Overview

Rancho La Puerta provides space — that which is most lacking in today’s life. Space to breathe freely. To relax. To renew, reflect and redirect one’s longer-living life. All facilities and land are for the exclusive use of guests who come for the week, arriving on a Saturday and departing on the next, ensuring the delights of a warm and welcoming community. Most of the facilities and lodgings are sprinkled amidst world-class gardens. Probably the world’s first “eco” resort, the ranch practices sustainable organic gardening and resource conservation, and leads the way in environmental protection and education efforts in the region. Within walking distance, their organic farm, Rancho Tres Estrellas, grows the healthy fare you will dine on daily.

A week here can change your life in ways both subtle and profound, from the strength of muscles reborn, to the stretching, freeing, and amplification of mind and spirit. Here you leave cares behind and enter an environment of untrammeled nature, serenity, trust, learning, safety, and soul-searching privacy balanced with the absolute delight of making new friends.

A one-hour drive from San Diego, barely across the border in Tecate, Baja California, the perfect, dry (never humid) climate, balanced between sea and desert at an altitude of 1,750 feet in a cooler mountain zone, makes this the ideal location for year round fitness activities, relaxation, and the recharging of everyone who wishes to live longer in the vigor and joy of good health.

The Birthplace of Spa Cuisine
No longer is the word "spa" spoken of in the same breath as old negatives like "diet", "deprivation" and "sacrifice". The emphasis here is on rewarding diners with healthy and great-tasting food. Low fat, high flavor is the Ranch’s mantra. Their food is light yet satisfying – providing you with the fuel you need to support your increased activity levels. The recipes draw inspiration from the rustic, fresh cuisine of Baja California Norte, while inventing a creative approach that the ranch calls Mexican-Mediterranean because it emphasizes produce common to those regions’ dry, warm climates.

Purity and healthfulness have always been the heart and soul of the food Rancho La Puerta serves. The Ranch is renowned for freshly picked produce and nutritious natural foods. They have developed, tested, and proven hundreds of recipes since 1940. Over sixty years of culinary creativity, experimentation and dietary research have culminated in a superb all-natural diet. It is low in fat, sodium, and refined flour and sugar -- while high in energy, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. Everything is made fresh daily, from scratch.

The Fitness Program
Rancho La Puerta offers the most complete program of any fitness resort and spa: over 70 different indoor and outdoor classes and activities—a total of approximately 325 instructor-led clinics and classes to choose from throughout an entire week. Over 50 lectures, discussions, and special presentations also take place each week.

The program is a balance of Mind/Body/Spirit. The seven-day visit, a Saturday-to-Saturday program first developed at Rancho La Puerta, is an equal mix of active challenging exercise, stretching and relaxation, which ranges from meditation and massage to simply enjoying the pleasures of a sunny patio or a shady hammock. Each “Fitness Day” is an exhilarating blend of all three elements. Most classes can be enjoyed by guests at all levels of fitness, and all ages. Already-fit and super-fit guests will also find many activities that will challenge. The Ranch’s program has been named “Most Innovative” fitness program by SELF magazine.

Courses are held in large, newly renovated gyms equipped with the latest in low-impact floors, hoist equipment, treadmills, and cycles. Spirit gyms have been created for the spirit of mind-body-spirit focus of the Ranch. Inspired by the congenial climate, these gyms forgo mirrors and instead open to face the mountain or the arroyo and remain devoted to the quieter disciplines of meditation and yoga. The Ranch also offers six aerobic gyms, one with a fireplace; a weight training gym; three swimming pools; health centers with steam rooms, whirlpools and saunas; six lighted tennis courts; volleyball court and basketball. Water aerobics are especially popular. Daily classes and private sessions are taught by expert instructors with more than 60 years combined experience.

Accommodations - The Cottages
One of the ranch’s cottages will be your private retreat for the week. No two are exactly alike! Their location, orientation, architecture, bright fabrics, and enchanting collections of museum-quality folk art make each unique. All accommodations are on ground level and open onto adjacent gardens and patios. Your cottage, patio and surrounding gardens are an integral part of the Rancho La Puerta experience. All rooms have a CD player and a small selection of music CDs. You may wish to bring some of your favorites. There are three types of cottages to choose from:

Rancheras
Rancheras are intimate but roomy studio bedrooms with a bathroom. Most units provide two double beds and are comfortable for one or two guests. They are built in clusters in areas closest to the Dining Hall and gyms – very convenient! Most have open-beam ceilings and ceiling fans. Bathrooms invite a long soak in the tub while admiring the hand-painted tile. The gardens around Rancheras may feature, in addition to each room's patio, communal amenities such as a lounge, hot tub, and garden gazebo. Some Rancheras have fireplaces and kitchenettes. Each kitchenette, set unobtrusively in an alcove, comes complete with basic cooking equipment (stove, pans, mini-refrigerator), glassware and place settings. For the exclusive use of single women, there is a village-like cluster of nine Rancheras.

