Elle: Spa Vacations Escape Plan

LOCATION: Southern Costa Rica, at the base of the Talamanca Mountains. The Well spa is located in the Hacienda AltaGracia resort, a property that includes 50 one- or two-bedroom casitas and 180 acres of rain forest, coffee farms, vegetable gardens, and horse stables.

VIBE: East meets West—in the jungle.

THE CONCEPT: The Well at Hacienda AltaGracia is The Well’s third location and its first international site (the others are in Manhattan and Connecticut). The Costa Rican outpost oers restorative spa treatments and expert-led experiences—and celebrates its verdant setting with an emphasis on Pachamama (Mother Earth), incorporating local botanical ingredients into its therapies.

UNIQUE FEATURE: Every spa service begins in the Casa de Agua (House of Water), where guests can take part in a purifying ritual that includes an herbal exfoliation and a clay treatment made with coee butter from local Costa Rican beans.

TREATMENT TO TRY: Sign up for a massage—in the Calientillo River. During the Well River Bath, guests get a rubdown on a massage bed that’s been built into the water.

WINTER HIGHLIGHTS: The cooler season ushers in multi-day re-treats led by thought leaders and healers, including February’s six-day “Find Your Energy Flow With John Amaral,” featuring daily exercises with the Los Angeles–based energy practitioner, who appeared in Netflix’s The Goop Lab With Gwyneth Paltrow.the-well.com