteca Style wine bar (which is as much a name as it is a design aesthetic).

Whether or not you’re a San Diego Padres fan and whether or not you’re even a baseball fan, it’s hard to resist the charms of sitting outside at twilight, drinking a cold beer, and watching the sun set over the city. Petco Park, located right in downtown San Diego, is the Padres home stadium, and it’s occasionally used for events and concerts. Whatever you go for, try to make it a late-afternoon event—watching dusk settle on the city from here is lovely.

Torrey Pines is 1,500 acres of pure, pristine, untouched California. This nature reserve is right on the water and delivers some of the prettiest views you’ll find anywhere in the state. First the bad news: This is a reserve, not a park, which means you can’t bring food or drinks inside, so no picnics. (No pets are allowed in the reserve, either.) But the good news is you won’t really care. The reserve is so full of hikes and trails and cliffs and places to explore, it feels like a vacation within a vacation. If you have kids, this place is heaven (actually whether or not you have kids, it’s pretty much heaven): There are deer, rabbits, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, lizards, snakes, opossums, bobcats, and all kinds of insects—so watch your footing. The reserve is open every day of the year from 7:15 a.m. to sunset.

We’ve heard great things about this recently revamped spa, which comes complete with onsite Japanese gardens: If possible, you'll want to check-in for a full week, and accordingly, a full reset, thanks to a daily menu of exercise and spa treatments. Styled after a Japanese “ryokan” or inn, the rooms here all resemble traditional Japanese houses—with an impressive collection of art and antiques from the 18th century to match. The decorations are simple, with sliding doors, dark wood, and Asian-influenced accents. While weight loss isn’t necessarily the goal of a stay, bring running shoes, as there’s a packed schedule of hikes, yoga, and fitness classes to choose from. The Golden Door is meant to be place for detoxing both mind and body, and the food is accordingly local, organic, and healthy—so much so, that you may even spend time in the vegetable garden picking your own greens.

Chill out surrounded by lush, tropical gardens at this historic Maui compound and learn to live Aloha for a while. Here you can practice mindfulness, learn to meditate, take an aromatherapy class–or learn about the land through their horticulture programs. The beauty and serenity of the island attracts yogis of all disciplines and from all over the world to practice, so check the calendar for upcoming retreats and workshops. You'll leave feeling completely refreshed.

A week-long holistic retreat on the beach, The Pearl offers guests a luxurious way to detox and decompress with daily hikes, yoga, and restorative massage, as well as introductions to new practices like Tai Chi or chakra balancing. After a week of clean eating, days full of exercise, quality time in nature, and lots of sleep, you'll leave here feeling lighter in every sense of the word.

When you find yourself reaching for your iPhone to check emails in the middle of the night, it's time for The Ranch. This weeklong boot camp in Malibu encourages you to power down, let go of stress, and break less-than-healthy habits. Every day starts with several hours of hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, and guests clock up to 60 miles a week. That has benefits for the body, yes. And if you’d like, the practitioners here will do a cholesterol check and body scan at the beginning of your program and again at the end. But all that physical exertion is mentally and emotionally cathartic, too.

When Larry Ellison bought the Hawaiian island of Lanai—the red clay, mountains, mist, palms, and Cook pines make it unlike anywhere else in Hawaii—he partnered with doctor and biomedical researcher David Agus to turn the island’s inland Four Seasonsinto a spectacular destination spa, Sensei.

Less is more when it comes to this detox program in Desert Hot Springs, California. Check in for three, six, eight, or more days and prepare for many, many beverages (green drinks, fresh juices, hot tea, soups, detox drinks, and water), along with colonics and massages every day. Read a book or relax by the pool while your body cleanses and recalibrates. There are yoga classes, sound baths, Reiki, nutrition classes, and more on the roster. And if you'd like, you can add a bit of therapeutic pampering to your stay with a mud wrap or lymphatic stimulation. Though there's also nothing wrong with just taking a lot of naps and hanging out in the infrared sauna.

Though a weekend at Canyon Ranch is arguably about exercising restraint, there’s nothing spare about this wellness retreat, which is situated in a gorgeous, fully-restored 19th-century manor nestled in the Berkshires. The understated rooms here are designed to be relaxing, and to that end, there’s not much to distract you from your weekend of centering and healthy living. That’s no problem, though, since you won’t be spending much time in them: Days at Canyon Ranch revolve around the spa, working out, and a wealth of activities, including cross-country skiing. There are about 50 classes on the roster, along with myriad pools, a full gym, and assorted extras like a ropes course and squash courts. When you’re not working out, you might be taking a cooking class or learning how to diagnose your dreams. The food is healthy, but it’s also delicious—and all-you-can-eat.

