Heaven on Earth… Yes, that’s what we believed on a recent trip to Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass.
It was a weekend retreat, a time to regenerate, rejuvenate, reinvigorate, get away from it all, de-stress, relax, and meet people we’d forgotten in the over-heated social season — ourselves.
We traveled by car, leaving Manhattan on December 23, in a pounding rainstorm. The promised two-and-a-half-hour drive turned into four torturous hours of watching our windshield wipers clear large water splashes from passing, oversized SUVs. What a way to start a relaxing holiday!
Checking into Canyon Ranch (CR) was like gaining entry to an upscale country club or private school campus. Once cleared by security, we followed a winding driveway to the beautiful Bellefontaine Mansion, the centerpiece of life at CR. Like any good campus, CR is built on a quad, which you must circle (or square?) to arrive for check-in at The Pavilion — a warm, cheerful, lodge-like space.
The rooms at CR are airy, spacious, and beautifully furnished. There are marble bathrooms, with every amenity (including an especially large supply of fresh, fluffy towels), super-sized King beds, DVD/CD players, and floor-to-ceiling windows.
CR is about Body, Mind, Spirit, and their relationship to health and well-being. After 25 years, founders Mel and Enid Zuckerman have the art of hospitality down to a fine science. In 1978, Mel, 40 pounds overweight, with high blood pressure and ulcers, went on a fortnight spa vacation that turned into a month-long escape. He told his wife that he wanted to live that way for the rest of his life! So they bought a former cattle ranch in Tucson and opened CR less than two years later. In 1979, they transported their brand of nirvana to the Berskshires (at our destination in Lenox, Mass.), and now also have three SpaClubs, sleekly honed versions of CR — at The Venetian in Las Vegas, at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., and onboard the Queen Mary 2, with more sites on the drawing board. Soon to open: Canyon Ranch Living in Miami, a healthy-living development community of condos with spa amenities.
At Canyon Ranch, you can be your usual, compulsive, over-scheduled self, rushing from the gym to the yoga studio; from the ski slopes to the restaurant; to more exercise; to the pool, the sauna, a massage, the Salon. Or, you can take a more relaxed approach (our recommendation). No one is compelled to do anything at any particular time — it’s all about choice. Once you decide what you want to do, you make your own schedule.
ADVICE -
If you’ve gone to CR to detox, de-stress, and basically get out of your own life and meet your former, calmer self, then prioritize. If health is important, front-load all your medical and Health & Healing appointments. Then you’ll have a road map of needs on which to focus. You’ll have numbers to measure yourself against (one of us lost 12 blood pressure points and 4 lbs. in just 4 days. As we said, “Nirvana!”).
The medical staff is a group of caring professionals poised to give you a physical tune-up. A four-page questionnaire sets your goals; provides an over-view of your family history and genetic patterns; and defines strengths, weaknesses, and areas of concern. Your CR folder will be filled with all of your vital signs, comments from the staff, goals set, and programs established.
PACKAGES -
There are as many choices as there are different reasons for going.
PRICES -
It varies by treatment and service. Facials, massages, manicures/pedicures, hair treatments...it’s your choice.
TREATMENTS -
They are as fine as any on Fifth Avenue, Rodeo Drive, or Chicago’s Golden Mile. Operators are highly trained, licensed professionals. They don’t chatter, clutter, or get in your face. The hot-stones massage is a CR specialty — guaranteed to make your body feel wonderful. After a treatment fix, a detoxifying visit to the sauna, steam room, inhalation room, or Jacuzzi enhances the feeling of well-being. A quiet snooze in the hot tub area and all is well with the world.
WHAT TO DO...AND WHEN -
For all those committed to an exercise regimen, there are weight rooms, Pilates areas, and private training rooms. There are gyms with wooden floors for energetic exercises and deep, lush pile gyms for stretching. As the day progresses...so do workout sessions. A daily abs routine is a magical 30 minutes before lunch, and works wonders on the appetite (diminishing it—to help with that longed-for flat tummy).
FOOD -
At CR it is plentiful, succulent, and could compete with the finest restaurant in any U.S. city. The dining room opens at 7:45 a.m. There are bagels and lox; muffins; omelets; aromatic, full-bodied coffee; six different fresh juices; an extensive cereal bar; and cream cheese, jams, and jellies. A little of this, a little of that, and wow, you’ve had a filling breakfast. If you come counting calories, CR does it for you; every item has a nutritional value listed. Every menu contains a “Chef’s Choice” selection, with an exact calorie/fat gram/fiber-content count. You can’t go wrong as long as you can add.
The menu changes three times a day and there is always an abundant salad bar with healthy, organic food, tasty dressings, flaxseed (the new miracle elixir), nuts, and crackers. You can choose from about 10 vegetables, soups, and entrées. On different evenings, we indulged in lamb chops (four!); lobster tails with a warmed, pineapple-juice confection (it was perfect); duck that was out of this world; and succulent fish and steamed vegetables with a Moroccan dipping sauce.
Desserts: There are six to choose from, as well as “ice milk” as thick as cream and heavy chocolate sauce — to delight the ice cream mavens. Sorbets, lemon mousse, apple strudel, and — every day — a plate that is a blissful mélange of in-season fruits. No matter the length of your stay, your palate will always be catered to!
ATTRACTIONS -
Outdoor activities played a key role in our winter visit. Cross-country skiing, walks with poles, scenic jogging, and mountain hikes were all in the curriculum.
In summer, tennis, an outdoor pool, and other energetic pursuits beckon. The warm-weather months have the added joy of Tanglewood, in Lenox, and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, in Becket.
There’s antiquing year-round and also great shopping in the vitrines around the CR campus. Don’t forget a trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum in nearby Stockbridge, Mass. In fact, there is something for everyone, and that is where we began...
BLISS INCORPORATED -
Once you arrive at CR, the stress of everyday life is set aside. Definite rules about cellphone use (or lack of it!) are firmly reiterated at check-in: It’s okay in the privacy of your room, in a designated lobby, and one place outdoors, but forbidden everywhere else. Thank goodness! We could not believe the calm that descended — without those loud, one-sided conversations all around us. Instant tranquility...
ANOTHER BLISS-
No, and we mean absolutely NO tipping! It can be so confusing. What to give, and to whom. With no decisions to make, it is instant serenity.
To learn more about this trip to Paradise Found, for an unforgettable, health kick-start, call 800-742-9000, or go to www.canyonranch.com...just tell them The Hampton Sheet sent you! Enjoy!
