Vogue: Where to Go for Winter Sun in 2023

Frequent travelers to Central America often sing the praises of Nicaragua, Costa Rica’s more laidback, affordable neighbor—but a trip to Hacienda AltaGracia is a good way to remind yourself why the world fell in love with Costa Rica in the first place. Opened in November 2021, this 50-room hotel on an old coffee farm in the foothills of the Talamancas is the embodiment of pura vida: a day here might include horseback riding through the Arabica trees and sugarcane fields of the hacienda, taking a river bath in the Calientillo River (with optional wild bergamot massage), or undertaking a birdwatching trip in search of caracaras and quetzals. In every direction, the landscape is mind-blowing in its beauty. (It’s no surprise to learn that AltaGracia is actually located beside one of the world’s Blue Zones, a place where the average human life is significantly longer than normal.) The real selling point here, though, is the 20,000-square-foot spa, designed in imitation of a greenhouse and filled with moss, bougainvillea, and ferns. Every visit begins with a Casa de Agua treatment, with herbal and local clay exfoliation, before guests move on to everything from *maderoterapia—*a wooden massage technique practiced across the region—to gong baths.

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