Chuck Baraw made a thoughtful choice. As CEO and owner of Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa, he traveled widely before incorporating a spa into the Vermont resort’s landscape. The result is a refined, unexpectedly world-class spa experience tucked into the quiet mountain village of Stowe.
When Baraw and his team added the spa in 2003 (the Baraw family’s connection to the property began in 1963, when Beatrice and Stuart Baraw opened a modest motel), they applied design and operational elements gathered during their research. One key decision was to separate the spa from the fitness center: each facility occupies its own wing of the main building. The reasoning is simple and effective — a spa is dedicated to relaxation, while a fitness center focuses on exercise. Keeping the two apart preserves the spa’s tranquil tone and ambiance.
On a warm, overcast summer day I arrived at the spa reception, ready for an Ayurvedic treatment. The lobby and boutique fit the expectation for a rural spa, but stepping into the inner sanctum felt like entering a different world. A half-dozen guests in plush robes reclined on lounge chairs in a calm, hushed atmosphere. Some leafed through magazines or sipped herbal tea, but the mood was uniformly relaxed. I changed in the locker room, put on a robe, and settled into a lounge chair to wait for my therapist’s call.
While the Spa at Stoweflake provides many traditional treatments and a few regionally inspired options — such as Vermont Maple Sugar Body Polish and Green Mountain Coffee Body Treatment — its selection of Ayurvedic therapies, introduced in 2005, distinguishes it from many other spas in the region.
Ayurveda is a holistic healing system from India that spans roughly 5,000 years. It teaches that each person has a distinct constitution composed of three energies, or doshas — vata, pitta and kapha — and that wellness depends on balancing these forces. Factors like stress, diet and even weather can disrupt that balance, producing discomfort or illness. Ayurvedic treatments aim to restore harmony through personalized therapies and practices.
I chose the Abhyanga-Garshana treatment. Garshana is a dry lymphatic massage performed with silk gloves; Abhyanga is a warm herbal oil massage. The dry silk-glove work stimulates lymphatic flow and prepares the skin to absorb the oils’ therapeutic qualities. Whatever the specific mechanisms, the 80-minute session left me feeling genuinely relaxed and centered.
Balance is a guiding principle throughout the Spa at Stoweflake. Uniquely, it is the only New England spa I’ve encountered that features an on-site labyrinth. Personally, walking a labyrinth is challenging for me — I find it easier to quiet my mind through yoga or seated meditation — but I respect the practice as a powerful tool for reflection. I encourage others to try it with an open mind.
A labyrinth is a meditative pathway designed for contemplative walking. The Stoweflake labyrinth follows the classic seven-circuit pattern, a winding path defined by hedgerows, herbs and plantings. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has no dead ends; it guides visitors along a single, contemplative route to the center and back out, encouraging clarity rather than confusion. The labyrinth here was designed and is periodically maintained by Dr. Patrick MacManaway, an author and holistic therapist experienced in geomancy and energy work, who calibrates the site’s energetic feel. In short, Stoweflake treats its labyrinth as an intentional element of the spa experience.
The same deliberate care applies to the spa’s treatments and overall wellness focus. The Spa at Stoweflake is not an afterthought bolted onto a busy resort to chase trends; it was created as a cohesive destination with an authentic commitment to health, relaxation and balance.
Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa
1746 Mountain Road
Stowe, VT 05672
tel 802 253 7355