A luxurious wellness retreat surrounded by dense redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Canyon Ranch Woodside has been an award magnet ever since it opened in 2019. Just last year, it received a new Michelin distinction, earning a top-tier “three-key” recognition. The honor was bestowed upon only 15 other properties across the country by the French tire arbiter of fine tastes.
These recent accolades make the sudden news of its impending closure all the more confounding.
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As first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the resort confirmed that it will be ceasing operations by the end of the month. Anyone currently looking to book a stay online is met with a message announcing that reservations past Oct. 20 are not being accepted. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)
Despite being less than 2 miles down Skyline Boulevard from the historic biker haunt Alice’s Restaurant, Canyon Ranch Woodside is worlds away. Rates at the 16-acre property, which features “glass-clad treehouse” rooms, start around $2,000 per night. Along with nutritional programs and fitness classes, spa services vary from over a dozen body and facial treatments to “metaphysical” offerings like oracle card and tea readings.
According to the Chronicle, Canyon Ranch Woodside was also recently granted a zoning permit by San Mateo County to operate on the site for seven more years. However, change was on the horizon.
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In July 2023, Canyon Ranch CEO Jeff Kurster spoke with Bloomberg about a pivot to wellness membership clubs and expanding and renovating existing resorts. “Kuster also aims to open three future wellness resorts by 2030 — ideally in Florida, the Pacific Northwest and the South Atlantic area,” Bloomberg wrote.
The first location of the clubs is already open in Fort Worth, Texas, where the company is headquartered, and per the company’s site, a new resort is set to open in Austin next year.
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Wellness runs deep on the Woodside site. Originally built as The Lodge at Skylonda wellness retreat in 1993, it became another holistic hot spot, Stillheart Institute, in 2003. It ultimately became Canyon Ranch’s first California outpost in 2019, and just its third retreat at the time. There’s been no word about the future of the property.