Situated on a lavish estate outside downtown Miami, the Pritikin has all the creature comforts of a luxury hotel, which is good considering you’ll likely find yourself beat after a day packed with exercise classes, lectures, nutrition demonstrations, and spa visits. The one- and two-week programs are popular choices for those looking for an intense overhaul. Meanwhile, the Family Health Camp gets the whole family involved, and the center also offers nutrition-centric programs that focus on teaching healthy cooking skills.

Shou Sugi Ban House is the kind of destination spa—on three acres of lush Hamptons woodland—that you visit to skip the socializing and reset. The programming here is relaxed: Guests bounce between thermal pools and enjoy a lengthy menu of massages, scrubs, wraps, baths, and facials. There’s a roster of wellness treatments focused on present-moment awareness and healing emotional wounds. A roster of visiting holistic experts and healers keeps the programming fresh, and the property blends so discreetly into the surrounding landscape, you can barely tell it’s there—which is entirely the point. And the restaurant is so good, we wouldn’t bat an eye if someone told us they came for the food alone.

If you’re looking for an escape to a luxury spa, you may want to look elsewhere, but if you're up for a rustic retreat that really lets you focus on resetting your well-being, Canyon Ranch in Tucson is an excellent choice. They have wonderful roster of in-house experts—from spiritual gurus, to fitness instructors—and a varied weekly schedule of group classes and events--everything from spinning, yoga, circuit training, mind-body-soul workshops, etc. Canyon Ranch has a casual atmosphere—you won’t need to bring much beyond your workout gear, and when you get there, the absence of bells and whistles is refreshing. The Arizona desert locale is vast and serene. There’s a two-mile loop of the campus, which you can walk or run (best early in the a.m. before the day heats up) that shows off the area’s incredible array of desert plants. If you want a guided nature tour, they have morning walks, hikes on the surrounding trails, and river-path bike rides. We suggest having a packed schedule so you can go to bed with that all-over, deep-good-tired feeling. While the food program isn't the most revolutionary of its kind, you won't go hungry.

The same way the spiritual vortex of Sedona draws seekers, it draws healers—and you can work with the best of them at Mii Amo. For 3, 4, 7, or 10 days—no more, no less—visitors follow personalized programs designed by a guide. Depending on a guest’s needs, a journey might include traditional spa offerings, like enzyme wraps and lymphatic facials, as well as specialty services, like shirodhara and Reiki healing. Spiritual treatments—meditation, hypnosis, past-life regression, and more—can be emotionally intense and incredibly cathartic. During downtime, you might explore intuitive watercolor, hikes in the canyon, dry sauna, or private pickleball lessons.

Tucked into the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Miraval Arizona is a one-stop shop for all things wellness. This 400-acre desert retreat is the kind of place you can go on a girls' getaway or a solo journey—and return home feeling totally reset. The guest rooms and villas have recently had their own reset, of sorts—the design weaves in the fabric of the surrounding Sonoran Desert with natural fibers, wood and stone textures, and big French doors that take full advantage of the views. In early 2018, Miraval is launching the Retreat—a collection of 22 residences equipped with indoor-outdoor showers, a private pool or spa—each designed for larger groups traveling together, or those seeking a bit more living space. The rugged, cacti-dotted terrain is the backdrop for a host of activities, including horseback riding, hiking, and botany-focused tours. The spa, with its army of healers, wellness practitioners, and massage therapists—is obviously the main draw. And all programs are fully customizable: Guests can begin their morning with reiki, try an aerial yoga session in the afternoon, and wind down with a hot stone massage in a temperature-controlled outdoor tent.

Forty minutes from downtown on a particularly spectacular bend in the river, Lake Austin is as amazing a day spa as it is an overnight retreat. Either way, you can use all the spa facilities, the restaurant (many ingredients come from an on-site organic garden) and participate in daily fitness activities from water yoga in the stunning, barn-enclosed warm pool, paddle boarding, and hikes to river-based workouts). There are more than 100 services on the extensive mind- and body-nourishing spa menu—everything from standard Swedish to Chinese-medical cupping treatments—with specific options for mothers-to-be, couples, and groups. The facials are particularly incredible: herbal enzyme peels, fractionated laser treatments, and luminizing vitamin C therapies, plus specific options for mothers-to-be, couples, and groups. Post-treatment, you can lounge by the series of swimming pools in the large hillside garden.

More active vacation destination than full-on wellness retreat, Red Mountain Resort sits just a stone's throw from several national parks (the sweeping views of red cliffs and the surrounding wilderness from the mountain-view rooms are worth the splurge) and is ideal for anyone looking for a bit of adventure rather than an all-day spa deal. Retreat packages can be customized to address any number of needs, from boot-camp level ass-kicking, to daily gentle yoga, to consultations with a shaman. For sustenance, there’s Canyon Counter for quickie meals and room service, or Canyon Breeze restaurant, where the largely gluten-free menu is healthy but not detox-level (you’re free to have coffee at breakfast and wine with dinner). Also worth mentioning: the resort is famously welcoming to pets.

