High End Retreat Centers in San Diego, CA

Northern San Diego is a magical place more away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.  I’ve had the advantage to live in that region for eight years and naturally since I am retreat minded I spent a lot of time in the area with that in mind.  In terms of high end spas to do a retreat two come to mind.  One is the Golden Door in San Marcos (sometimes also listed in Escondido, truth is it is on the border of these two towns).  Traveling to the Golden Door is an interesting experience.  You can either get there through an off ramp from the 15 Freeway, or you can travel as I did up some back roads until you get to Deer Springs Rd.  The address for the Golden Door is 777!  Lucky them.  How did they figure that one out?  But, beware.  It is not that easy to find.  The only sign that you have arrived is that you will see the Golden Door pictured here.

In general the Golden Door is pretty high end and though you can stay there and do one of our Peaceful Self Retreats, they do have their own theme based retreats mainly oriented towards fitness and wellness.  There is also not a whole lot to do outside of the Golden Door spa.  Why?  Because San Marcos, which is the closest town, is really a bedroom community (I know I lived there for three years). And, though Escondido has it nice spots more in the southern area, it is also known throughout San Diego county as a place where families of more middle to (in spots) even lower incomes reside.What this means for you is you need to know where to go in Escondido to get the most out of it. And, it means that the Golden Door is really a place to stay if you want to focus in mostly on yourself in a beautiful natural setting in luxury accommodations and pretty much stay there during your retreat time.

Moving away from the Eastern side of San Diego North County (where the Golden Door is) to the Western side of San Diego North County you come to Omni La Costa proclaimed by Spa Magazine to be the number one spa in the United States. Omni La Costa is much more upscale than the Golden Door (no small feat because the Golden Door is very high end as well) simply because its grounds are much larger and it hosts a very large pool, the famous Chopra Center on site, tennis courts, and a world class golf course. (In my single days I was known to go out with girlfriends to have a drink at Omni La Costa and it was not unusual to run into well known golfers while there).

The advantage of staying at Omni La Costa besides the luxurious accommodations and how much there is to do at this resort, is that you are much closer to the ocean and places to get away to like downtown Carlsbad, Encinitas, and even Del Mar!  Though any Peaceful Self Retreat could be easily gone through at this high end resort because this place is so much closer to a lot of great get-a-ways and has a more activities on site, a more active retreat is recommended if you work with us and go to this facility.

Now that you know a little more about some high end retreat centers in North County San Diego, the next post will focus in on taking a Peaceful Self Retreat in the North County San Diego area in a way that is much more cost effective!

Peace, love, and light,

Lisa