This Secluded Southern California Health Spa Feels Like an Elegant European Retreat

11.09.2023 - 17:48 / matadornetwork.com

Embarking on a trip to Cal-a-Vie Health Spa in Vista, just north of San Diego, feels like visiting a French Provencal-style retreat. It’s nestled into 500 acres of scenic rolling California hillside like a well-being-focused cocoon, hidden away from the stresses of city life – and that’s its entire mission.

This intimate, 32-room resort combines European spa philosophies with California concepts of fitness, health, and nutrition, perfecting the balance of being relaxed — while never feeling deprived. The result is a perfectly rare original take on San Diego lodging.

Cal-a-Vie offers a range of packages that include food, spa treatments, wellness programming like meditations and lectures, and private upscale accommodations.

The week before arrival, someone from the property will reach out to each incoming guest and send over a survey asking what kind of experience they want during their stay. Whether it’s focusing on weight loss, fitness, nutrition, or mental well-being, each and every need can be accommodated. The team will then build a customized activity schedule for each guest every day based on their goals.

I visited the property on a “La Petite Package 3-night stay” package ($5.750), which included three meals per day, unlimited fitness classes, five spa services, a cooking demonstration, and access to wellness and nutrition seminars. If I were flying in, it also would’ve included roundtrip transportation to and from San Diego International Airport. Other packages include more or less, but this one is well-balanced and still offered plenty of downtime. Those who stay longer can immerse themselves deeper into the experience, but three days was a solid amount of time to familiarize myself with the property and its practices.

When I arrived, immediately upon climbing the grand steps and into the lobby, I felt like the health spa radiated an extremely luxurious but also impressively unpretentious atmosphere. I appreciated how everyone I encountered on-site, both guests and employees, seemed to be inexplicably naturally happy — but then, I realized I shouldn’t be surprised as we were surrounded by stunning, dopamine-inspiring landscapes basked in sunshine.

It was a perfect combination of elegance in the French decor and architecture, surrounded on the outside by iconic Southern California weather with acres of picturesque vineyards and rolling hills.

Photo courtesy of Cal-a-Vie Health Spa

Each morning during breakfast, guests receive their individualized schedules for the day based on the questions they answered before check-in, which include a lineup of fitness classes, spa treatments, and wellness and meditation offerings.

The higher-intensity fitness classes like spin and barre tend to be in the morning,