Eat, pray, and love your way to wellness at this palatial mountain estate in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. For those curious about yoga, meditation, Vedanta, or Ayurveda, it's a magical wonderland where you can experience a variety of disciplines and learn from a range of philosophies every day. You'll be present to the history and tradition that surrounds you with every view of the Ganges, each meal prepared in accordance to the Dosha, and every walk through the palace grounds. You can read more about this magical place, here.

Three hours from Bangkok along a beachy stretch of coast, the Chiva-Som spa staff greets you with lemongrass tea, a cold towel, and a garland of jasmine and roses. You can relax here. This wellness retreat opened nearly 30 years ago, and it remains one of the world’s best.

With an emphasis on holistic wellness, this stunning retreat calls upon certified specialists in yoga, Pilates and qigong, to personalized mountain biking, hiking and circuit training guides. In the Estate's main kitchen, you can design your own three-course menu (go for an authentically Indonesian dish) to cook with chef. During your stay, you’ll likely live at Glow, an all-day restaurant/café serving pressed juice, organic salads, and fresh Mediterranean fish.

Joali Being, on its own private island in the Maldives, has a guiding philosophy of weightlessness. Here, that means letting go of your regular habits for a more intuitive way of life. It’s easier to sacrifice your attachments here, digital or otherwise, and it’s no mystery why: The island, covered in immaculate palm groves and dotted with modern Maldivian architecture, is so beautiful that you wouldn’t want to miss a moment. There’s an antigravity yoga pavilion, immersive wellness experiences, therapeutic and alternative healing therapies, an herbology center, a hydrotherapy hall that includes a sensory-deprivation room, sound therapy hall, and more.

Kamalaya, on the lush Thai island Koh Samui, combines Eastern and Western medical treatments for as full a reset as you want. When you’re not busy with past-life regression therapy, Reiki, sound baths, herbal soaks, and massages for everything (head, hands, feet, you name it), spend some time floating around the verdant grounds: You’ll find coastal yoga pavilions, cold-water plunge pools, otherworldly steam rooms, and a contemplation cave once used by Buddhist monks.

Located inside the ancient walled city, steps from the Mehrangarh Fort, this was once the home of a Rajput aristocrat. Built in the traditional Haveli style, with multiple stories constructed around a courtyard, the original carved stone panels and antique shrines of the thirty-nine suites and common areas, including a breathtaking pool, were carefully preserved during renovation. The elevated position over Jodhpur lends a panoramic view of both the old and new cities. For a complete reset, the Ila Spa at RAAS Jodhpur is an Ayurveda-centered healing retreat. Try the Ky Nye, a treatment meant to balance the five elements (earth, wind, fire, water, and ether), using five essential oils and a combination of massage and acupressure, while crystals and herbal poultices are placed along your meridian energy lines to ease tension.

A short flight from Delhi in Dehradun, India, each guest at Six Senses Vana is supported in developing their own wellness experience, incorporating aspects of yoga, sowa rigpa (traditional Tibetan medicine), Ayurveda, spa treatments, and exercise to reach a place of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance. A big part of one's personal program could be simply to relax—if that's the case, definitely muster up the energy to stroll through the forests, gardens, and orchards; they are gorgeous.

The entire team of wellness specialists at Ann Wigmore’s eponymous Natural Health Institute in Puerto Rico is well-trained in her revolutionary approach, which lauds the use of wheatgrass and “living foods” (strictly organic, raw, plant-based, and nutrient-rich foods) for nourishing and ultimately healing the body. While the accommodations are comfortably minimal, the beachside grounds make for an idyllic setting for the one-week intensive and two-week immersive programs—all of which are supplemented by customizable treatment plans of colonics, lymphatic massages, and more. You’re likely to feel an instant transformation but the institute’s goal is long-term education, effectively preparing graduates of the program to maintain the lifestyle back at home.

Sitting on 3,000 acres of ancient sacred grounds at the foot of Mount Kuchumaa in Tecate, the ranch has been welcoming those seeking a head-to-toe reboot since the ‘40s. Unlike a hardcore medical spa, the focus of a basic seven-day retreat is on spiritual wellness and gentle de-stressing by way of diet (there’s an organic farm and a cooking school on site), rigorous physical activity, mindful meditation, and a slew of world-class treatments performed at one of three stunning organic spa complexes. For more intense healing, there’s acupuncture, chiropractic services, Craniosacral therapies, and more.

