Iconic Californian health and wellness destination Golden Door is the latest location to join Healing Hotels of the World – a global consortium of holistic hotels, resorts and retreats.

Golden Door focuses on personalised fitness, spa and nutrition programmes aimed to transform guests’ lives.

Golden Door was originally opened in 1958 by industry veteran Deborah Szekely, who is a long-time member of the International Spa Association (ISPA) and co-founder of globally-renowned wellness retreat and spa Rancho la Puerta in Tecate, Mexico.

Located in a serene valley between San Diego and Los Angeles, Golden Door features 600 acres of native hills, meadows, citrus groves, and bamboo forest.

The resort was originally designed and inspired in the style of a ryokan – a traditional Japanese Inn with Koi pond and manicured gardens – and has recently added a new pollinator garden featuring native flowering plants that provide food and habitat for butterflies, sweet bees, bumblebees, moths and hummingbirds.

All guests at Golden Door receive a personal programme interview and up to four sessions with a personal trainer, as well as a choice from more than 40 fitness classes, mindfulness and improvement sessions, and evening programmes and lectures.

The on-site spa includes a bathhouse with Jacuzzi, steamroom and sauna, as well as nine treatment rooms.

Meals are based around fresh produce grown on the on-site bio-intensive farms, which include an organic vegetable garden, citrus groves, avocado groves and hens that produce fresh eggs.

Guest stays also include nutrition education classes, a weekly cooking class, and a celebratory alfresco group lunch or dinner on the farm.

Visitors can enjoy mountain or meadow hikes of varying challenges on 25 miles of private trails, as well as seven state-of-the-art gyms, two swimming pools, a Watsu water therapy pool, two labyrinths, a lighted tennis court and five acres of bio-intensive gardens

“The main goal of Golden Door is for our guests to experience transformation and healing during their stay, and to take home tools that they can implement in their lives,” says Kathy Van Ness, COO of Golden Door.

“We saw so much synergy between our goals and the philosophy of Healing Hotels of the World, and we knew it was a perfect fit.

“Joining Healing Hotels of the World will help us reach even more guests around the world, and spread our message of healing and transformation.”

With just 40 private rooms and a staff to guest ratio of 4:1, Golden Door prides itself on helping guests meet their specific goals and needs during their stay.

The company is also dedicated to preserving and enhancing the tranquillity of its unique location, and to help make an impact beyond its borders; 100 per cent of its net profits go to philanthropic causes like helping to end child abuse and transforming young lives.