Sonoma County in California is a great place for wine – and for massages. Zeel ventured to Sonoma County for a chat with Leah Donner, the Spa Manager at the Spa Hotel Healdsburg.
How did you get started at the Spa Hotel Healdsburg?
I visited the town of Healdsburg in 2006 and fell in love with it. I made it my goal to move up here from the San Francisco Peninsula. Every step I took got me closer to working at this beautiful and friendly gem of a spa.
Where were you beforehand?
Most recently, I was consulting at Calistoga Ranch, but I have worked at Solage Calistoga, Sense Spa at Rosewood Sand Hill, Remède Spa at the San Francisco St. Regis, and a few other massage spas in San Francisco and nearby.
Tell me about the Sonoma County Spa Hotel Healdsburg.
The Spa is located right on the Plaza within the Hotel Healdsburg. The property has a typical Sonoma County feel, very relaxed. Guests are welcome to come down from their room in their robe and enjoy a glass of wine in one our Olive Grove lounge chairs while waiting for their spa treatments. Or, if they prefer, they can take a dip in our heated pool or soothing Jacuzzi.
What makes your spa unique?
Our farm-to-spa menu. We make the products and oils used in our spa treatments from local Sonoma Country produce and ingredients.
What is the most popular service on your spa menu?
Our signature massage. It’s a relaxing Swedish-style massage, blending firm pressure and hot basalt stones. Each treatment comes with a choice of essential aromatherapy oil blended into your massage lotion or oil.
What is the town of Healdsburg like?
It’s small, friendly, and filled with fun, wine, food, and laughter.
I see that you have a winter spa menu. Do you have other seasonal menus?
Yes, we add seasonal treatments to our menu, along with a seasonal beverage pairing.
To give one example, we offer a “wine to spa” menu derived from the Dry Creek Valley wine harvest. We take the pomace from the cabernet sauvignon grapes at Dry Creek’s Lambert Bridge Winery during harvest, then blend it into oils and scrubs to create custom treatments infused with antioxidant-rich ingredients.
Each treatment is paired with a glass of Lambert Bridge wine or local tea from the Russian River Tea Companies.
What are your busiest times at the spa?
Saturdays are always busy. The months of May through November are also busy.
Do you have any special plans for 2017?
We will be updating our treatment menu and adding new services to our Sonoma County Massage and Facial departments. Stay tuned!