What it is

A brand new 220 acre eden with 117 rooms (not including 30 treatment rooms).

What it isn't

Nickel and diming you. All meals are included in your stay, and they’re not necessarily sad and low calorie (one recent breakfast: gluten-free blueberry pancakes and divinely salty slabs of thick-cut bacon).

What we think

Long renowned for their spa in the Santa Catalina Mountains of Tucson, Arizona, Miraval chose its second outpost very carefully—and these acres of lush Hill Country were ideal. The sanctuary is everything one could want from a contemplative getaway, indoors as well as out. Each guest room overlooks the leafy forest canopy, with channeled gray headboards, Italian sheets, and (proof that you’re at a spa) a Tibetan singing bowl and meditation pillow. Plenty of gratis activities are included in the daily schedule, from guided meditations to Tex Zen Yoga (get it?), set to Willie Nelson’s harmonics.

You're here because

It’s a spa, but it’s not granola. Note the DryBar hair dryer and 65” LCD TV in your room.

The Moment

You’ve never felt so comforted as you do this very minute in the spa: being massaged with coconut, ginger and rosemary oils, and then with nutmeg, clove and mint filled steaming poultices. Something smells like the holidays, but it takes you a second to realize it’s you. That is, until they dust you with hibiscus powder and send you on your very merry way.

Restaurants & Bars

- Life in Balance Culinary Kitchen - State-of-the-art educational culinary facility that hosts signature hands-on culinary workshops, as well as special events and celebrations.

- Crossings Hilltop Kitchen - Serving healthy, Texas-inspired dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, made only from the freshest of ingredients.

- The Nest - Offering a selection of grab-and-go sandwiches, salads, coffee, and healthy beverages.

- Discovery Pool Café - A la carte lunch menu plus cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages.

Location

Just half an hour’s drive from the Capitol of Texas in Austin, but a world away: set on 29-square-mile Lake Travis. Yep: they’ve got a fleet of loaner kayaks at-the-ready.