Lake Austin Spa Resort – Day 1

I feel like the luckiest girl alive to have just spent 3 nights at the Lake Austin Spa Resort near Austin, Texas. This was definitely one of the coolest blog opportunities I’ve had, and I soaked up every minute. I can’t wait to share my experiences – and the meals – with you guys!

The spa is award winning – it’s rated the #4 destination spa in both Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure. It is located on 19 acres in the Texas hill country, and along the Colorado River. The grounds were simply gorgeous! 

The rooms – there are 40 of them – are all in a row up on a hill, so there are great views from the front porches.

My room was lovely – freshly remodeled and very luxurious! That bed!!

I loved the modern-style bathroom and had my own private courtyard in the back.

All meals are included in your stay along with over 20 fitness activities, talks, workshops and class. And of course there’s the spa – a 25,000 square foot facility built in 2004 with over 100 treatment options. More on that tomorrow!

Since it’s along the river, there is lots to do on the water, from hydrobiking to kayaking to boat rides. It was a little too cold for those activities for my visit.

I flew in on Sunday evening was given a quick tour of the grounds at dusk. After checking into my room, I settled into dinner, which completely blew me away! All meals are included at the resort, and saying they are “restaurant quality” would be an understatement. I’d compare the creations here to some of the nicest restaurants I’ve been to. I loved that the portions were small, so I could taste more, and everything is created with health in mind, so while things like butter and cream are used, they are used sparingly where flavor counts. It was like a fancy chef cooking for you in a home kitchen.

I started with the Red Beet Caviar, which I raved about so much my server brought me another! The beet puree was made with dates, bourbon, walnuts, and greek yogurt, and topped with radicchio. Also of note – it was only 50 calories : ) (No fish eggs involved, if you’re wondering..)

I also tried the Pork Belly with pickled carrot, radish, sriracha, saved cucumber, mint and cilantro.

Alcohol is served a la carte (thank goodness!!), and I had a glass of chardonnay with dinner each night!

The Arugula Caesar Salad was perfectly seasoned and portioned with wild arugula, napa cabbage, raw beet, nori seaweed, toasted hemp and sesame seeds, parmesan and garlic miso dressing.

As my main course I settled on Grilled Shiitake Mushrooms with polenta, mushroom puree, spinach, roasted eggplant, smoked paprika and cashew cream. Loved this dish, as I am currently obsessed with mushrooms!

And finally my server told me I had to try a taste of the Vegan Mac and Cheese which was made with quinoa penne, cashews, carrots, rutabaga, garden parsley and garden chervil. This was gluten and dairy free too and tasted great!

My server offered to bring me a taste of all 3 desserts – I think she sensed my enthusiasm for food! – and so I tried a panna cotta, a sponge cake and a chocolate beet cake with candied beet on top, which was my favorite!

That was a lot of food, but like I said the portions were small and I didn’t clear every plate.

More tomorrow!

Lake Austin Spa Resort invited me to blog about the property in exchange for my stay. I paid for my travel myself.