The historic hideaway in the Santa Barbara hills - El Encanto - has undergone a major restoration by
Orient-Express Hotels that includes a new spa, new accommodation and its own resident Holstein cow, to provide the resort with its own homemade cheese.
Situated in seven acres of preserved landscaped gardens, El Encanto has reopened with a new purpose-built spa featuring seven treatment rooms, including a couples room and wet room.
The spa allows guests to choose from a selection of therapies infused with calming sea elements, such as seaweed from Patagonia, or vinotherapies, which offer healing properties extracted from regional vines.
Facilities include relaxation lounge, showers, steam rooms and private lockers.
One of the spa's signature treatments, The Pinto and Cabernet Crush Sugar Scrub, drains toxins and stimulates circulation through a refining and renewing body scrub that combines Pinot and Cabernet grape seeds, brown sugar, and Kaaolin clay.
Organic facials, some using oxygen infusion therapies, further massage treatments, and a full range of beauty treatments are also on offer.
Each treatment concludes with a selection of detoxifying teas enjoyed with breathtaking views from the patio.
The property houses 92 individually designed California-style bungalows, with hardwood floors, plantation-style shutters, and bespoke accessories.
The signature 800sq ft (74sq m) Hummingbird Bungalow boasts its own outdoor rainforest shower.
Each bungalow has its own private patio or garden with telescopes on each terrace allowing guests to take in the sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean for which the hotel is famed.
El Encanto has pushed boundaries when it comes to its gastronomy, and has its very own Holstein cow, Ellie, whose milk will be solely used to produce handmade cheese for the hotel.
For the past year, Ellie has been given a custom made diet, special baths, hoof pedicures and massages to ensure that she is the most pampered cow in the region, to produce the best milk possible.
The culinary offerings at the resort, overseen by executive chef Patrice Martineau, is 'Californian Coastal', incorporating seasonal produce from the Santa Barbara region, as well as freshly picked herbs and vegetables from the hotel's Chef's Garden. Chef Martineau has recreated dishes such as the 'Floating Island' dessert, which first made its debut on the menu in 1920.
