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Spa Review: Stoweflake Mountain Resort (Stowe, Vermont)
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It’s October and I’m visiting Stowe, Vermont for an annual girlfriend getaway spa weekend. Fall foliage season has just about come to an end and ski season hasn’t started yet, so it’s a great time to be here checking out the spa scene without the crowds. On our agenda: The Spa at Stoweflake. We arrive hours ahead of our scheduled treatments to relax and enjoy all the amenities the spa has to offer.
The AAA Four-Diamond Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa is a full service luxury resort located on Mountain Road, halfway between the Village of Stowe and Mt. Mansfield in Vermont’s Green Mountains. The Baraw family originally purchased the property in 1948 and three generations of Baraw’s still participate in running the resort today. The transformation from the family owned vacation cottage on three acres, originally built to house the Baraw family for weekend ski trips, to the award-winning resort that Stoweflake has become is remarkable.
Stoweflake has been ranked 37 among the 75 “Best in the World” in the mainland U.S. by Condé Nast Traveler readers. Stoweflake was the only resort in Vermont included in the annual poll, which appears in the November 2009 issue.
For girlfriend spa getaways, choose one of Stoweflake’s 23 spa guestrooms. At 405 square feet, a Spa Premier double queen guestroom offers plenty of space to spread out and an unbeatable location in the spa wing. Dual sinks in the bathroom and a wet bar in the bedroom area leave lots of spots for girlfriends to get ready to enjoy the resort or the Stowe area. If you need more space for a larger group of spa girlfriends, a one, two or three bedroom Stoweflake Townhouse can sleep up to seven guests. For more luxury, The Meadows at Stoweflake Townhouses can sleep up to 8 guests in a 2,2200 square foot 3 bedroom unit. The resort features 120 guestrooms and suites and 58 townhouses in all.
Stoweflake guests can enjoy two onsite restaurants – the casual Charlie B’s and the AAA Four-Diamond Winfield’s Bistro. At Winfield’s, dishes like Cumin Brown Sugar Pork Loin Brined Pork with Grilled Radicchio & Cabot Cheddar Mashed Potatoes feature the freshest local ingredients.
If you need help planning your trip to the Stowe are, the Mountain Planner is Stoweflake’s answer to a concierge. Resort and local area activities that range from golf to skiing and a full list of winter sports can be suggested and scheduled.
The Sports & Wellness Center is evidence that Stoweflake Mountain Resort is committed to being a wellness-oriented facility. Kim Dixon, the Marketing Manager at Stoweflake, says “You can have your crème brulee at dinner, your spa cuisine at breakfast and lunch and little workouts throughout the day. It’s all about balance. You can do yoga without being a Yogi.”
Opened in 2003 as part of Stoweflake’s 40th anniversary celebration, the 50,000 square foot Spa at Stoweflake features a diverse menu of 120 services that include locally and nature-inspired treatments and a full menu of soothing and healing Ayurvedic wellness services. Try the all natural and gluten free Spicy Apple Ginger Chews at the spa reception desk.
Enter the Aqua Solarium through the cave-like hallway, a unique facility rarely seen at a spa. Following the spa trend of bringing the outdoors and natural light in, nature surrounds you in this hydrotherapy area that overlooks stunning Mt. Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak and home to legendary skiing at Stowe Mountain Resort, through huge windows. The ceiling has been designed to look like the daytime sky and a hand-painted mural on the walls reminds you of being in a meadow. Here, you’ll find the thunderous Bingham Hydrotherapy Waterfalls and a therapeutic European-style Hungarian Mineral Soaking Pool featuring mineral salts from Hungary. Sit on the built in benches under the water that falls from varying heights for a vigorous and more vigorous massage. The water features are surrounded by lounge chairs for relaxing in the warm and steamy space before or after your treatment.
In the private women’s relaxation lounge, sit fireside on thickly cushioned lounge chairs and enjoy the fruit, juice and tea bar serving sachets of Vermont Artisan Tea. Browse through the selection of magazines or bring your favorite book and lose yourself for a while. A friendly and super attentive spa attendant ensured that the needs of the spa guests were exceeded and the women’s spa area was kept well stocked and sparkling clean.
