The poet Wallace Stevens mused that like water, human nature takes the shape of its container. That thought matches my passion for choosing the best soaking tub at The Springs Resort & Spa, an eco- friendly retreat in mountainous southern Colorado’s Pagosa Springs. With 24 various geothermal-filled pools to choose from, The Springs spills down a slope to a rushing river. Each watery nook proffers a unique mood, shape, temperature and setting. All have evocative, promising names—like Sunset Social Club or Serendipity. Some are adults-only. And, the whole lot hold healing water, fed directly by the Mother Spring, the deepest geothermal hot springs in the world—a fount of 13 salubrious minerals, from lithium to sulfur to potassium.
A wellness mecca, which also helps provide heat to the town’s brewery, schools and public buildings, the resort’s immersion area, open to the public, becomes private to hotel guests during off-hours. That translates to 24-hour access and solitary soaks—a boon for early birds and night owls. With the Pahgosa Spa offering therapeutic treatments (including a stone massage with water-worn rocks from the San Juan River), two eateries and 79 elegant rooms and suites
in total, The Springs recently opened a 29-room, hotel-within- a-hotel Luxury Lodge, which garnered LEED Gold certification. pagosahotsprings.com
—Becca Hensley