Encantado Resort , Santa Fe

Resort Spa Builds on Spiritual Vortex near Santa Fe, New Mexico

Nov 16, 2009 Betsa Marsh

Encantado means "enchantment," and the desert resort and spa creates some of that magic through ancient energies. This Auberge resort straddles vortices of primal power.

Encantado Resort opened outside Santa Fe in fall 2008, on the 57-acre site of a decades-old dude ranch called Rancho Encantado. Betty Egan ran the ranch and welcomed such Hollywood stars as Jimmy Stewart and Jason Robards.

Robert Redford stabled his horses at Rancho Encantado.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant Retreat to Encantado Resort

Today, the new resort welcomes stars like Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant, who recently booked in for a long stay while they filmed “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” They took adobe casitas on a rise overlooking the spa.

Nearby, in a circle of trees near the Fitness Center is a dormant vortex, says Beverly Stang, Encantado conference services manager. The Southwest is famous for its vortices, whirlpools of energy arising from the earth, like those in Sedona, Ariz.

“The former owners contacted the University of New Mexico Department of Psychology," Stand said. "Their parapsychologist came out and found this vortex, and said it was dormant.”

Encantado Resort’s Spa Encircles Active Vortex of Healing Energy

The resort’s active vortex is in the heart of the spa, a compound of light, bright circular buildings in the center of Encantado.

“Alberto Amura is a medicine guide from South America,” Stang said, “and he located the heart of the resort, energetically, right here,” she said in the glass-walled spa.

“We did some healing, cleansing songs before the spa was built,” Stang said. “Amura and I went around the property placing stones in specific places.”

A ‘Blessed Space’ Invites Resort Spa Guests in for Spiritual Healing

“This is a blessed place, a sacred spa,” said James McIlrath, director of spa services.

“The Auberge [resort] philosophy honors the external and the internal of a place, and this building is contemporary, but it blends into the environment here,” McIlrath continued. “The round part is reminiscent of a kiva,” the round room that’s often used for religious ceremonies in a Pueblo Indian home.

“The floors are polished travertine, but with chipped edges. It’s solid and feels unencumbered, and allows you to open up. You’re not overwhelmed with gilding, like in some spas.

“It’s purely about you in this moment, and what therapist you’re working with for your intention,” McIlrath said. “This is a haven, a sacred temple. Here, you can receive.”

Spa Therapists Use Healing Techniques from Around the World

Therapists at Encantado spa do conventional massage, as well as sacred stone massage, ayurvedic techniques from India and massages from Thailand and Japan.

The signature Encantado massage oil is a fragrant mix of the Southwest, with essences of lavender, sage, fir, avocado, orange and pink grapefruit.

Built near the Tesuque Pueblo, Encantado spa pulls from New Mexico’s Native American tradition, too.

Mountain Spirit Purification begins with a smudging ceremony with a sage stick, followed by an adobe clay body mask and a juniper-sage massage using hot stones.
Blue Corn and Honey Renewal revives desert-dry skin. Native blue corn exfoliates, wildflower honey hydrates.

Contact Encantado for Personal Healing Therapies near the Vortex

Encantado (Tel: 877-262-4666) has casitas and suites, plus the Terra Restaurant and spa. It’s in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 10 minutes from downtown Santa Fe.

For more information on Santa Fe (Tel: 505-827-7336) call or click for a visitor’s guide.

The copyright of the article Encantado Resort , Santa Fe in SW U.S./Hawaii Travel is owned by Betsa Marsh. Permission to republish Encantado Resort , Santa Fe in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.