Picture this: pitch darkness inside a traditional Shoshone sweat lodge in the mountains outside Park City, steam hissing off hot stones, and a group of strangers taking turns saying the things they've never told anyone. That's the scene a self-confessed self-help skeptic walked into at The Lodge at Blue Sky, Auberge Collection — and, despite herself, walked out changed.
The retreat was led by spiritual author Gabby Bernstein and built around Auberge's new wellness programme, The Fundamentals Cultivating Joy, launched earlier this year across the brand. Its philosophy rests on four ideas: awe, connect, excel, and nurture. The Lodge itself sits on more than 4,000 acres of Wasatch mountain land, where rooms come with purple-mountain views and, in some cases, a private porch with its own fireplace.
What makes the property's approach interesting is what it leaves out. The weekend wasn't crammed with back-to-back activities. Guests could join morning yoga, guided hikes, and two-hour group workshops with Bernstein held in the Arena, a vast indoor space once used for horse riding — or simply read on the porch while the light changed. About forty people attended, spanning small business owners, teachers, financiers, and jewellery designers, with the sharing sessions proving more emotionally open than most attendees expected.
Beyond the workshop tentpoles, the retreat showcased what's unique to Blue Sky: the Shoshone-led sweat lodge ceremony with Chief Darren Parry, time with the on-site rescue horses, phone-free hiking, and treatments at the Edge Spa. And because every Auberge property runs its own wellness offering — only the towels and sheets are standardised — this particular Bernstein retreat was a one-off, with the location picked by Bernstein herself.
Why should a regular traveller care? Because it points to a broader shift in luxury hotels: wellness programming that leans into depth rather than a packed schedule, plus genuinely local elements like Indigenous-led ceremonies you won't find replicated elsewhere. If you've been eyeing a yoga or meditation retreat but find the idea a bit earnest, a property that lets you mix a sweat lodge and a deep-tissue massage with hours of doing absolutely nothing might be the compromise. Just be warned: the writer arrived planning to observe and left having shared more than she'd told anyone in years.
Original source: Condé Nast Traveler