PHILLY
EVENTSMade-to-Order Weekend: Nurture Your New-Age Self
The Lodge at Woodloch, The Poconos
- Photo courtesy of the Lodge at Woodloch
Three crystal chakra bowls stand in the main hall of the elegantly rustic Lodge at Woodloch (Route 590, Hawley, 570-685-8500; thelodgeatwoodloch.com). When struck, they vibrate ethereally, harmonically. But keep your boyfriend/husband/partner away from the trio. Let him strum once, and every time the two of you walk past — on your way to the spa for a multi-sensory facial, or for a dip in the hydrotherapy waterfalls, or to the gym for a private Pilates session, or out the door and across the street to play 18 tough holes — he’ll stop to thrum, and you’ll be stuck in the middle of the lodge for five embarrassing minutes while he explores his heretofore-untapped gift for music. The Lodge’s aim, say owners Ginny and John Lopis, is to awaken your inner self. But tell your man to try tai chi instead.
Digs: Rooms here are surprisingly un-spa-like, tricked out as they are with plasma-screen TVs, wireless Internet, cushy beds, private balconies, and dark chocolate truffles that appear every evening on the bedside table. Per-person packages include room, three meals a day, gym access, classes and a $115 daily spa allowance, for $575 to $1,085 a night.
Eat: Tree, your source of breakfast, lunch and dinner, feels oddly like the Fountain at Four Seasons, except the view is of a white oak forest, not the traffic around Logan Circle. Its petite gourmet meals, which change daily, break typical spa-cuisine rules: There are omelets and full-caf coffee for breakfast, burgers and smoothies at lunch, and beef carpaccio and molten chocolate soufflés at dinner.
Do: Wallow in the negative-edge outdoor whirlpool that overlooks the woods. Take classes in Hatha yoga and “healing sounds” meditation. Indulge in a major bevy of transcendent spa treatments.
And: Get in on a drum circle.
Travel time: A three-hour drive from Center City.
Digs: Rooms here are surprisingly un-spa-like, tricked out as they are with plasma-screen TVs, wireless Internet, cushy beds, private balconies, and dark chocolate truffles that appear every evening on the bedside table. Per-person packages include room, three meals a day, gym access, classes and a $115 daily spa allowance, for $575 to $1,085 a night.
Eat: Tree, your source of breakfast, lunch and dinner, feels oddly like the Fountain at Four Seasons, except the view is of a white oak forest, not the traffic around Logan Circle. Its petite gourmet meals, which change daily, break typical spa-cuisine rules: There are omelets and full-caf coffee for breakfast, burgers and smoothies at lunch, and beef carpaccio and molten chocolate soufflés at dinner.
Do: Wallow in the negative-edge outdoor whirlpool that overlooks the woods. Take classes in Hatha yoga and “healing sounds” meditation. Indulge in a major bevy of transcendent spa treatments.
And: Get in on a drum circle.
Travel time: A three-hour drive from Center City.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, September 2006