Ladies can enjoy the outdoors on the private women’s sunning deck located near the spa locker area and their own fitness room. A private steam room, sauna and whirlpool are found in the women’s locker room too. 30 treatment rooms are located on the lower level – each one decorated and furnished a little bit differently. The soothing blue hallway that leads to the treatment areas is lined with soothing water features of stone and trickling water.
For my treatment, I tried a Natural Harmony Day Spa Package: Sound Therapy Full Body Tuning (80 minutes) and an Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Treatment known as Abhyanga (50 minutes). The package is priced at $299 and includes access to the Spa and Sports & Wellness Center, including all facilities and classes plus lunch from the poolside spa cafe.
Before the Sound Therapy Full Body Tuning, I was warned not to make any major decisions afterwards. Fortunately, the only major decision I had left to make that day was where to have dinner that night. At the recommendation of the Spa at Stoweflake staff, we chose Frida's Taqueria & Grill on Main Street for it’s famed tableside guacamole preparation.
During the sound therapy session, I relaxed on the treatment table fully clothed. Eileen Day McKusick, my Sound Therapist, gave me a quick tutorial before proceeding with the session. Sound tuning therapy works on the principle that the human body gets out of tune, just like a car gets out of tune, and can be brought back into harmony through sound.
Tuning forks are used during the treatment to find and identify pockets of imbalance and to interrupt and reintegrate them back into the field. Eileen, who has been working with tuning forks since 1996, uses a technique known as “click, drag and drop” to return the body to its natural, more centered state by finding energies in the wrong place, moving them into center and repeating this pattern until the client is centered.
The tuning forks are struck over and over again – a pleasant, tonal sound. We engaged in dialogue as she moved from one chakra to the next. The seven chakras, or energy centers of the body, run along the spine from the head (crown) to the base (mid-body). It was a “low touch”, almost “no touch treatment”. I’ve been a chronic insomniac for many years, so when Eileen cautioned me that I “might feel blotto afterwards”, my only thought was “bring it on!” You can see a video of Eileen demonstrating a sound therapy session by clicking here.
Surinda Oberai Cavanagh is the Spa Treatments Manager and a Certified Ayurvedic Consultant at The Spa at Stoweflake. I was lucky enough to have her as my therapist for the second half of my package, Abhyanga. Surinda was warm, nurturing and incredibly knowledgeable about the genuine Ayurvedic treatments offered at Stoweflake.
Abhyanga is a customized rhythmic herbal warm oil massage using generous amounts of oil. The treatment utilizes minimal draping, head-to-toe strokes on the extremities and circular strokes on the joints. Indian music played in the background, but it was great to be given a choice if I wanted music during my treatment or not. The treatment is said to be deeply relaxing and balancing to the nervous system; I found it much more aromatic, fragrant and relaxing than a traditional Swedish massage. Tarika Day & Night Oil with cardamom and turmeric was used on my face and warmed Sarada Vata Oil was used on my body. When the treatment was over, Surinda brought me tea and sat down with at the comfortable chairs in the treatment room, which was a lovely way to end a treatment and transition back to the outside world.
Back in the women’s sanctuary, I met back up with my spa girlfriends who enjoyed their treatments and reported their therapists to be thorough and engaged.
For meetings and special events, the 22,000 square foot Conference Center at Stoweflake can handle all of your event planning needs spread out over 15 meeting spaces. Some of the guest rooms are located nearby the conference wing for convenience.
If you go:
Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa
PO Box 369
1746 Mountain Road,
Stowe, Vermont 05672
802.253.7355 or 800.253.2232
If you liked this article, you might enjoy these other articles about spas in Stowe, Vermont
Girlfriend getaway spa weekend at Topnotch Resort and Spa
Friday Afternoon Club at Stowe Mountain Lodge: Happy hour fun and pampering spa treatments
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As is common in the travel industry, the writer and guests were provided with complimentary and discounted spa treatments for the purpose of writing this story. While it has not influenced this article, Examiner.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. Thank you to Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa for inviting the writer to experience their spa and for seeing the long-term benefits of neutrality for their business and for their guests.
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