Rancho La Puerta is a 4,000-acre wellness resort in Baja California, Mexico, that for 84 years has offered guests the opportunity to reconnect with nature while pursuing their health and fitness goals.
Visitors can experience the resort’s cooking and wellness classes, spa services, and other activities while staying in one of the property’s 86 villas, and the location is also available for private events.
of La Jolla Light To find out more, we asked the following questions, with answers provided by Marketing Director Grace Wilkinson:
Q. When and how did your business start?
A. In June 1940, newlyweds Edmond and Deborah Shekelly started an impromptu summer health camp in the coastal mountains of Baja California, not far from San Diego.
As is often the case, necessity is the mother of invention. As the horrors of World War II engulfed the world, Edmond, a Romanian citizen, found himself a man without a country when his U.S.-issued papers expired. He was told he had to leave the U.S. by June 1st or face deportation to his Jewish homeland.
So, undocumented but fueled by a dream, they headed south across the border. They found a small piece of land with an adobe shed to rent, and made it their home. They not only lived in the most primitive conditions, but they thrived. Soon their makeshift camp became a permanent refuge for people seeking health.
84 years later, Rancho La Puerta remains a retreat for those seeking to live healthier lives and find harmony and balance with nature, body and mind.
Q. What is your mission?
A. The farm’s motto is “Always the best!” (“Always improving!”) Or, as co-founder Deborah Shekelly (who turned 102 in May) likes to say, always learning.
Rancho La Puerta strives to provide experiences that foster the mind, body and spirit growth of our guests and staff in a healthy, natural environment that promotes learning, growth and vitality. We are committed to providing the highest quality wellness resort and spa experience while ensuring functional and sustainable operations. All eco-friendly practices are safe and effective, with the goal of not only reducing our impact on the environment, but also regenerating and enhancing it.
Q: What kind of services do you offer?
A. Rancho La Puerta offers three-, four-, and seven-night all-inclusive vacations on a 4,000-acre nature preserve, with daily hikes on over 40 miles of trails, plus more than 40 fitness and wellness classes per week, including yoga, strength training, pickleball, swim classes, meditation, sound healing, and more.
A six-acre organic farm provides fresh ingredients for the hotel’s Mexican-Mediterranean vegetarian cuisine, and fresh fish from the port city of Ensenada is a daily staple. The hotel’s culinary center, La Cocina Que Canta (The Singing Kitchen), hosts weekly chef-led cooking classes.
Personalized services at the spa’s three health centers include massages, facials, herbal wraps and body treatments, while an evening program features speakers, authors, adventurers and doctors.
Rancho La Puerta’s on-site restaurant serves fresh produce from the resort’s six-acre organic farm.
(Rancho La Puerta)
Q. What makes Rancho La Puerta unique compared to similar businesses?
A. Rancho La Puerta is considered North America’s first wellness resort. Our decades of experience as pioneers in the wellness industry have made us a trusted leader in health and wellness, and being family-owned allows us to stay true to the principles we were founded on.
Q. What is the latest update about your business that you would like people to know about?
A. We are so excited about all the new cuisines we have to offer this summer. La Cocina Que Canta recently launched a new cooking class called “Divino Cacao,” which is a fascinating journey into Mexico’s rich chocolate tradition.
The restaurant also offers weekly hands-on cooking classes taught by internationally renowned chefs, as well as a curated dining experience at the Chef’s Table with visiting chef and Rancho La Puerta Executive Chef Reina Venegas.
We offer handcrafted coffees, lattes, teas and a selection of wines from the renowned Valle de Guadalupe region. Our juice bar, Tierra Alegre, offers organic cold-pressed juices and smoothies as well as organic, vegan, soy-free and gluten-free protein-packed snacks.
From July 13 to 20, you can savor the vibrant flavors of Mexico during our annual culinary week, which this year will feature five female culinary experts from Baja California.
Q. What is the connection between Rancho La Puerta and La Jolla?
A. Rancho La Puerta is just an hour’s drive from La Jolla and is the perfect retreat for those who want to be immersed in a completely different world, yet only an hour away.
Rancho La Puerta is located in Tecate, Baja California, about 57 miles from La Jolla. Current rates range from $4,900 to $8,050 per person per week. Three- and four-night stays are subject to availability. For more information or reservations, call (800) 443-7565 or Rancho La Puerta.
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