Stanley Ranch, Auberge Resorts Collection, a luxury resort hotel in Napa Valley, is at the epicenter of an emerging performance-driven wellness culture in Northern California. Best-in-class wellness facilities are a core offering across the group, which operates 28 resorts across three continents, including Stanley Ranch, with five additional properties scheduled to open over the next three years.
But Stanley Ranch, and Northern California more broadly, is becoming a hub for specialized outcomes-based wellness practices, which differentiates the facility and attracts clients in a saturated market.
The company recently opened the SpringHouse Center, in addition to its HaleHouse and FieldHouse locations. The three wellness centers are designed to work in tandem to optimize mind and body performance through programs based on breakthrough science and technology that focus on sleep, hydration, mindfulness and recovery.
In addition to its focus on performance-based wellness, Stanley Ranch has launched a series of homes on its properties that can be purchased as sole or fractional owners. Positioned as the ultimate investment in a personal wellness practice, impeccable, intuitive service and innovative spa and exercise programs and facilities maximize the positive impact of time spent on-site while allowing residents to purchase a wellness-focused lifestyle on-site.
BoF spoke with Vivianne Garcia-Tunon, vice president of wellbeing operations at Auberge Resorts Collection, to learn more about emerging consumer trends in wellness and Stanly Ranch’s unique approach.
How would you describe the Stanley Ranch experience?
Farms, vegetables, vineyards, views, mountains. It’s just ideal. We’re so health conscious, I was surprised other companies haven’t taken advantage of that. It’s built around being able to go to Napa and have wine that’s fermenting at the end of the day, which is great for your microbiome, but you can also take great classes to change your perspective and nourish your body. You can meet with one of our physical therapists and learn about posture and how to improve your performance, whether it’s running, weightlifting, or any other goal. Because everything is interconnected.
We have a hyperbaric chamber, we do contrast therapy, we do ice baths, we do lymphatic drainage. All because our customers are asking for these treatments. We no longer put up an infrared sign and ask, “Would you like to try a detox and metabolic boost?” Our customers are already coming to us with that information. It’s amazing.
How aware are today’s consumers of wellness innovations?
Ten years ago, anything related to wellness was just a minor topic. Now, with all the research that has been put on the market and the pandemic causing a huge increase in consumer awareness around health and wellness, our customers are extremely well informed. Our programs are customized to meet the specific goals of our informed customers.
That’s what we’re trying to promote and educate through the facilities where we have these modalities in place. We’re now at the stage where we need to carefully provide these protocols to our guests, because in general, we want to get more infrared than anyone else, more ice than anyone else, and get results faster.
How is the wellness industry responding to changing consumer lifestyles?
Our guests are often big podcast fans, and people get their information from a variety of sources. I think a lot of that awareness has been driven by people like physician Peter Attia and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. I’ve been a practitioner for 26 years and have been doing low-level laser therapy at home, something I learned in massage school on a course on using light therapy to heal muscle tears. Now, it seems like our clients are already equipped with many of these therapies at home.
Performance is becoming an essential part of wellness as more and more people want to not only live longer, but also live more energetically.
Although these various technologies have been available for years, awareness is now skyrocketing as scientists and influencers make them popular in the market. In the wellness sector, we are listening to all these techniques and incorporating them into the services we offer, especially at Halehouse, our wellbeing centre and spa.
What is unique about your wellness facilities, Spring House and Field House, at Stanley Ranch?
We changed our usual model to have a large bath that incorporates technology to complement our performance-based treatments. The bath is highly customized to the specific guest and their needs, with the hyperbaric chamber being great for muscle recovery, wound healing and overall wellness. We also decided to incorporate some lymphatic drainage techniques with our advanced lymphatic drainage equipment.
Outside the treatment room, the team organises annual fitness programmes, which include cycling tours with professionals and running clinics to improve sprint times.
Our beautiful spa, overlooking the vineyards, also features salt and steam rooms with breathing and halotherapy, using a brand with the best scraping techniques for skin exfoliation and lymphatic drainage. Our spa is staffed by dedicated attendants who will guide you through the different temperature changes and different modalities to suit your specific program.
Why do you think performance is becoming an increasingly important part of the wellness market?
Performance is becoming an essential component of wellness because more and more people not only want to live longer, but also want to energize that life. It doesn’t matter if you’re Gen Z, Millennials or Baby Boomers – we all want to be able to move better.
I have been in private practice for 26 years and have been performing low level laser therapy in my home for over 10 years. […] Currently, our clients are already implementing many of these modalities into their homes.
This trend is also permeating the travel and wellness industries, where people don’t want to interrupt their health habits while traveling – they want to maintain their running performance, their resting heart rate performance, their weightlifting, their flexibility.
How important is a wellness program to your recently opened residential villa?
Residents want to have access to these modalities and experiences throughout their day and daily life to enjoy a sense of community. Stanley Ranch is truly a great place to be. I never dreamed I would get a call from a potential buyer asking me to go into detail about what modalities are available and what machines are available.
With a view of the vineyards, we have a highly qualified team ready to cater to all your needs, and our experts visit us monthly to help enrich your life and provide you with opportunities for growth and education, which is very important to us.
But wellness also means spending time with local farmer Nick at Stanley Ranch, feeding the chickens and having your hands in the dirt. And our restaurant, Bear, is plant-based. It’s a hotel-wide experience, and all the elements come together to create a wellness ecosystem for our residents.
This is a sponsored feature paid for by Auberge Resorts Collection as part of their BoF partnership.
