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Find peace at the renovated Omni La Costa Resort & Spa

Find peace at the renovated Omni La Costa Resort & Spa

3 minutes, 12 seconds Read

I’d love to tell you where I am, but I forgot about six minutes ago. Soft, futuristic-sounding music, like an orchestra of benevolent aliens, trills in my ears. Whatever vessel I’m lying on hums softly in unison. A soft blanket warms my legs. After 20 minutes, the tune fades, the chair pauses, and I remember that I’m not far from home—just in Carlsbad, in a meditation chair in the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s new “Luxe Room.” But between my recent twilight state and the massage before that, I might as well be a world or two away from my busy daily life.

The Luxe Room is my personal favorite aspect of the spa’s recent, multi-million dollar renovation, which includes 42 treatment rooms. Other new additions include vintage art (a throwback to the days when Jackie Kennedy spent time in the resort’s plush robes), sandalwood and floral-scented steam rooms, and three retreat rooms lined with salt crystals that are said to reduce stress and improve sleep.

Women in bathrobes leave the renovated spa at the Omni La Costa Hotel in Carlsbad, San Diego
Courtesy of Omni Hotels

Each of the latter rooms features a pair of these high-tech boots that reach up to the thigh and squeeze the legs like blood pressure cuffs. They’re a helpful recovery tool for athletes, but after trying them and the spa’s “reflexology trail”—a trail of embedded stones designed to stimulate the balls of your feet in a therapeutic way—I decide I’m more interested in the relaxation of a spa day: I get a second, casual massage from the outdoor waterfall shower and devour carrot hummus at the on-site spa cafe.

The area’s quiet energy is a stark contrast to the atmosphere at the Omni La Costa’s adults-only Edge Pool, which is comically crowded on a Saturday, its shallow waters packed with hard-drinking hotel guests like a Las Vegas pool party. A DJ spins the afternoon’s driving soundtrack, drowning out the happy cries of kids whizzing down the waterslides at the nearby, family-friendly Splash Landing pools.

Interior view of a converted hotel room at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa with Spanish-style interior
Courtesy of Omni Hotels

After a margarita, my partner and I return to our room to get dressed for dinner. The hotel’s 600 guest rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space have also been recently renovated, and the California coastal-Spanish aesthetic sensibility that has always characterized the exterior is now reflected inside. Our home for the night has high ceilings, soft colors, and plush furnishings.

But for me, a hotel is only as good as its amenities, so it’s a good thing there’s no shortage of them on the 400-acre property, especially after the remodel. In addition to eight pools, the Omni La Costa is home to two golf courses, including the just-reopened, $25 million North Course, which will host college golfers in Division 1 NCAA tournaments through at least 2026. A new putting green and practice facility give guests a place to warm up before hitting the course. You could spend an entire week on-site without feeling the need to venture out, as there are six restaurants, an 850-square-foot gym, and even shops selling resort wear.

Exterior view of Bar Traza on the roof of the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, San Diego
Courtesy of Bar Traza

In the summer, the grounds host open-air concerts, which my partner and I listen to while sipping drinks from Bar Traza’s thoughtful cocktail menu. (If you like California food with lots of fruits and vegetables, eat here rather than at Bob’s Steak and Chop House, a classic white-tablecloth meat-and-potato joint that’s tasty but strictly by-the-book.)

My cocktail, called “Of All Things,” is full of pleasantly bitter and tart things: grapefruit, rhubarb, Aperol. A breeze blows over from the golf course and plays through my hair, while a jazz singer sings in the courtyard beneath the raised terrace of Bar Traza. Tomorrow I’ll drive the 30 minutes up the road to University Heights, return to my shopping and meetings. For now, I’ll close my eyes and enjoy the feeling of being somewhere else – in Carlsbad, Spain, maybe on a completely different planet.

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