Archive for June, 2010

Spa Blog: Bad hair day at Rancho la Puerta

Friday, June 25th, 2010

It’s Friday, soon finishing my wellness week at Rancho La Puerta. The door to my bungalow (circa 1950) is open, and a cool desert breeze is rustling the trees, and the yards of flowering bushes and …. dust, lost of dust.  Sun rays stream horizontally through any space that is not a flower or tree, and a staff member is calling for a cat to come in, “Leo, kitty kitty kitty, Leo.”

I had two treatments today- both wonderful, one was a massage and the other… was not so much a treatment but a down right necessity… I had my hair washed and blow dried.

This place is a bit funny, in the sense that when they get things right, wow, they really get things right, (food, art, instructors, landscape)  … and when they miss, it just makes me sad. I have had a 1000 massages, (you know what I mean) and being a spa consultant and developer, I do have a “cranky eye” for touches that make a nice room/treatment… into great space.(with very little money or effort attached- easy)

For example, the massage rooms at Rancho la Puerta have the most gorgeous Mexican tile on the floor, walls, sinks, you name it, there is tile.  However the massage table, has a faded maroon wrinkled sheet on it with a bath towel folded at the end, the face cradle is a pillow case that does not fit, so your face is half on the plastic head rest the other on a crease. OK, now hear me out… Mexico has the most beautiful bright  tapestry and material… why not that on the massage table, that would be “wow”? I swear it looks like someone slept on my sheets. My massage was great, but ya’know, it is the little touches here.

Now for the beauty salon, let me first say,is too, like my bungalow is circa 1950, which is fine, and makes an authentic statement. The beautician did a great job on my kinky curly hair, however at a five star destination resort- drug store cheap shampoo and conditioner, really don’t cut the cake. It really would only take about $200-300 to buy “back bar” professional products, even if it is just Paul Mitchel, or Revlon, Aveda for goodness sakes, Aveda … the products they use are so bad, they put them in a generic pump top container. Oh dear.There are no fancy gels, mousse, spray or even a flat iron. There was a guest putting rollers in her own hair!

Now that I am done with my “inner judgment”- tonight is the Fiesta, and it will be great, as they always are, especially if some guest gets drunk and sings. There will be losts of dancing, great food and a bit of Tecate beer… with hair blowing in the breeze and a bright shaw, I will not disappoint, as I am usually that guest who drinks too much and sings!! Oh I love I Rancho la Puerta!

Susan Gwaltney, www.essentialspaconsulting.com with travel spa blog



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Spa Blog: Amala, anew product line at Rancho la Puerta

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

About a month ago, Rancho la Puerta  launched a new face and body treatment line, Amala. It is an all organic (with fair trade practices from a global farm network, etc…) and made in Germany.  The owner’s mission statement is: ” When it comes to skincare, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice results for responsibility.” Which really does say it all, and is a perfect partner for Rancho la Puerta, as their views of the sacredness of the earth, product/service delivered and history, really do mirror each other, and are important cornerstones to their business.

It is a stunning product line, using: jasmine, cocoa bean, sandalwood and rose ~ all of which are my dry skin’s  favorites. However, for me as the consumer, I find it a very expensive product line. It is difficult to justify a $230+ eye cream! For that amount of money, I can buy a ticket to South America and pick my own cocoa beans and squish them onto my puffy eyes myself. Now, having said that… I do get it, meaning; good pure organic products cost a lot of money, and there is the value.  The great news is that,  as a guest at Rancho la Puerta, a 90minute facial is only $120! So that is what I did today!

The 90 minutes actually flew by, as hot jasmine scented towels pressed on tomy face, steam filled with rose essence filled the air and my pores, 2 full masks, head massage, neck/shoulder massage, scrubs, extractions, rubbing, massaging and spritzing, 90 minutes later… oh my face feels like a new born organic baby! The treatment must have used $100 in product alone. My therapist, Josefina, was wonderful… firm hands, didn’t talk too much, great pressure point facial massage, and even pulled my hair!

This facial, and new Amala product line is a wonderful addition to Rancho La Puerta, if you can’t buy the eye cream… get a facial!

More later…

Susan Gwaltney, Essential Spa Consulting



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Spa Blog: Ahh… Rancho la Puerta!

Monday, June 21st, 2010

For over twenty years, I have been; a guest, a teacher and an administrator at Rancho La Puerta, but the one thing that has stayed consistent for me in last two decades, is that I am always a STUDENT!

I am here in Mexico at the “Ranch” (nick-name), for the week attending a friend and collegues’ wedding party. It has been almost two years since I have been back~ which for me is a long long time. I have lived and worked  here for years, months and weeks at a time, so it has become a home as well as my university, the place where I migrate to for regrouping, grounding and many a good laugh.

So the question is: what  have I really learned, or is the question, what have I studied?

My first and obvious reflection is that during my time at the Ranch, I became a certified Yoga teacher (1997). The practice and lifetime study of Yoga has opened many a door to learning, teaching, go back and study more, teach, go inward and practice, read, study, meditate, sit still, be active, and teach again, breathe …  and allow  the equal harmony of the  “student to teacher” relationship reflect in all aspects of my life, no matter how horrible the teacher and how poor the student, how clever the student and honorable the teacher~

I have not studied today, (except a few negative thoughts, and then I fell asleep on the lounge chair!)  but I have learned a few simple basics to spa life: … bring a fleece jacket even in June to high dessert mountains as you will freeze your bottom off, sign up early for spa treatments as there is a special offer for guests and all treatment are booked, be prepared to say your name/where you are from/what you do for a living at least 125 times with grace and true interest, and never ever never have prunes with flax seed, a dollop of yogurt and papaya on an empty stomach with black coffee…. it just is not nice for those around you!

More from Rancho… I’m here all week.

Susan Gwaltney, Spa Constultant, Essential Spa Consulting





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Spa Blog: Mandarin Oriental Washington DC

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

It was a friend’s 50th birthday today, so a few of us celebrated by booking a spa day and lunch and the Mandarin Oriental Washington DC.

The Mandarin Oriental hotel is surrounded by;  the Potomac River, massive federal buildings, highway over passes, chained fences guarding parking spaces, the Smithsonian Institutes, rail tracks and a few dead ends. This area is known as L’Enfant Plaza, and it is busy with government agencies, state/agriculture/transportation and justice department buildings. Much of our U.S.  government business is launched from these large square offices where their agency’s name is carved in gold over the doorway. We look small walking into these secured buildings with tinted glass windows and trimmed gardens. The tone is official, white collar,  with red/white and blue ties~  and this is the obstacle course the guests  of the Mandarin Oriental  (and my friends) drive or walk through on the way to the hotel.

We made it past the gauntlet  of government buildings and streets lines with detailed parking signs, and as we walked into the hotel~ a feeling of peace and oasis fill our Zen longing hearts and spirits. The lobby is open and filled with light and the floral centerpiece  is the size of a small rain forest.  It smells like a rain forest; sweet, green, with a touch of jasmine. All decorations, fixtures, beams, flooring, vases, cases and carpets are earthy, calming with a splash of Asian lines and color. There is no noise, no rush, and no signs of  the large square government office buildings. It is a foreign land inside,  a time machine that takes you away from DC and to an instant get-away.

The spa is exquisite, done well from all angles. Service, products, lighting, steam, therapists, teas, and towels. It is a place of peace in a busy city, in a busy country during a busy time.

(more about products, service, girls celebration, that crazy American lunch menu and the price… on the way)

Susan Gwaltney, Essential Spa Consulting







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