March/April 2008

BY WENDY UNDERHILL

Let me start by telling you that I’ve always been leery of spas. So when I received the assignment to review a few, it was with some wariness. First, they’re expensive, and it was beyond me why any sane adult would pay what it costs for a four-course meal or a used laptop to spend a day there. In spas, you have to bare your body—often substantial portions of it—to strangers. Many of the “menu” items involve bad chemical smells, sharp instruments or painful procedures, like pouring hot wax on your nether regions, then yanking it off. And I’m not letting anyone without a DDS after their name perform an “extraction” on me. Besides, why would I want to spend a full day lolling around when I could be hiking or reading?

So, when I learned I needed to do a story about spas in Colorado, I groused about the assignment to anyone who would listen.

Then I spoke with Camberley Bates, and my whole attitude changed. Bates is an athlete—the kind who bikes centuries (that’s 100 miles) and thinks nothing of running a competitive 10-K any old weekend. She is definitely not a sipenriched- water-while-swooning-in-thesteam type person. Instead, she goes for an “extremely active” spa experience at Green Valley Spa in St. George, Utah. Her day looks like this: she’s up at dawn for a strenuous morning hike through desert canyons, followed by a spin class, light lunch and yoga. By mid- to late-afternoon, her body’s beat and she’s ready for a spa treatment (note that the word “treat” is contained therein). Then it’s a very healthy and satisfying dinner, followed by an optional evening presentation or cooking class. And then, of course, many hours of sleep.

That got me jazzed to find the same kind of all-inclusive active spa in Colorado. But they don’t exist. We have oodles of “day spas” and dozens of “resort spas” (the sort connected to the Hyatts and Ritz-Carltons along the I-70 corridor) but no destination spas like Green Valley.

What we do have is equally good: at least two rustic and yet ritzy destinations that also happen to offer spa amenities. At these, you can create your own active-yet-restful regimen. The staff is ready and willing to advise on exercise options (snowshoeing, skiing, hiking, flyfishing, trail running or horseback riding), schedule your choice of facials, massages and other treatments, and put together an eating plan that works for your needs, for a pretty close facsimile of the Green Valley plan.

I began my research at Dunton Hot Springs Resort (duntonhotsprings.com), a former almost-ghost town in southwest Colorado. Originally a mining community, it boasted a general store, a saloon and a bunch of shacks. What kept it from dying out completely was the location: directly atop natural hot springs. Through the ‘40s, ‘50s and‘60s, a hospitality business based on those hot springs limped along, with the more bohemian parts of the population enjoying the waters. By the 1980s, it was bikers—that’s the Harley-riding kind— who came, and Dunton Springs quickly earned an “anything goes” reputation not for the weak of will or faint of heart.

In 1994, the bedraggled town site was bought by a German magnate, who set about refurbishing the place as his own private cowboy Shangri-La. He deconstructed every cabin, and then rebuilt them placing each log back where it originally lay, and high-tech flexible chinking replaced the old drafty stuff. The exteriors are pure ghost town. The interiors are “Colorado color,” meaning ethnographic Western studies from a century ago, railroad-spike lamps and Native American rugs. And lots of “luxe” in the bathrooms, the beds and the amenities. Only later did the owner decide that when he’s not using it, visitors could, and the resort was born. What to expect? A long drive on a dirt road followed by an electronic gate to keep the riff-raff out; no more than 38 other guests, and often far fewer; a nightly tariff of $300 to $500 per person; and pure delight.

Dunton is a real destination resort: once you’re there, it would be a shame to leave. You won’t find better food within a six-hour radius, and the terrain couldn’t be more spectacular. And besides, there are those luscious hot springs, now in excellent shape.

Here, with such a small client base, the Dunton staff arranges for outside practitioners to come in and perform spa treatments, so it’s always best to schedule in advance, especially if you’re looking for something unusual.

My second stop was at Gold Lake Mountain Resort and Spa (goldlake.com), a former summer camp that has been lovingly restored with natural materials throughout. (If you’re looking for home improvement ideas, this place is nearly worth a visit on that basis alone.)

It has magic too, so much so that Megan Steuck, the operations manager, opted to celebrate last Valentine’s Day with her husband there, on her day off. How’s that for a testament to Gold Lake’s allure?

While Dunton and Gold Lake both offer exquisite locations with more outdoor active options than anyone could use up in a year, Gold Lake has the advantage of being close to home--it’s less than an hour from Boulder. It lacks the delicious natural hot springs that make Dunton shine, but the spa’s designers created the next-best thing—hot pools built right into the hill above the eponymous lake. With a combination of rough and cut stone, and water at 104 degrees, they’re hard to resist, summer or winter.

Other differences and similarities: both spas have fresh, mostly organic food, but at Dunton, meals are served communally, making a sociable end to the day and offering the opportunity to meet fellow spa-goers. At Gold Lake, the lodge operates as a restaurant, with nonresidents enjoying it as well—better if you’re the dine-alone type with no desire for obligatory conversation.

At both places, guests can expect to be well cared for, but not in an obsequious way. At Dunton, the staff is happy to shoot the breeze or leave you alone. The accommodating (and thankfully unpretentious) staff is drawn from the local area, and they seem to feel lucky to have landed work in Shangri-La. At Gold Lake, the staff is also drawn from the local area of Gold Hill, Ward and Nederland. That means that dreadlocks and vegan diets are common, as well as a decidedly laid-back approach to life. As for the spas, treatments at both places are of the relaxation and muscle relieving variety—no waxing, peeling, yanking, clipping, extracting, plucking or smelly nail treatments. Couples’ massage, where two therapists and two clients share one room, is available at either locale. (If you’re traveling as a twosome, that could be the beginning of something very nice.) Gold Lake’s spa operation is more fully developed, including energy-based bodywork such as Reiki. Here, I had the “eclectic massage,” a 90-minute treatment that was your basic massage with little bits of non-Swedish style in it. It was absolutely excellent, done by a mother who lives in Gold Hill (I loved that locals are the staff). I was truly in an altered state: no chit-chat, no worries about exposed flesh, just bliss.

What else? The sleeping is exquisite at both locations. Whether it’s the mountain air (both are at 8700 feet elevation), the absolute quiet, the scrumptious zillion-count Egyptian sheets, or the feather beds, sleep may be as much of a “treatment” at these resort spas as anything else.

If you choose to create your own “extremely active” spa retreat, my only advice is this: don’t settle for just one night. You’ll need at the very least two nights to settle into the spa mode. By the way, April is a slow time at Dunton and Gold Lake—which might make it just the right time to visit.