A beautiful drive from the San Francisco Bay Area winding your way past vineyards along the Silverado Trail takes you to the new Solage Calistoga resort and spa located in the Napa Valley. Whether you’re spending the night or going for a day of pampering, the Spa Solage is not to be missed. This environmentally friendly resort sports a geo-thermal pool and 14 luxurious treatment rooms in a 20,000 square foot facility that’s both artfully decorated and environmentally conscious.

Michael and I booked a 24-hour get-away, taking advantage of a special savings promotion from the Solage resort. Prior to our trip I booked the Mudslide for Two.  We were greeted graciously upon entering the spa, which is adjacent to the resort, and shown to our respective changing areas and lockers. After changing into plush spa robes we were escorted to the mud bar where we were greeted by the mud-tender and asked to choose a mud “cocktail.” Michael chose the Sam Brennan mix of essential oils designed to relieve muscle aches and I decided on the Mojito elixir that is designed to relieve stress and anxiety. Our mud-tender mixed up the mud cocktails in little buckets and we were whisked away to our private mud suite where we got to paint each other with the nutrient rich volcanic mud. The “mud lounge” was toasty warm and had a surface we could lay on to relax.  After 20 minutes we were instructed to rinse off and join our attendant outside. We were then shown to another room with 2 pedestal bathtubs filled with natural geothermal spring waters for us to soak in.  It was 20 minutes of bliss for sure.  Afterwards, we snuggled into sound chairs with blankets and down comforters. The unique ergonomic design and enveloping sound system in these state-of-the-art chairs is designed to float you into “zero-gravity.” A truly relaxing experience.

The only disappointment was that we were booked for the wrong treatments. After the mudslide experience we should have had a massage rather than enjoying the sound room. I think perhaps the “newness” of the spa/staff resulted in this unfortunate mistake. Everything else we experienced exceeded out expectations, including our room and the restaurant Solbar. We would definitely book another trip.