Fun and cleansing don't have to be mutually exclusive. There are plenty of activities to keep your mind off the detox process during this week-long retreat in bohemian hot spot Sayulita, Mexico. The menu for the week is planned to ease you in and out of two days of a liquid diet so it helps to have a packed schedule with yoga, massage, hiking, Pilates, Crossfit, acupuncture, and clay treatments with breaks built in for juices, snacks, and meals.

Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains are home to two-toed sloths, vibrant pink hummingbirds, and hill after hill of coffee farms—and Auberge resort Hacienda AltaGracia. You could, if you wanted to, come here just to hang in the spacious casitas and enjoy the resort’s leafy, vivid-green surroundings. But we’d argue the real magic happens at the destination-worthy spa, The Well.

The only advice we have to those seeking to push themselves through the original back-to-basics boot camp? Stick it out. The seven days of crazy-long hikes, intense workouts, and a cleansing, vegetarian diet will be hard work, but it will also whip you into shape. Not for the faint of heart (or the fussy), this no-frills, no-excuses program is no less grueling (or cushy) than at its original location in Calabasas, California—but the fact that it's in Mallorca definitely makes it more palatable.

From the outside, this massive Swiss chateau looks pretty storybook, but inside, there's serious healing going on. The in-house doctors and therapists customize every wellness program—points of focus include everything from basic stress relief to careful post-op care—to revolve around taking in its prized, anti-inflammatory thermal spring waters—by way of pools, steam rooms, and saunas. They're pumped in from an ancient gorge and are said to ease everything from arthritis pain to eczema.

Dr. Joshi's clinic is one of our first ports of (detox) call in London. In addition to colonics, Dr. Joshi also offers a pretty in-depth list of other wellness-centric services including personal training, massage, Endermologie, and his signature twenty-one-day nutritional plan, which are all designed to help detox. The clinic also offers a spectacular Moroccan riad retreat for the weary.

Step back in time and settle into a restored Byzantine mansion on an eighteen-acre estate perched overlooking the castle rock of Monemvasia in East Peloponnese, Greece. Log some serious hours in the Ottoman-style Hammam and try treatments that incorporate local olive oil, honey, and ingredients derived from grapes or fill your schedule with activities like hiking, biking, and wine tasting—depending on the time of year, you can even join the grape or olive harvest efforts. Or, there's also the very appealing idea of just doing nothing at all.

Leaning heavily on founder F.X. Mayr’s theories that diseases stem from imbalances in the digestive system, the custom tailored wellness programs at this SciFi-looking forest compound in Austria, all marry modern medicine with time-honored holistic methods, and center around intense detoxification (colon cleansing, lymphatic draining, even light psychotherapy). If it all sounds like serious business, that’s because it is—but so are the results: the programs are said to have life-changing regenerative effects. Thankfully, it’s all balanced by ample spa time for salt scrubs and massages, and custom meal plans that while skimpy, border on gourmet. In addition to the original, there’s a brand new, 70-room resort, Lanserhof Tagernsee, on Lake Tegern in Germany and a city outpost in Hamburg called Lans Medicum.

At Lanserhof, guests embark on an intensely challenging, doctor-guided protocol for cleansing the digestive system. It goes like this: You fast, drinking only tea and water. Then you detox, drinking Epsom salts to purge the system. And then you eat—at first, according to a radically restricted diet—and learn to chew properly. (Thirty to forty times for each small bite.)

People have traveled to Fiuggi for centuries just for the natural spring water, which, legend has it, is healing. At Palazzo Fiuggi, you’ll drink it, soak in it, and shower in it. But the real force behind this destination spa is the medical team, who will tailor your experience according to your goals and the health evaluation you take upon arrival. Your results inform the rest of your stay: Will you spend long mornings trekking through the countryside and afternoons in the thermal baths? Or will you spend the week detoxing, following your doctor visits with lymphatic massage and cleansing rituals in the hammam?

What sets this spa apart is its range: People come looking for help with sexual health, long-term cognitive ability, better skin—and somehow SHA does it all. SHA was established to put guests on the road to optimal well-being. The founder rebounded from chronic health problems after aligning diet, natural therapies, and contemporary medicine, and the marriage of all three remains part of SHA’s core philosophy.

Beyond the perpetual unst-unst of Ibiza's club scene, at the northern tip of Cala Xarraca, there’s a destination for spiritual seekers and wellness lovers: Six Senses Ibiza, a deeply peaceful destination spa with panoramic views and gorgeous suites.

Take a breather in the name of beauty. Ila, the makers of the much-loved luxury organic skincare and spa products, teamed up with The Lakes, a new private residential estate created by Philippe Starck-led design group Yoo to create this retreat in the Cotswolds. Bunk by the lake, do yoga, hike the countryside, meditate, eat healthy, and most importantly, relax with four indulgent treatments during the four-day, three-night stay.