Inside The Ranch Hudson Valley: Our Review of the A-List Retreat

As an editor, certain opportunities come across my desk that are simply no-brainers, so last month when I opened up my email to see the words “invite” and “The Ranch” scrawled across my inbox, there was no question that I was going to send in my RSVP.

For the uninitiated, The Ranch is a notorious wellness retreat in Malibu where the A-list set is known to slink off for a complete mind-body reset. A quick Google search confirms this: names like Michelle Obama, Brooke Shields, and Jessica Alba are among the first to populate on the wellness retreat’s lengthy list of celebrity visitors. The weeklong escape is as much a physical challenge as it is a mental one and, in fact, its rigorous program and strict menu offerings have become the subject of some critique, and no doubt fascination, on TikTok recently.

It’s not just the online chatter, though. Wellness travel has never been hotter than it is right now. The wellness industry as a whole is booming, but according to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness tourism is projected to be valued at $817 billion this year and then see a hike up to $1.3 trillion by 2025, making it the fastest growth rate of any wellness market through 2025. Not only are we traveling more again in the post-pandemic era, but now there’s an emphasis on the trips we take to be restorative and relaxing. People are craving a ways to cure their burnout, truly unplug from their day-to-day lives, and do a thorough detox so they can come home feeling refreshed in a way that a typical vacation just can’t always do.

According to the new-age travel agency Fora, this is a major trend that’s already taking off this year. Beyond The Ranch, their team shared that they saw wellness destinations including Canyon Ranch, Amangiri, Mii Amo, and 7Pines booking numbers for the first month of 2024 that have already surpassed those figures for all of 2023. Clearly, the demand is only skyrocketing and as far as luxury retreats go, The Ranch is considered the gold standard.

The Property

This spring, The Ranch opened up its doors to its first East Coast outpost in the Hudson Valley, just under an hours’ drive from Midtown Manhattan but in an area that feels world’s away. Its arrival comes at a time when wellness centers and spas have been popping up all over the New York metro area, cementing that New Yorkers are after some of the lifestyle balance that places like California have seemed to master. The biggest different between the two locations, however, is that while 6-night stays are the norm at Malibu, the Hudson Valley outpost offers either 3-night or 4-night programs to cater to the 9-5 set looking for a long weekend getaway. Throughout my stay, I also learned that this location eases up on some of the strict guidelines, offering the option of doing a two-hour hike instead of the standard four-hour daily hike. They also began offering more filling snacks (at Malibu, guests are notoriously given a sachet of six almonds as their mid-hike sustenance) and introducing coffee into the morning routine.