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Welcome to the second iteration of Vogue’s global spa guide, an index of the 100 best spas in the world, built from the expertise of our global editors and trusted contributors. There is a lot to choose from in the world of wellness, and no matter how far you’re planning to travel—from a subway ride to a trans-Atlantic flight—we want to make sure it’s worth the journey. Whatever your path, let us be your guide.
Why go here?
Who wouldn’t want to biohack like a billionaire? At Sensei Porcupine Creek, Oracle cofounder and Silicon Valley superstar Larry Ellison’s Palm Springs retreat, that’s exactly what’s on offer. Sensei’s raison d’être is to optimize well-being through a data-led approach and three pillars: move, nourish, and rest. (Should data collection sound daunting, one can just as easily fill their calendar with spa treatments, pool days, and decadent dinners—technically this counts as both nourish and rest.)
Sensei, and the team of behavior-change scientists they employ as guides, have found that the best way to do that is to make the pursuit of your healthiest self not only doable but also interesting. “Wellness is a spectrum, right?” Sensei guide Brooke Damerel told me during my visit. “There might be a gold standard: ‘Here’s your perfect routine.’ But if it’s not livable in your real life, there’s no point.”
What’s the vibe?
Porcupine Creek was formerly one of Ellison’s private homes, and it can still feel that way: I would guess the (comely, charming, high-achieving) staff-to-guest ratio to be around five to one. When the front gates close behind you, you may only be a 20-minute drive from the Palm Springs airport, but you might as well be on a different planet. Lucky for you, this one is exceptional on every level.
Porcupine Creek’s gated 230-acre property is a lush oasis positioned at the edge of Palm Springs, backed by the Santa Rosa Mountains. The resort itself is a series of low, greenery-covered buildings with elegantly understated Japanese-inspired interiors and soothing artwork. Outside, the gardens and long curving drive are dotted with sculptures by Keith Haring, Jaume Plensa, Yoshitomo Nara, Robert Indiana, and Dame Elisabeth Frink. There are 22 lodgings, the majority of which are multiple-bedroom villas, alongside a handful of single-bedroom casitas. A private 18-hole golf course presides over the property, and a gorgeous tennis facility equal to that at BNP Paribas at Indian Wells (which Ellison also owns) is also on-site. Both of these facilities are open only for hotel guests. Visitors are typically a mix of wellness aficionados and golf-and-other-resort-sports enthusiasts. Even when fully booked, the resort never feels crowded.
The history?
Porcupine Creek is the sportier, younger, and more independent sibling to Sensei Lanai, Ellison’s award-winning stay in Hawaii. (Sensei Lanai is another Ellison property turned resort, though unlike Porcupine Creek, it is managed by Four Seasons.) Like Lanai, the two-year-old Porcupine Creek was cofounded by renowned oncologist and biomedical researcher Dr. David Agus. It’s fed by a Nobu restaurant and sushi bar, and it is focused on the same pursuit: healthy, happy longevity.
What should you try?
There are multiple possible approaches to Porcupine Creek, depending on one’s level of interest and time investment (guests who stay for 30 days or longer are on the Sabbatical Experience). The Guided Wellness Experience—a three-night stay overseen by a Sensei guide who matches you with on-site wellness practitioners to support your goals through personalized health assessments, two spa treatments, and two one-on-one meetings (on mindset, nutrition, yoga, or fitness, as fits your goals)—is an excellent point of entry for those seeking a thorough tune-up. I took one-on-ones with experts in nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness, and got valuable insights from each—including a full-body composition scan and nutrition analysis, a personal training assessment regarding my strength and mobility, and an HRV-monitored meditation session that illuminated the efficacy of various breath-work exercises. Technological advances extend into the spa menu of traditional pampering treatments too: I found the thermal-mapping body massage particularly gratifying, with its heat-seeking camera identifying points of inflammation for my massage therapist to target better than my general estimations could.
At the end of your stay, your Sensei guide meets with you and supplies you with all of your data in what they call a Guide to Growth, to help you continue the journey at home. (Repeat visitors’ files are kept so they can update and track their results across multiple stays.) Regardless of package or program, guests of the hotel can attend as many group wellness activities as they’d like from the activity calendar, which change daily. This includes yoga, pilates, tennis, hikes, and various workout classes, as well as less physical activities like mindfulness sessions, sound baths, and property art tours.
How environmentally friendly is it?
Reusable water bottles and filling stations abound. All single-use plastic in the rooms is fully compostable, and all bathrooms on-site use products from the Uni refill system. The resort grounds are largely landscaped with drought-resistant indigenous plants, and the golf course has its own drip irrigation system supplied by Sensei’s own well. All of the golf carts on the property are electric, and the resort is currently working on a Tesla solar-powered backup system that will be able to support the entire property for 12 hours. The resort also works with the Rancho Mirage nonprofit Bighorn Institute by maintaining a watering hole for a native group of bighorn sheep.
What else do we need to know?
Nobu for three meals a day may seem limited to some, but there are plenty of non-sushi options on the menu, and items particularly recommended by the nutrition team are identified by Sensei’s torii gate symbol. Guests can also leave the property to go out for dinner in Palm Springs if they prefer, though I would personally schedule at least one omakase night at the exceptional sushi bar.
Even if you are not a golfer—and not everyone who stays at Porcupine Creek is, by a long shot—you should take time to walk the back half of the golf course. The course winds its way up the mountains into some spectacular settings, and makes for a nice little hike that leaves you feeling on top of the world—if you weren’t already.
Booking details for Sensei Porcupine Creek
Address: 42765 Dunes View Rd, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270, United States
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