Stay & Play
Rejuvenation, Relaxation and a Room with a View:
Lake Austin Spa Resort
by Jennifer Merrick
Lounging on the outdoor chair in front of my room at Lake Austin Spa Resort, I gazed at a view that I never imagined existed in Texas. The turquoise water of Lake Austin shimmered, reflecting the lush, verdant vegetation surrounding it. Colorful beds of flowers contrasted the shades of green of the many varieties of trees. Directly in my line of sight was an especially stunning lofty hardwood that I didn’t recognize.
“It’s a magnolia!” my hiking guide told me later. “Probably about 80 years old.”
I couldn’t believe it. It was five times the height and triple the width of the magnolia I have in my front garden. Also incredible is what it would have witnessed during its eight decades.
This 19-acre property, which has garnered multiple accolades including a World’s Best Award by Travel + Leisure magazine, has gone through several reincarnations. Since the 1940s, it’s been a hunting and fishing lodge, a rodeo clown training camp and a ‘fat farm’, on which severely calorie-restricted diets were enforced. If that magnolia could talk, it would certainly have some stories. It might even say something about locals coming in on boats at night to sell chocolate bars to the starving campers.
Today though it would tell of more tranquil scenes: yoga on the dock, watercolor painting classes en plein air, kayaking, hiking, martial arts, meditation workshops and blissed out guests in robes returning from the spa. But there was no spa when the rodeo clowns and dieters were here. Built in 2004, the 25,000 square-foot LakeHouse Spa is a destination in its own right with an outdoor pool, hot tub, cabanas, and 30 treatment areas offering more than 100 body and skincare therapies. Indoor swimming is available in the Junior Olympic-sized Pool Barn that also hosts multiple wellness and exercise classes. It was here we donned specially designed ankle and wrist equipment that created resistance for strength training aqua class. We also tried a myofascial wellness session, a hands-on therapy focusing on the connective tissues, in the warm water.
Our minds were also stretched at the resort with lectures, classes, author visits and other learning opportunities. One evening, an astronomer talked about the cosmos and showed us how to locate constellations in the night sky. In another less brain-taxing activity, we practiced making a Tipsy Texan cocktail.
Balance is a key philosophy at the Lake Austin Spa Resort, which can especially be seen in their dining experience. The delicious healthy meals focused on flavour, nutrition and locally sourced ingredients, including some from their own organic gardens.
With only 40 rooms at the resort, there was an abundance of personalized attention for each guest. In addition to all the amenities you’d expect at a luxury resort, each suite had a view of the lake. And a few also looked out at a magnificent 80-year-old magnolia tree.
