 Westglow Resort, in Blowing Rock, N.C. is best in winter, when snow rages over the mountaintop hotel and I’m cozy inside the Relaxation Lounge, with its welcoming fireplace and windows framing the gorge below.
Then again, spring works just as well: a breeze sweeping up the mountainsides, wildflowers dotting the forest floor. Summer has its own charm, the 360-degree view a wonder until darkness cloaks the 5,000-foot-plus peaks. And the fall colors rival all the seasons.
Named one of the world’s top destination spas by Travel + Leisure Magazine, Westglow offers much more than natural beauty. The hotel, a Greek revival mansion, has been modernized with sumptuous furnishings and glittering gold accents. The attention to detail extends to the concierge service, a superb restaurant and spa itself, renovated in 2006.
Perched dramatically over the Blue Ridge escarpment, a world of treatments and fitness activities somehow fits within the compact Life Enrichment Center (aka the spa). Strength training, yoga, aquacise — it’s all here.
The treatment rooms are a pleasure; some have little gas fireplaces built into the walls. After my herbal wrap and massage, I relax with a round of whirlpool, swimming and a steam in aspacious, all-tile lounge with a whiff of eucalyptus.
Deeply refreshed, I head for dinner, where I’m warned that at breakfast tomorrow the resident hiking guide will be recruiting companions for the daily hike. Why fight it? A morning walk sounds like an awesome way to work up an appetite for more spa treats.
Relax with the Blue Ridge Body Wrap ($80 for guests), one of my favorite Westglow treatments. It involves lavender oil from head to toe, a massage and 15-minute wrap. Hike for free on the daily after-breakfast trek. The staff guide takes visitors on the gentlest local trails. 224 Westglow Circle Blowing Rock, NC, 28605 1-800-562-0807 www.westglow.com |
