The body treatment starts with a scrub and follows with a moisture application, a thermal blanket wrap, foot and scalp acupressure massages and a body butter rub.ĭining: Executive chef Antonio Votta, who joined Viejas from the respected Mina Group in San Francisco, will have a fresh ingredient-driven menu at the 262-seat Locale Kitchen & Lounge. Each is $175 and have warming and cooling elements.

The signature spa services are the 80-minute Fire & Ice body treatment and facial. Services will be offered at seven treatment rooms, two hair and four nail stations. The spa garden, adjacent to the private pool, has two cabanas for outdoor treatments. “It’s so restorative for the skin,” she said, “we wanted it everywhere.” And the new HydraFacial machine, “is something you’d only find in a plastic surgeon’s office,” McGuire said.

Willows Spa: Spa director Gwen McGuire noted several unique features to the 8,650-square-foot spa, salon and fitness center, such as a full kitchen where spa menu items will be created and the ubiquity of salt - in the private spa pool, Jacuzzi, an even a salt wall in the sauna. Other notable features distinguishing Willows: Barona Resort & Casino, which will soon complete a significant casino floor enlargement, also has declined to put a price tag on its project.Īs a 21-and-over resort, Willows differs from the rest of Viejas with the exception of the casino, the original hotel, pool and restaurants are now referred to as family-friendly. Various ongoing expansion projects at San Diego-area casinos total an estimated $1 billion, including $285 million at Pechanga Resort & Casino, $226 million at Sycuan Casino, $170 million at Pala Casino Spa & Resort and $50 million at Valley View Casino & Hotel. Multiple times, the U-T was told that no expense was spared in the design and décor, but what that expense is hasn’t been revealed by Viejas. While construction is still under way on the expansion project, enough of the finishes and features have been completed to give a picture of how swanky the new hotel, spa and restaurants are shaping up to be.įrom the chic lighting fixtures to the contemporary textured walls and trendy brass hardware, the goal for Willows, Borja said, is to not just rest on Viejas’ status as the only Forbes 4-Star and AAA 4-Diamond casino hotel in California, but to exceed it. “My thought is to really redefine what the hotel experience is.”īorja was among several executives who led the Union-Tribune on a behind-the-scenes tour of Willows on Thursday.

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