Last weekend I hosted a #kokohosts wellness retreat at Lake Austin Spa with my favorite blogger babes: Taylor of The Simple Sol, Dani Austin, Natalie Paramore, Chelsea of Passport To Friday, and Ane of The Hungry Chronicles. It’s hard to believe Lake Austin Spa is just 30 minute drive from downtown Austin, nestled on 10 lakefront acres in Central Texas’ legendary Hill Country. The award-winning destination resort and spa offers the luxury of a world-class spa and the warmth of a best friend’s lake house. With the multi-million dollar 25,000-square- foot expansion and renovation in 2004, Lake Austin Spa ffeatures spacious men’s and women’s locker rooms, outdoor Palm Pool, hot tub and cabanas, 30 treatment areas, including garden tents and suites, indoor Junior Olympic-length lap pool in the Pool Barn, and two acres of terraced foliage and aquatic gardens.
SEE ALSO: Girls Getaway: Lake Austin Spa Resort
Lake Austin Spa is perfect for those looking for a wellness retreat for just one, or even a group. Surrounded by Lake Austin, Lake Austin Spa Resort amplifies the mind/body experience with The Ripple Effect. Research shows that flowing water (of which Lake Austin sits on the shores of 21 beautiful miles of water!) produces an abundance of negative ions. Read on for why Lake Austin Spa is the perfect wellness retreat!
Table of Contents
1. Food and activities are all-inclusive
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all-inclusive. If you want to eat more than one entree or even a second lunch, go ahead. Activities and workshops all-inclusive too!
2. Delicious dining with healthy options
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily by Executive Chef Stéphane Beaucamp. Chef Stéphane Beaucamp blends French influences with local inspirations to cook up healthy creations at Lake Austin Spa Resort. Dining is available in the resort Dining Room and in the Aster Café at the LakeHouse Spa. Food is all-inclusive so you can order as much as you want! I love the blueberry cornmeal pancakes for breakfast, salmon with forbidden rice for lunch, and steak with chimichurri sauce for dinner.
3. Three swimming pools
4. Spa
The 25,000-square foot LakeHouse Spa offers more than 100 massages, body and skincare treatments and therapies (spa menu). I had the star of India massage which was incredibly therapeutic. The massage started with a Ayurvedic survey, Dosha Balancing massage with Indian herbs, dry brush, hot wrap, and then hot oil poured over my forehead into my scalp and neck.
5. Sample the organic gardens
Lake Austin Spa has several organic gardens on the resort with 30 tomato plant varieties, 30 different varieties of basil, 6 cucumber varieties and more than 20 different peppers. The 60-foot long asparagus bed will take years to mature, and in the meantime, sweet potatoes, corn, sugar snap peas, snow peas and other greens will be planted and eventually served straight from the garden to the guests’ plates in Chef Stephane’s locally inspired, beautifully prepared health-focused cuisine. You can walk through and sample the different herbs.
6. Relaxation rooms
Relax in blue room (pictured left) before your spa appointment with freshly flavored water and hot tea, or in the lobby (pictured right) with froyo. Be sure to check out the treehouse (pictured below) with the beautifully illustrated bird portraits.
7. No internet
Don’t even try using your laptop in these beautiful rooms. Lake Austin Spa is all about relaxing and powering off.
8. Yoga on the docks
You can bring your own yoga mat for morning yoga on the docks or there’s more than 20 activities for all fitness levels are offered daily, ranging from BodyFlow and Trek & Spin to Gentle Yoga and Nia Dance classes. Other offerings include canoeing, Hydro-biking, kayaking, sculling, hiking, yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Spinning, meditation and dance.
9. Water meditation
The Pool Bar has an indoor Junior Olympic-length lap pool to swim laps. The water meditation class in the Pool Bar included warm waters, tranquil music and guided meditation.
10. FroYo 24/7
There’s a magical button outside of the kitchen for on demand frozen yogurt anytime of the day!
11. Comfy rooms
All 40 lakeside guest rooms have casually elegant décor with furnishings sourced from around the world by co-owner Mike McAdams and his team. Fourteen newly renovated Luxury Lakeview rooms and ten new Luxury Garden Rooms offer spectacular views of Lake Austin and the Texas Hill Country and the interiors evoke reflection and relaxation with every detail. Egyptian cotton sheets and down comforters, Kohler steeping/soaking tubs, signature lavender spa amenities, and luxury cotton spa robes are included in the rooms. The Lady Bird Suite honors Lady Bird Johnson and includes a sitting room, fireplace, private wildflower garden and hot tub.
12. You can wear your bathrobe everywhere
I definitely took full advantage of running around the resort in only my bathrobe and pjs. This included showing up for breakfast and lunch in my bathrobe. If only I could go to all of my meetings in just a bathrobe..
13. Perfect girls getaway
We had so much fun relaxing and connecting at Lake Austin Spa! With all three meals taken care of daily, unlimited indoor and outdoor fitness activities, therapeutic classes, three pools to lounge, and relaxing spa treatments, Lake Austin Spa is the ultimate wellness retreat and girls getaway!
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