Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa
Borrego Springs, California
Since debuting last fall on the former site of La Casa del Zorro, Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa has left its own inimitable mark on the California desert landscape. A scenic twohour drive from San Diego amid the pristine beauty of the 650,000-acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, this intimate, sun-drenched hideaway welcomes adult visitors with a combination of invigorating activity and unexpected luxury.
Upon arrival, one is immediately ensconced in classic California Mission Revival architecture. High wood beam ceilings, plaster-covered stone walls, white stucco and deep earth tones grace the richly appointed common areas. All of the resort’s 44 plush rooms boast fi replaces and cozy up to one of fi ve sparkling pools—and the casitas each feature a private pool or spa.
Guests may opt to swim laps or enjoy a poolside libation; mountain bike or hike along ocotillo-lined trails; defy gravity with a rock-climbing lesson; play sets of tennis or settle into an elegant al fresco dinner amid the rose gardens at Cimarrón.
“There’s no right or wrong way to relax,” says President and creative visionary Joseph DeNucci, who brought his innovative vision from Tucson’s renowned Miraval Resort. “We embrace the freedom to choose, and the luxury to not have to. The experience at Borrego Ranch does not come at you—but from you.”
To that end, Borrego Ranch also invites participation in its cutting-edge health and fitness activities, including yoga, water tai chi and gravity training. Guests can indulge in both traditional and delightfully unexpected treatments at Morado, the resort’s revitalizing spa, including a variety of massages, scrubs, soaks, wraps and healing experiences like acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Central to the Borrego Ranch experience is the Tom Fazio Signature Golf Course, a 7,000-yard challenge that rollercoasters through the dramatic desert landforms in the shadow of the Santa Rosa Mountains. More than 600 feet of elevation change, nests of bunkers and abundant fescue and water features contribute to a remarkable variety of holes. After testing yourself on all 18 of them, relive the events at the Borrego Ranch clubhouse, where you can tuck into any of the mouth-watering entrees that come with the delectable chipotle-smashed sweet potatoes.
Los Angeles-based developer Greg Perlman has successfully blended the hospitality traditions of 1940s Palm Springs with the expectations of today’s active traveler. But as it was with La Casa del Zorro, the scene-stealer at Borrego Ranch will always be a desertscape alive with the howls of kit foxes, blooms of cacti and wildfl owers, the glow of the mountains and the power to renew and restore. www.borregoranchresort.com