Haciendas
Haciendas are somewhat larger than Rancheras and feature a bedroom area, sitting area, kitchenette and bath. Most units are configured with two double beds and may be booked by one or two persons. All Haciendas have a warm, cheery fireplace or woodstove. All of the fireplaces are wood burning rather than gas. With their central locations and romantic charm, Haciendas are perfect retreats for avid readers and any guest who enjoys having a small sitting area for lounging indoors. Some are in hillside locations with fine views of Mount Kuchumaa or the Ranch itself. Many are near or include mature gardens, vine-covered trellises and splashing fountains.

The Villas
The Jr. Villa Studios, Villa Studios and Villa Suites are the Ranch’s largest accommodations and they are set in the rolling hills northwest of the Dining Room. They are known for their large, private patios, often with great views of Mount Kuchumaa, or oak groves and meadows.

• Jr. Villa Studios: These have a bedroom area, large sitting area, kitchenette, bath and fireplace. Units come with two double beds and accommodate one or two persons.
• Villa Studios: These have a bedroom area, generous living room, kitchenette, bath, dressing area with extra sink, and fireplace. Units are configured with either two or three beds.
• Villa Suites: These have separate two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchenette, dining area and fireplace. There are either one large bed and two single beds or four single beds. Accommodates two, three or four persons. These are comparable to a small vacation home.

Activities for the Mind and Body
The calm inner self awakens as the body discovers a new grace in Yoga, Tai Chi, meditation, and other mind-body pursuits. Rancho La Puerta is known as “the Friendly Spa,” for the unique blend of camaraderie and opportunities for profound quiet contemplation, and renewal. Other activities at the Ranch for both the inner and outer self include: massage and spa treatments, lessons at the cooking school, arts and crafts, lectures and special presentations.

Sample Lectures Include:

• Reward Your Skin / Reward Yourself
• What is Feldenkrais?
• Nutrition for Stressful Times
• Craniosacral Therapy
• Ranch Spanish

Arts and Crafts May Include:

• Storytelling Hour
• Watercolor Class
• Herbal Wreathmaking
• Prayer Arrows
• Arts & Crafts

Examples of Special Presentations:

• Writing From Your Life
• Dance With Yuichi
• Van Ride to Las Piedras
• Travel Photography For Everyone
• Quest For Inspiration

"Family-owned since 1940, this landmark destination spa, the first in North America, offers not just first-rate fitness classes and tasty low-calorie mostly vegetarian food but also a dividend of lasting friendships with fellow guests…this one has something you can’t decree: personality with a capital P." - Spa Finder, Nov-Dec. 2006

   Travel & Industry Awards

• 2006 Spa Finder Reader's Choice for Favorite Spa of Mexico
• 2006 Spa Finder's Best Spa by Category: Going Solo, Affordability, Mind/Body/Spirit, Fitness Program, Cooking Classes, Hiking and Yoga
• Travel + Leisure's Top 15 Destination Spas in the World
• Travel + Leisure's Top 5 for Value
• Voted one of the Best Destination Spas by Conde Nast Traveler's 2005 Spa Poll

   Affiliations

• Destination Spa Group
• IDEA Health and Fitness Association
• International Association of Culinary Professionals
• International Spa Association
• Slow Food USA

   Payments Accepted

   Reservation Policy

   Cancellation Policy

• With notice of more than 30 days prior to arrival date, all of deposit will be refunded, less a cancellation fee of $50 per person, per week.
• With notice of 8 to 29 days prior to arrival date, cancellation fee is equal to two nights stay per person, per week, with the balance held one year for a future stay.
• Seven (7) days or less before arrival date, 50% of payment is non-refundable, and remainder will be held one year for a future stay within that time period.

Sorry, no refunds or adjustments are extended to those who arrive late or leave early.

Rates and tax are subject to change.

   Other Travel Offerings

• Rancho La Puerta - Resorts, Spas & Retreats