I’m floating on my back, eyes closed, when I feel the first prickle of rain on my face. It’s unexpected but not entirely so — I am, after all, drifting in a pool secreted deep in the Costa Rican jungle. The only sounds I hear come from water: the drip of rain on the leaves above me, the swish of my legs and arms as I move through the pool, and the rush of the river.
I feel like I’m alone but I’m actually not. Earlier, after sending me on a thoughtful walk through a labyrinth in the forest, my therapist, Julia, had attached buoyancy devices to my legs and neck and instructed me to lean back into the warm water. Rendering me weightless, she spent the next hour or so guiding my fully relaxed body through the waist-deep water. She also massaged my hands, feet, and scalp and, near the end of the treatment, orchestrated a sound bath that I could hear under the water.
My experience, Esencia de Agua, was just recently added to the spa menu at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, a boutique luxury resort set in the forested foothills of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Mountains. The treatment had taken place in the resort’s river bath, a man-made stone pool set next to a waterfall that can only be reached by foot or via one of the resort’s all-terrain golf carts. Fed by the Calientillo River, which runs through the 180-acre property, the pool is warmed by a wood fire burning in a giant iron caldron that’s partially immersed in the water. In fact, part of the treatment’s magic had been the change in temperature as Julia led me closer, then further away, from the source of the heat.
I’d arrived the day before aboard one of the charter planes that the resort uses to ferry guests back and forth from Juan Santamaría airport in San José. It had been the easiest arrival ever: after being met on the jetway, my husband and I had been taken to a private lounge — think clean bathrooms, aged rum, Costa Rican coffee — that also serves as an immigration station. When everyone had arrived for our scheduled flight, we boarded the small plane for the 40-minute trip to Hacienda AltaGracia’s onsite airstrip. Like all of the food, non-alcoholic beverages, and a number of cultural and spa experiences, the charter flight is included in the room rate.
Though Hacienda AltaGracia occupies a huge swath of land, the footprint of the 50-casita resort is quite small, meaning that most of the land has been left in its rugged, undeveloped state. But that’s not to say it’s unimproved: miles of well-maintained (but still challenging) hiking trails wind through the property. Suspension bridges facilitate river crossings and a few built-in staircases keep steep angles from becoming treacherous. Here and there are opportunities for supervised outdoor adventure including a tall ficus tree set up for climbing, an even taller pine hung with pulleys that allow adventurers to look out over the treeline.
Instead of a lobby, Hacienda AltaGracia has the Mercado, an indoor-outdoor hacienda that forms a base camp of sorts. It’s where we met Kevin and Salome, our compas, or concierges, who had reached out before we arrived to ensure that we would have everything we needed. During our stay, they were our link to the resort, our one call for anything from a room service order to, in my case, a backpack to borrow for hiking since I had forgotten mine.
The Mercado brings Costa Rica to life with a boutique filled with locally made clothing, jewelry, ceramics, cosmetics, and other goods; at the adjoining coffee bar, drip and French-press brews are made from beans harvested less than five miles from the resort. It’s a great place to stop after a hike, too, for a renewing elixir mixed up from local fruit or, if you’re like me, a golden sugar cookie infused with turmeric for color and cornmeal for an addictive crunch.
Gravel pathways lead behind the Mercado to the dramatic adult pool (there’s a family-friendly pool, too), which was cleverly designed to maximize privacy without giving up sun or views of the green mountains in the distance. There’s a stylish tapas restaurant that opens onto the still blue water; beyond is the resort’s main restaurant, Grano, and the expansive chef’s garden.
Rooms take the form of individual casitas sprinkled over and around a hillside; our whopping 1,500-square-foot one-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath suite was done in leather, dark wood, and nubby textiles; local art and baskets decorated the walls. Outside, a hanging day bed, large infinity pool, and a pair of sling chairs filled an expansive stone terrace.
It was a challenging climb from the Mercado to our casita, luckily golf carts were easily available to take us from one place to another. But I soon discovered I could walk via a network of pebbled pathways that wound through the casita colony on their way to ponds, gardens, and the shaded pavilions called ranchos where complimentary yoga, mat pilates, meditation, qigong, sound baths, and breathwork classes were held.
When I saw that Hacienda AltaGracia is often referred to as a wellness resort I got a little nervous at the thought of taking in this experience in a state of deprivation. In reality, I couldn’t have been more wrong. At Hacienda AltaGracia, wellness feels like an existential space rather than something to be achieved by checking a set of boxes. We weren’t encouraged to walk rather than grab a ride, to visit the gym, or make healthy meal choices. Those options (as well as their less-healthy brethren) were clearly available, but with no pressure.
That philosophy also seems to guide Hacienda AltaGracia’s spa, The Well, where, in addition to the river bath, dozens of creative body treatments, facials, and massages are offered in a more traditional spa space. But even if you choose not to indulge in add-on treatments, you’re welcome to use the pools and other facilities at Casa de Agua, a dramatic glass-walled greenhouse surrounded by lush greenery that looks toward the mountains. Even better, you can indulge in a complimentary purification ritual that uses herb-infused local clay to draw impurities out of the body as you rest on a warm marble slab. After a shower, a soak in the warm Jacuzzi feels like heaven.Though a plethora of outdoor activities like guided hikes, horseback rides, and off-site expeditions to the rainforest, beach, and other areas are available, where Hacienda AltaGracia really shines is in its cultural offerings.
Some, like hour-long explorations into the natural world, and Costa Rican coffee, cacao, and blue corn culture, are complimentary. Others are more immersive and involve half-day visits to farms, markets, and private homes. My visit with the Nery family at their nearby trapiche, or sugar cane processor, started with a dog named Tornado, who is so used to visitors that he comes running when he hears the word “photo.” In preparation for my visit, Don Nery had set sugarcane juice to boil over a fire in the farm’s outdoor kitchen. As it simmered, I visited with farm animals, sipped a bit of sugarcane hooch and, with Dona Nery, tried my hand at making tortillas. When the syrup had reached the proper stage of doneness, Don Nery poured it into a trough; after a brisk stir he ladled it into molds; once it hardened, he would sell the blocks of cane sugar to neighbors.
Though luxury resorts abound in Costa Rica, most take advantage of the country’s sandy beaches, misty rainforests, volcanos, hot springs, and cloud forests. A former coffee plantation, Hacienda AltaGracia has none of these. And I didn’t miss them a bit.
Featured image courtesy of Auberge Resorts Collection.
